Rabbit's Kin

Bugs Bunny rescues an adorable little rabbit named Shorty from the clutches of Pete Puma. Bugs shows Shorty how to deal with the dimwitted feline. The bad: Shorty's super speed chipmunk voice is very annoying and he seems to have no purpose other than looking cute. The story is also pretty thin and relies heavily on a repeated joke (but a funny one). The good: Pete Puma is comedy gold. Stan Freberg provides the voice and does a great job. I was in stitches every time Pete opened his mouth. The gags are pretty funny, too, with Bugs putting the poor puma through the wringer so bad you actually start to root for him to win in the end. The recurring gag of "how many lumps do you want" never got old to me but others may disagree. Not one of the best Bugs shorts but a fun one.

One of McKimson's better Bugs episodes, as Bugs teaches a young bunny how to handle Pete Puma. The star of this episode though is Stan Freberg, as he was the one who voiced Pete. He gave Pete an 'over-the-top' voice, but perfectly matched what the character looked like. Good running gag about tea. 8/10.

Priceless dialog: Bugs: "How many lumps you want?" Pete Puma: "Oh, better give me a lotta lumps. A *WHOLE* lotta lumps... (After realizing his mistake) No thanks, I'll do it myself."

Did you know that the character and voice of "Pete Puma" in the Warner Brothers cartoon "Rabbit's Kin" was based on Frank Fontaine's character of "Crazy Guggenheim." Pete's voice was provided by Stan Freberg. Freberg reprised this voice in another Warners cartoon (as Pete!) and in 1990 as Pete on "Tiny Toon Adventures."

Robert McKimson's 'Rabbit's Kin' is an extremely memorable cartoon entirely because of the villain, Pete Puma. A popular character despite the fact that he only appeared in this cartoon (he was later revived as the Looniversity janitor on 'Tiny Toon Adventures'), Pete Puma is hilariously voiced by Stan Freberg. Freberg's unique voice characterisation is at once hysterically funny and somewhat disturbing. Pete Puma sounds like a desperate junkie searching for his next fix. Bugs' heckling in this cartoon is distinctly underwhelming, based entirely around the old "How many lumps do you want?" gag but this marginalisation of Bugs seems to be entirely intentional in order to throw the spotlight more prominently on the frighteningly odd antics of Pete Puma. Once experienced, Stan Freberg's unique vocal performance will be with you forever. Just witness the horrendously troubling drag scene for proof! All in all, 'Rabbit's Kin' could have been a dull cartoon if it weren't for its bizarre one shot villain. As a script, it would read as lacklustre. As a performance piece, its fantastic.

Rabbit's Kin is an amusing if unexceptional Bugs Bunny cartoon. The storyline is mediocre mostly, Shorty is cute but he does have an irritating voice as well and the pacing was a little too quick. That said, it is amusing, with some amusing sight gags like Pete Pumas's semi-dance and some razor sharp dialogue. The animation is vibrant and colourful, and the character designs are excellent, and the music is lovely to the ears. Shorty aside, the characters are fine. Bugs is great here, a little underplayed compared to other times I have seen him, but Mel Blanc voices him marvellously. My favourite character though was Pete, he was absolutely hilarious and quite likable, with a scream/howl that you just love to imitate with a brilliant vocal performance from Stan Freberg. Overall, not absolutely superb, but definitely worth the watch. 7/10 Bethany Cox