Buccaneer Bunny

Terrific Bugs Bunny cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng, with Yosemite Sam as the cutest pirate you're likely to ever see. While burying his treasure on the beach, Sam disturbs Bugs in his rabbit hole. What follows is Bugs and Sam fighting it out on the high seas in hilarious fashion. It's a wonderful short with the legendary Mel Blanc having a blast doing the voices of Bugs and Sam. He even gets to do a Charles Laughton impersonation. The animation is beautiful with rich colors and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The music is energetic and fun. It's a classic, plain and simple. Anybody who enjoys Bugs and Yosemite Sam will get a kick out of this one.

Hilarious cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, the best Looney Tunes director next to Chuck Jones. This short is somewhat inspired by the Three Stooges and the gimmicks work great. It's funny to see Sam getting blown up the cannon every three seconds.

Buccaneer Bunny features Yosemite Sam's second encounter with Bugs after their premiere in Hare Trigger(1945). In Hare Trigger Sam was more advantageous to Bugs, as a train robber, where Bugs was a passenger. Provided that with Buccaneer Bunny, Sam as a pirate, he has a lot to worry about. Sam's sore points give Bugs a chance to twit him every time.

At the beginning, Sam was burying his pirate treasure to a deserted island, where he comes across to Bugs putting on the jewels taken out of the treasure chest. When Sam takes back his treasury from Bugs, he tends to carry the treasure to a different island. But Bugs never lets him to do so. Leaving Sam alone in the island, Bugs takes the oars of Sam's rowboat, and swims to the pirate ship. Following him, Sam swims for the oars. He takes back the oars, then swims back to the island to take the rowboat and to row it back to his ship. It was Sam's prevailing mastermind that he cares more about his rowboat than his treasure chest. Later on, Sam starts to worry about his pirate ship; he leaves the treasure in the island, and goes to ship for not allowing Bugs to cause any trouble.

First stealing his treasure, then blowing up his pirate ship; Bugs plays Sam's biggest menace in a masterly manner. He takes Sam into his service as a call-boy, masquerading a famous captain. The memorable moments of this episode are how Bugsy hides cannon fires behind doors, behind cabinets, above conning towers, within rabbit holes... Wherever Sam looking for Bugs, he's having detonating cannon balls to his face over and over again.

These must be the highest explosive effects in a Looney Tunes episode. More than half the length of the time Sam appears in charcoal dust. Every explosive effect brings a laughter effect beside it. This episode is available in the MGM/UA video of Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends (1990).

So many of the B.Bunny toons are nothing short of miraculous: I don't know how this one rates in the pantheon of B.B. cartoons, but it is definitely hard to top as far as pacing---absolutely brilliant. The comic timing, blending of the music (hard to imagine how anyone could score a B.B. cartoon--the painstaking detail!) And the clincher, for me, is how my son roars with laughter when Yosemite Sam panics and dives for the matches that Bugs nonchalantly tosses down into a shaft filled with explosives--doesn't every ship have an explosives shaft--(wink-wink) Again, the pacing: frenetic from beginning to end, perhaps not one of the more cerebral B.B. tunes, but worthy of Keystone cops or Buster Keaton for sure.

Bugs is resting on a tropical island when fearsome pirate Redbeard comes along to bury his treasure. Realising that Bugs now knows where he has hidden the treasure, Redbeard decides to kill bugs to keep it a secret leading to a chase on board his own ship.

Despite placing traditional cowboy Sam in the role of a pirate without actually changing his accent or dress, this cartoon works out quite enjoyable. My initial worries about the character worked out and Sam actually fitted into the role pretty well. The plot is basically a big chase with Bugs doing his usual smart-alecky stuff and outsmarting his foil.

Bugs is as good as always and I enjoyed his antics, Sam is better than I thought he would be, the only downside being the pirate dialogue they occasionally put in his mouth. The two work well together and the material is funny.

Overall this is an enjoyable short that contains plenty of nice jokes (including a spoof of Charles Laughton) and funny action with imagination.