Acrobatty Bunny

Robert McKimson's 'Acrobatty Bunny' is one of the director's finest shorts. Although the circus-based setting may evoke hideous memories of McKimson's dreadful 'Big Top Bunny', 'Acrobatty Bunny' is in fact nowhere near as dull as that travesty. Pitting Bugs Bunny against a ferocious lion, 'Acrobatty Bunny' is fresh and funny from the outset, not to mention extremely attractive to look at. There's a classic scene in which Bugs takes a strangled elevator ride out of his hole only to emerge directly into the jaws of the lion. In a brilliant Disney parody, he hollers "Pinocchio" down the lion's throat! This brilliant opening is a sign of things to come. There are some expertly choreographed antics in and around the lion's cage to begin with, followed by a hilariously grotesque and irritating rendition of 'Laugh Clown Laugh' which, as a child, I used to impersonate regularly! All this culminates in a short acrobatic sequence which gives the cartoon its name. I've never been fond of the circus as a setting for cartoons and find it usually makes for a dull and predictable set of gags but 'Acrobatty Bunny' breaks from the mould and the result is an exhilaratingly funny short which stands amongst McKimson's best.

If you love Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes then you will love Acrobatty Bunny. While it starts off a little rocky, with some disappointingly blocky animation, the cartoon gets better and better, and the animation does as well so by halfway through it is much more colourful and solid. The music throughout is absolutely great, I loved the dialogue and the sight gags were both hilarious and awe-inspiring. What I also loved about Acrobatty Bunny was how quickly it went, it didn't feel rushed, but it skipped along with consummate ease. As for Bugs I had no problem with his performance whatsoever, he's still the funny, arrogant and charming rabbit I fell in love with when I was six years old. Mel Blanc does a stellar job with the vocals, so overall I don't think other than the rocky start that you will be disappointed. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A savage, undisciplined lion has been put behind bars for a circus carnival. He suddenly notices a hole on the floor of his cell, then sticks his nose into this hole to snuff it. At first he thinks Bugs Bunny's home is belong to a camel; yet when he wakes Bugs up from his sleep hoisting him up to the ground, there he meets with Bugs, his next trainer.

If you ever wonder how Bugs would turn a savage lion into a Hawaiian hula dancer with traditional skirts on, you should watch this cartoon. Director Bob McKimson offers endless laughters by means of absurd and unexpected demonstrative humour.

The signature scenes include:

1/ the look of Bugs Bunny's home, cross-referencing to Donald Duck with the B.B. name acronym on the headboard of Bugs's bed

2/ Bugs Bunny's short journey with the mine hoist climbing up to the ground floor

3/ When Nero the Lion calls his friend the Elephant for help, Bugs uses a toy mouse to scare the Elephant; since the Elephant needed a broom to outpower that toy mouse, he uses Nero as a broom!

4/ Bugs becoming a clown with the proper costume and make-up and the practical clown jokes that he makes

5/ the trapeze scene while Nero chasing after Bugs

6/ the famous Human Cannonball scene after which Nero the Lion starts dancing Hawaiian Hula

The magic moments which keep Acrobatty Bunny fresh at all times in our memory:

1/ When Bugs comes out of his bunny hole, he thinks he's in the Pinocchio tale; and starts acting to save Pinocchio out of the giant whale's stomach

2/ When the Lion roars to scare him, Bugs replies back to him with roaring

3/ Bugs arguing with the Lion for he's making so much noise, then finding a piece of wood to rub it against the iron bars while singing in order to make more noise than him

4/ Wearing rubber heels at the circus, Bugs starts to bounce like toy rabbits and causes Nero to bounce!

Those are the 10 main reasons that keeps Acrobatty Bunny as a Bugs Bunny classic and can be found in the "Bugs Bunny Classics' MGM/UA Video (1989)"

A circus moves on Bugs Bunny's home.He goes up from his cozy hole, and finds himself from a lion's cage.So starts a chase between a lion and a bunny.Nero the Lion wants to eat the bunny, but it's easier roared than done.At least when that bunny happens to be Bugs.Acrobatty Bunny is a Looney Tunes short from 1946.It's directed by Robert McKimson.Mel Blanc's voice work is as good as always.The movie, even though not lasting very long, manages to have several funny gags.Like when the lion uses the elephant to get inside the cage, where Bugs is.But Bugs uses a fake mouse to frighten the elephant, and he hits it using the lion.Or Bugs the clown trying to make the lion laugh, using unorthodox methods.And what about the lion as a cannonball! It's a riot!

You've got a good point there, Nero.

Perhaps best known for being the first Looney Tune to end with "That's All, Folks!" combined with the Looney Tunes theme music, this 1946 cartoon, in which Bugs Bunny takes on a lion and briefly an elephant at a circus, might not exactly have me in stitches, but it is perfectly amusing and well-made all the same. Overall, I do derive a strange amount of pleasure from watching Bugs torment the poor lion, and Acrobatty Bunny has several highlights, such as Bugs' lawbreaking elevator to the surface, and the scene in which he dresses as a clown and, indeed, puts the lion in the stitches that he failed to put me in.