User reviews

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.

"Shorty," a little rabbit, comes racing into Bugs' hole seeking shelter and help. A ferocious monster, according to the fast-talking little hare, is after him. Bugs figures it is "Pete Puma," and goes to investigate. Sure enough, it is, and Pete -with a funny voice - tells Bugs he's after a little rabbit who is going to eat. Bugs asks him, "Wouldn't you rather have a big rabbit?"

Bugs then torments the poor, dumb sap, which is how the orange puma is portrayed. I'll tell ya, this Puma was a funny guy. He dresses up as Shorty's mother, trying the lure the little one, and is hilarious. However, poor Pete isn't smart enough to pull off any ploy...and pays the price each time.

Puma's voice (by Stan Freberg) was probably the highlight of this so-so cartoon. Using English subtitles to translate the super-speed-voice little rabbit helped, too.

Shorty, a school-age rabbit who must have learned how to speak from Alvin and the Chipmunks, frantically (he does everything frantically) jumps into Bugs Bunny's rabbit hole to escape the clutches of the villainous, but extremely stupid, Pete Puma, whose distinctive speech climaxes in an ear-splitting screech. Pete tries to trick Bugs and Shorty with an exploding cigar. Doesn't work. The cigar says "El Explodo" right on the wrapper. He tries to trick them by disguising himself as Shorty's mother. Doesn't work either. His rabbit ears are leaves that are inelegantly affixed to his hat. How can this poor, pathetic puma win the day? Smarter opponents than he have failed to outwit the wily Bugs Bunny.

This was not a great picture, but all Warner Brothers cartoon fans remember it for a great character. He appeared only in this film: Pete Puma. Stan Freberg's voice, with that hilarious (and fun-to-imitate) screeching, is the main reason for Pete's enduring popularity. The secondary reason is the hilarious animation. That incredible semi-dance Pete does, when he enters as the mother, is sublime.

This cartoon is available on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume One," Disc 1.

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

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.

Shorty drops into Bugs Bunny's hole. She is hysterical and describes a monster chasing her. Bugs immediately realizes that it is Pete Puma and takes matters into his hands.

Shorty sounds like one of the chipmunks although I can actually understand the cartoon Chipmunks. It is a weakness in the character rather than a strength. As for Pete Puma, he looks more like a young male lion. It is the mouth. The design should look more catlike. This is Bugs and he is having fun playing tricks on his opponent. The lumps gag is the best and it has a great callback. Despite my issues with the creature designs, this is solid work from Bugs.

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.

Another merely so-so Robert McKimson short that can't hold it's own when held against other Looney Tunes shorts. This time Bugs Bunny foils Pete Puma after he tries to catch Bug's nephew, Shorty. I don't care for Pete Puma and I don't like whenever one of Bug's nephews show up. Really only one somewhat funny joke stretched out for too long. This cartoon is uncut on Disk 1 of the 'Loony Tunes Golden Collection' and also has a commentary track (with the voice of Pete Puma) as well as a music-only track. On a side note, Pete Puma in drag is more then a little bit disturbing to see. Also Pete Puma showed up again in that dreadful "Tiny Toons" show.

My Grade: c

This short is both sweet and amusing. I love the little, bitty bunny; he's so cute! I also love the scene in Pete Puma's cave, where Bugs disguises himself as Pete's "second cousin Paul Puma." The voice he used for the disguise, I thought, was hilarious. Yes, this is without a doubt one of my favourite Bugs Bunny cartoons directed by Bob McKimson, along with "Hillbilly Hare," "Acrobatty Bunny," "Wet Hare," and eight other shorts. I have a strong preference for a specific short directed by one of their directors.

I love Pete's "I got a little rabbit in this hole..." Yes, as I said before, Mel Blanc and Stan Freberg had never sounded so superb together. I love this cartoon.

I really enjoyed "Rabbit's Kin," mainly for the cute little rabbit (who is completely ununderstandable and painful for many ears), Bugs Bunny and Pete Puma, even though he is a little annoying and the animation is good. I also liked the humour - usually I find repetitive humour very irritating and it often puts me off the thing I am watching, but in this case I did not mind! Pete Puma is a good character, almost as likable as Elmer Fudd, but I would not give the tea leaves in my china teapot to see all his other episodes (if he has any more). He is surprisingly stupid, even more so than many of the the characters that Bugs Bunny is paired with.

In this episode, we see a little brown bunny rabbit with big eyes, running away from something or other. He bumps into Bugs Bunny and tells him that a puma is trying to catch and eat him (here Bugs Bunny seems to be some kind of linguist, as he understands the baby bunny, yet no-one else understands him). We also meet Pete Puma, the puma trying to hunt the little brown rabbit...

I recommend this episode to people who like Bugs Bunny and people who like repetitive cartoons (and even to some people who do not!). Enjoy "Rabbit's Kin"! :-)

Let's face it, f-f-folks! - Without the absolutely hilarious voice characterization of Pete Puma by Stan Freberg - 1952's "Rabbit's Kin" wouldn't have been even half as entertaining as it was. It's true.

Yep. Regardless of this animated short being a "Bugs Bunny" vehicle - It was, without question, good, ol' Pete Puma who repeatedly stole the show and upstaged that rascally rabbit, over and over again.

And, with that in mind - I cannot understand why Pete Puma hadn't ever appeared in any other "Merrie Melodies" from Warner Bros. 'Cause I think that he would've been an excellent character (to cause all sorts of comical situations) had he been teamed up with the likes of Elmer Fudd - Don't you agree!?

Not much going on in this short, I'm afraid. Bugs saves his little, hyperactive pal Junior from being eaten by the slow-witted Pete Puma (who acts like junkie looking for a fix). Bugs proceeds to execute a lame running gag with a hammer and hitting the poor doped-up puma on the head. It's not intelligent stuff, by any means. Odd, considering how great Bugs' usual standard is.

The main problem lies with the fact that Pete Puma is not a great foil for Bugs, Junior is too hyper to be likable and there's a huge lack of real invention and mania. The Puma in drag scene also looked a bit disturbing.

Bugs has done much better than this.

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."

Not every Bugs Bunny cartoon was a full-scale masterpiece, and "Rabbit's Kin" is an example. It has Bugs protecting a small rabbit from a hungry, slow-witted puma, whom he frequently gives lumps...on the head. It seems like the whole cartoon is sort of a one-joke premise, and the little guy tries a little too hard to be cute. My favorite scene is Bugs in puma drag (that scwooey wabbit liked to dress up in drag, didn't he?).

So, this cartoon isn't terrible, just a little weaker than what we expect from the Looney Tunes cartoons. OK if there's absolutely nothing else to do (although there are far better cartoons on the Golden Collection, where you can find it).

That puma just seemed like he'd been lobotomized or something.

. . . on the Images from the 1900's Channel which features a young boy called "Lumpy." RABBIT'S KIN immediately put me in mind of this individual. The would-be large cat hunter in the spotlight here certainly deserves that sort of sobriquet. "Concussed," "Bumpy" and "Numb-Skulled" are other possible aliases for this totally inept feline. In the wild, members of the cat family seldom are confounded for very long by avians or rodents. Cats generally are so sure of themselves that they like to waste time "playing" with their food, whether it's a baby bird or new-born rabbit. As one species of fliers after another succumbs toward world-wide extinction due to the predations of the soft-pawed set, many viewers will be thrilled to see the stomping shoe on the other foot during RABBIT'S KIN.

Rabbit's Kin (1952)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

The dimwitted Pete Puma (a lion) chases a baby rabbit into a hole not knowing that Bugs Bunny lives there. Of course Bugs has a few tricks up his sleeve to teach the dumb lion. This is yet another classic entry in the series that manages to be very funny even though I can't stand one of the characters. The film's biggest weakness to me is the young rabbit who I just find too annoying to really be entertained by him. Outside of that this short offers up many laughs and a lot of the credit has to go to the Puma character. The dumbness of this character is top notch and the running joke involving lumps are priceless. The ending with Puma giving himself lumps is hysterical as are many of the teaching methods of Bugs.