O Coelho Toureiro

It has been reported by Chuck Jones that Edward Selzer (then Warner Bros. cartoon producer) saw his drawing of a bull and immediately said, "no bullfighting pictures!" Lucky for us that Jones and his crew ignored these hasty words, because what resulted was one of the best Bugs Bunny cartoons ever made.

We are fortunate that Bugs never learned how to read a map, because this time out, his "wrong turn at Albuquerque" brought him into a Spanish bullfighting arena with the bull chasing the matador around the ring. We are also indebted to Jones and Michael Maltese's other famous words they put into the rabbit's mouth, "Of course you know this means war!" And with those words, Jones and co. build around this situation as no one ever has before or since.

The bull is noteworthy as being only a one-shot character, but one of the many Looney Tunes "character actors" that we do not soon forget.

I could watch this one a hundred times over and still laugh myself to tears. It is incredibly funny, perfectly timed and just when you expect it to become formulaic, the Jones crew start to throw in some comical curveballs (which I refuse to spoil here) My personal favorite Bugs Bunny short and one of the jewels of the WB catalog.

This is one of my all-time favourite Bugs Bunny cartoons -- it contains everything that sets the classic Warners animation stuff apart from the stuff that's mass produced today. I especially love the way that the fortunes of Bugs and the bull waver back and forth; I also love the synchronization with the "La Cucaracha" music (see also "Rabbit of Seville (1950)") and the elaborate contraption that Bugs builds.

If you're trying to show someone a classic WB cartoon, this is a great one to start with.

This is a masterpiece, a veritable classic! Bugs is cast in the perfect situation with the bull as a perfect foil. Sight gags galore, including a bit with a rifle that is absolutely priceless! The ending is gloriously funny! Catch the look on the bulls' face in the last part of the closing bit, it's wonderful! Good to see it's available. You have to see this. Most highly recommended!

Famed cartoon director Chuck Jones has said that this cartoon came about because his then-producer, Edward Selzer, caught him doodling a drawing of a bull one day and told Jones that he was *not* to make cartoon about bullfighting. Of such defiant acts are great cartoons made. This is one of the all-time great Looney Tunes, with great camera angles (note the ant's-eye view of a confident Bugs as the bull gains ground on him), hilarious give-and-take between Bugs and his adversary, and a gut-busting ending (beautifully scored by Carl Stalling). For years, CBS was stupid enough to broadcast this cartoon with its fantastic climax cruelly edited. You can now find the whole thing intact in Jones' The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie and on the Jones compilation videocassette From Hare to Eternity, as well as in intermittent broadcasts on Cartoon Network