Transylvania 6-5000

You (and Bugs Bunny) never know where Bugs is going to wind up when he goes for one of his occasional underground trips. He usually winds up saying, "I must have made a wrong turn at Albuquerque." Here, Bugs winds up on top of a stone mountain in "Pittsburghe, Transylvania" (actually spelling in the cartoon.)

The first "person" Bugs meets is a two-headed female vulture (named "Emily" and "Agatha") who has two hats on! "Doesn't he look delicious," says one of the heads to the other. Bugs decides to scram and to "head up to that hotel over there," a big haunted house where "Count Bloodcount" resides.

From that point on, there are some great sight gags such as noose for a doorbell ringer, a picture on the wall of "mother" as an upside-down bat and all the Gothic-bizarre "interesting decor" (as Bugs puts it) in the castle. This cartoon is a great feast for the eyes! Check out the titles of all the books on the shelf about Bugs' bed.

The artwork and colors in this restored cartoon are fabulous; some of the best I've ever seen. So, with the tons of fun sights and dialog by Bugs and beautiful artwork, it all adds up to one of Mr. Bunny's best cartoons for sheer enjoyment.

With both Bugs Bunny's and Chuck Jones's Warner Bros. careers winding down, Chuck directed Bugs in the hilariously wacky short "Transylvania 6-5000" (which I recall got used in the compilation film "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters"). When Bugs arrives in Transylvania - apparently no too far away from Pittsburgh - and spots a rather Gothic castle, he decides to ask to use Count Bloodcount's telephone. While the audience can easily figure out what this guy has planned, Bugs doesn't even get the least bit scared (I bet that any other of the Looney Tunes would have died of fright upon seeing the count; see the Sylvester/Porky pairings).

But when the count puts Bugs to bed ("Rest is good for the blood.") is when the cartoon really takes off. As Bugs feels too fatty-gewed (fatigued) to sleep, he starts reading the book "Magic Words and Phrases". Much of the rest of the cartoon has Bugs in danger of getting attacked by the count, only to utter "abra-cadabra" or "hocus pocus" and change the count into a bat or vice versa! Everything that Bugs does in the second half of the cartoon just made me feel like I was going to die laughing.

It all just goes to show that there will never again be a genre like the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons. Up in that great nightclub in the sky, Glenn Miller must feel honored that they played off the title of one of his songs for this cartoon (actually I don't know whether or not he wrote "Pennsylvania 6-5000", but I've heard his version). There was also a silly movie "Transylvania 6-5000" starring Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr.

One more thing. I notice that this cartoon was released a week after the Kennedy assassination. I would have suspected that they would have been in no mood to release a crazy cartoon after that event, but maybe that's just me.

This Bugs Bunny is one of the better Bugs shorts done in the 1960s, when Warners cartoons were starting to vary greatly in terms of quality. This one is reasonably good and can actually compare favorably with the earlier work. Having Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble helps. Cartoon fans may notice slight but notable similarities to a later Inspector Clouseau short, Transylvania Mania. The similarities can be explained by the fact that both shorts were written by John Dunn, who wrote for Warners, MGM and Depatie-Freleng in the 1960s! He was definitely kept busy. More verbal jokes than usual but a fair number of sight gags. Worth Watching. Recommended.

Chuck Jones' last Bugs Bunny short in the classic era is a fun one with a cool setting. Bugs is traveling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (underground, of course) but somehow winds up in Pittsburghe, Transylvania. There he makes his way to a spooky old castle where he meets up with his nemesis in this cartoon: vampire Count Blood Count. The Count tries repeatedly to bite Bugs but finds himself bested by, of all things, magic words Bugs happens to read in a book. A funny short with some good gags and lines. Being that this is a '60s Looney Tunes, the animation is not the greatest. But it is far from the worst I've seen from this period. The use of dark colors and shadows goes a long way to help the cartoon's look. Good voice work from Mel Blanc, Julie Bennett, and Ben Frommer. Surprisingly decent score from Bill Lava. One of the best Bugs cartoons of the 1960s. Not that there's a lot of competition.

For me, Transylvania 6-5000 is one of the better 1960s Bugs Bunny cartoons, because it is just so clever, managing to both spooky and entertaining sometimes at once too. The story is a clever one, and sets the atmosphere flawlessly. The animation is deliciously dark and edgy, and the backgrounds and characters are all drawn brilliantly. The music is excellent, creepy and quirky as I expected. There is some funny dialogue, but even better were the sight gags. I honestly lost count at how much I laughed at the sight gags alone. Bugs is great as he nearly always is, while the supporting characters are also very well done, and the voice work from all involved especially from Mel Blanc, with honourable mention to Ben Frommer who is brilliant as the Count, is spot-on. Overall, spooky and entertaining, just brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox