Bunny Hugged

Bugs Bunny has been enjoying a cushy job as the mascot for flamboyant wrestler Ravishing Ronald. But when Ronald is demolished by bald brawler The Crusher, Bugs realizes his meal ticket is in trouble. So he slaps on a mask and enters the ring to challenge Crusher as the Masked Terror. Hilarious Chuck Jones short that pokes fun at pro wrestling. Wonderful animation, lively music, and terrific voicework. One of the things I like most about it is that Bugs doesn't have the upper hand the whole time. Very funny stuff with some great gags and lines ("It's about time for me to employ a little stragedy"). The character of Crusher is a hoot. Love that ending.

We are in a packed arena waiting for the World's Heavyweight Wrestling Championship to take place between the champ, "The Crusher," a snarling, growling beast of man with rippling muscles on his muscles, and "Ravishing Ronald," the denatured boy (whatever that means.). Ronald comes out in the best Roman tradition: on a platter, eating grapes. He has a mascot named "Bugs," who tells us, "Hey, it's a living."

In no time The Crusher literally makes a punching bag out of Ravishing Ronald. Bugs, "Yikes, there goes me bread and butter. I've got to do something."

What happens afterward, as Bugs becomes "The Masked Terror," is mostly funny. The stitching scene was kind of stupid but the rest of it was typical outlandish Bugs humor.

Bunny Hugged (1951)

*** (out of 4)

Spoof of wrestling has Bugs Bunny jumping into the ring after his owner is destroyed by The Crusher. Once inside the ring the rabbit is totally out of his league so he must use his brains to try and bring down the best. There's quite a bit that happens inside the seven-minutes of this short. There's pretty much action from the start to finish and most of it is very good. The best sequence is early on in the picture and doesn't even feature the hero Bugs. It's a scene where The Crusher destroys the other wrestler, a "pretty boy" type and the way he's destroyed is just hilarious. The violent action is another plus as is all of the animation, which looks extremely well.

Bugs Bunny has to go Mano-a-rabbito as "the Masked Terror" for a wrestling bout with the Crusher after he easily pummels his former opponent and Bug's source of income, Ravashing Ronald. The rascally rabbit is also outmatched physically, so he has to pull some cunninggly clever yet somewhat devious tricks from his sleeves. I liked this cartoon a lot and it makes me chuckle every single time I see it. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional music and effects only track.

My Grade: A

Good Bugs Bunny cartoon, if a little predictable,and not as well paced, plus I am sorry to say but the stitching scene did not work for me. That said, the climatic scene is funny, and Bugs is still his outlandish self.

The animation is nice and detailed, the music is good as always, the story is fine and the voice characterisations from Mel Blanc, a truly brilliant voice actor, are spot on. Also good are the writing and a vast majority of the sight gags. However, as I have said already, it is predictable, somehow I knew that Bugs would win in the end and the pace was rather uneven.

Overall, not a favourite of mine I admit but I do recommend it. 7/10 Bethany Cox