Bunny chef d'orchestre

Bugs is a symphony conductor who is bothered by one nuisance after another. Not one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons. It's pretty tired and feels like they were trying to repeat what worked before in Rhapsody Rabbit. It just doesn't work as well this time. It's just a bunch of sight gags set to classical music. The music is fine and the animation is okay for the period, although this is that somewhat scratchy style that I don't care for. It only got worse as they entered the 1960s, sadly. I suppose if you're a big classical music buff you might enjoy this more. While I don't mind those types of shorts (some are among the best of the medium), I prefer my Looney Tunes to be funny. This just isn't.

I vaguely read the IMDb reviews for this cartoon before I watched it and there seemed to be quite a few negative comments, so I was not sure what I would think of it. However, I love it and it is one of my new favourites. The humour is nice and slow, very well done and you can still see quite a lot of Bugs Bunny's personality even though he does not say a single word, neither does anyone else. Usually I do not like the fact that certain Looney Tunes cartoons do not have enough speaking jokes, but in this episode it would have not been so good if there had been some. It is just funny the whole way through and the music is good. :-) The only negative thing I have to say about this gem is that the animation of Bugs was a bit scratchy, I prefer his smoother, more rounded style. Saying that - his collar was hilarious! :-)

I recommend this episode to people who like classical music, Bugs Bunny and for people who do not mind flies too much. Enjoy "Baton Bunny"! :-)

The main reason I like this cartoon so much is that this is one of the most unique Bugs Bunny cartoons I've seen in quite some time. It finally takes a step away from the classic "Bugs gets chased" or also popular "Bugs in Hollywood" frames for this new idea, in which Bugs conducts a symphony at the Hollywood Bowl. Bugs gives a hilarious performance in the first place (the cuffs falling off his jacket has got to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen), but add to it a fly that keeps bugging him, and you get comedy in its finest.

Also, and this may not make much sense, but one of my favorite parts is when we see Bugs conducting and his coat-tails and ears start doing the work for him. I don't know why, but I just love seeing his ears do that, it makes me smile and giggle all the time. The music is great, and the animation truly follows it, proving once again that a cartoon is only as good as the music that supports it.

After the Termite Terrace crowd had used classical music to great effect in "A Corny Concerto", "Rhapsody Rabbit", "Back Alley Oproar", "Long-Haired Hare", "Rabbit of Seville" and "What's Opera, Doc?", it came out a little flat in "Baton Bunny". This short has Bugs Bunny conducting an orchestra while his suit keeps going awry and a fly keeps getting in his way. The cartoon's not terrible, but it seems like they should have had accomplished more; then again, maybe they'd done everything that they could with classical music by this point. OK in a pinch. Available on Disc 3 of the Golden Collection, where it's placed among far better cartoons.

So who exactly is this Suppe guy?

Baton Bunny (1959)

** (out of 4)

This here has always been one of my least favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons but you can't expect anyone to bat a thousand. This time out Bugs is the guest conductor of the Warner Brothers Symphony Orchestra where he will be doing "Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna by Franz Von Suppe". There's not a single line of dialogue spoken in the film, which really wouldn't have been a problem had the action been better than it is. In all reality this is just a short for the ears as most of the visual gags are rather tiresome and none of them get any laughs. The bit with the fly doesn't work and this here seems to be the biggest attempt at humor. The music itself isn't too bad but in the end this is an interesting idea that just doesn't work.