My Bunny Lies Over the Sea

Classic Bugs short, directed by the great Chuck Jones, has Bugs tunneling to Scotland after making one of his infamous wrong turns at Albuquerque. He tackles with angry Scotsman Angus MacRory, resulting in a funny golf match between the two. Many good gags in this one and some fun lines from Bugs and Angus. The animation is bright and colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The music is lively and upbeat. Wonderful voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. I would say most Bugs fans will like it as much as I do but, judging by some of the reviews here, that's not the case. Oh well, can't please everybody I guess. I thought it was good.

1948's My Bunny Lies over the Sea, an amusing six-minute Loony Toons animated short that sees our long-eared hero Bugs Bunny once again not taking that left turn at Albuquerque and finding slap dab in Scotland, where comes into confrontational conflict with Angus McRory, finer and funnier over-the-stop Scottish caricature as one could find, with his red hair and beard just a being as firey as his temperament. Of course, we get the usual kind of tropes here, with at one point Bugs disguising him as a fellow Scot in an attempt to outwit Angus, which all then culminate in them playing golf in order to settle their dispute.

It's decent fun although the pacing is so breakneck a pace that it does overtake itself so that it arrives at its denouement a bit too abruptly. While not all the gags land quite as well as others. However, the voice work as ever is a first-rate job for not only Bugs but Angus as well. It's astonishing to think that he provided both, and one wonders if he delivered both of these simultaneously, in which case it's a sheer bloody genius that he could switch between the two so effortlessly. Solid, but not one of the absolute classics, My Bunny Lies Over the Sea as a comedic distraction gets the job done and is a pretty good way to waste some time.

Maybe "My Bunny Lies Over the Sea" stereotypes the Scots as kilt-clad, bagpipe-playing grouches, but it is a hilarious cartoon. After Bugs Bunny forgets that left turn at Albuquerque, he ends up on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland, where he and a local settle a dispute by playing golf. Needless to say, Bugs turns the whole thing on its head.

Among other things, this cartoon makes one nostalgic for the days - which may have been well over 100 years ago - when golf represented Scottish heritage and wasn't just something that rich snobs did to waste time (especially given that Jack Abramoff took Tom DeLay and Bob Ney on the golfing trip in Scotland a few years ago). But mostly, it's a classic cartoon plain and simple. Or, to say it like they would in Scotland: Ay, 'tis a wonderful wee cartoon, ya blasted Englishman! I wonder if that was the Wallace plaid during the opening credits. As a descendant of William Wallace (Scotland's greatest patriot and the subject of "Braveheart"), I hope that it was.

Though this Looney Tunes episode has a great deal of stereotypical Scottish things featured, it is good all the same (the Scottish seem to love being their stereotypes for some reason, so it is OK that they do do it this way.)

In "My Bunny Lies Over the Sea", Bugs Bunny is yet again trying to reach a place by going underground - and, as usual, he takes the wrong turn at Alberquerque - and ends up in the Highland of Scotland! He angers the first Scotsman he sees by ruining his bagpipes - and the Scotsman challenges the rabbit to a game of golf.

The only mediocre thing about the episode was the predictability of the game of golf. The backgrounds, the other jokes (there are some very good verbal jokes here towards the end which are hard to catch) and the Scottishness about it were all brilliant. I also loved the background of Loch Lomond - very detailed for a Looney Tunes episode and quite true. Wonder if the Termite Terrace team went to Scotland before doing this episode...

I recommend this episode to people who love Scotland, Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes. Enjoy "My Bunny Lies Over the Sea"! :-)

Bugs Bunny is going to the LaBrea Tar Pits in LA and takes another wrong turn at Albuquerque. He ends up somewhere in Scotland. He spots a Scotsman playing bagpipe and thinks that it is a monster attacking an old lady. He grabs the bagpipe and destroys it. Bugs is surprised that the old lady is actually a man with no pants. He slaps a barrel on the Scotsman. The two gets off on the wrong foot and the Scotsman challenges Bugs Bunny to a game of golf.

The first half is a lot of jokes at the expense of Scotland and its people. Some of them hit a bit differently today. The kilt as a skirt is a weak joke nowadays. There is an allusion to the Scots being cheap. The second half golfing works a lot better in modern terms. It would have been more specific for them to go to St Andrews. This is fine for Bugs.