Easter Yeggs

This time, Bugs Bunny substitutes for the infirm Easter Bunny, only to deliver eggs to a malevolent infant - named the Dead End Kid - and then to Elmer Fudd (who plans to make Easter Bunny stew). I noticed that at the beginning of "Easter Yeggs", Bugs is reading a book called "How to Multiply". No doubt that refers to one of the traits most associated with leporids*: having lots of offspring very quickly. In fact, rabbits' extreme fertility is precisely why they're associated with Easter: Easter is one of the major holidays in spring, which of course is associated with rebirth.

But I digress. I didn't think that this was the greatest Bugs Bunny cartoon, but it's still a pretty funny one. I kinda predicted what was going to happen with the log, but that didn't really weaken the cartoon.

*Leporids are rabbits and hares. The family is called Leporidae.

The people complaining about Elmer Fudd hunting for food clearly haven't watched many Bugs Bunny cartoons. "Wabbit stew" was always what Elmer was after when he went hunting — it was one of his catchphrases well before this cartoon was made (example: "Hare Tonic" from 1945, directed by Chuck Jones). It's part of what makes that line so funny in this cartoon! Jones didn't ret-con Elmer into being a vegetarian until "Rabbit Fire" in 1951, so it's hard to understand how McKimson should have been able to foresee that four years earlier. And the mention of Elmer as a vegetarian was just for the sake of a gag anyway, not to establish a running character trait — after all, in 1953, Jones was back to having Elmer hunt for "wabbit stew" in "Duck! Rabbit! Duck!".

As for Bugs being mean-spirited, the same comment applies — Bugs was always somewhat of an amoral character in the 1940s cartoons, even going so far as to be an outright jerk sometimes (particularly in his earliest appearances, such as "Elmer's Pet Rabbit" and the Cecil the Turtle shorts). Jones didn't make him into a goody-two-shoes type character until later in the 1950s.

And of course it's not like the WB cartoons ever cared much about canon or continuity anyway. Next thing you know, someone will be complaining about inconsistency in "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century" because Daffy Duck usually isn't a space marine.

Easter Yeggs isn't among the best, but it is very funny and a pleasant enough themed cartoon. I can understand why people mayn't like it, although I was personally satisfied by the ending it is very shocking all the same, and Elmer's character here has an inconsistency that he hunts for food here.If you ignore the inconsistency or at least try to, Easter Yeggs is quite fun. The story is simple but engaging enough, and there are many funny and quotable lines in the dialogue. The animation is crisp and smooth with beautiful colours and the music is lively. I feel this is an instance when the dialogue is better than the sight gags, but most of the sight gags do work, and the voice work is terrific as per usual.Overall, a nice cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The lazy Easter Rabbit gives the basket of Easter eggs to Bugs Bunny.All he has to do is keep smiling, as he delivers those Easter eggs for kids.But it's all easier said than done, when one kid is a sadistic brat and the other is Elmer Fudd in a baby buggy.But it's Bugs who turns out to be the toughest egg.Easter Yeggs (1947) is a Looney Tunes short directed by Robert McKimson.It was the 500th cartoon released by Warner Bros.They would release 500 more after this.Mel Blanc does the voice of all Bugs Bunny, Easter Rabbit and Bratty Kid.Arthur Q. Bryan is Elmer Fudd.It's quite hilarious to watch Bugs Bunny cheerily going with that basket of Easter eggs and singing.And the second time, not so cheerily.Also Bugs showing his magic trick to Elmer is quite amazing.How does he do it?!

I grew up on Warner Bros. cartoons, and thought I had seen them all. Somehow I missed this one until I found it on a laserdisc collection. It is now one of my favorites because it contains two of the funniest lines in all of the WB cartoons (see quotes).