Bugs and Thugs

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Gangster Animation Comedy Crime Family Short

When Bugs calls a cab he doesn't know it's the getaway car for a couple of bankrobbers (he does know the capital of Nevada).When Bugs calls a cab he doesn't know it's the getaway car for a couple of bankrobbers (he does know the capital of Nevada).When Bugs calls a cab he doesn't know it's the getaway car for a couple of bankrobbers (he does know the capital of Nevada).

Director
- Friz Freleng
Writer
- Warren Foster
Star
- Mel Blanc

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

1.9K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Friz Freleng
Writer
- Warren Foster
Star
- Mel Blanc

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos12

+ 6

Top cast1

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Mel Blanc

Bugs Bunny
(voice)
…

Director
- Friz Freleng
Writer
- Warren Foster
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews17

8.01.9K

Featured reviews

7CuriosityKilledShawn

Very Bunny

I was never too interested in the character of Rocky, he always seemed too one-dimensional and monotone. Of course this is intentional but I could never excited when a Rocky and Bugs cartoon came on. He was however great in Daffy's Golden Yeggs.

This time around Bugs is taking it easy in the city as Rabbit Season (DUCK SEASON!) is kicking off in the country. He hails a taxi to go for a cruise but ends up in the backseat of Rocky's getaway car.

Seconds later, Rocky has robbed a bank and is using Bugs as a hostage. Bugs a hostage? Puh-lease! He's got more wits and cunning in his baby finger than both Rocky and Mugsy together.

Very clever hijinks follow with a very funny ending.

9Mightyzebra

My favourite Bugs Bunny episode.

I slightly disagree with other viewers. I very much enjoyed this episode - even though I've never watched any gangster films! :-) I thought the jokes were very good, Bugs Bunny is just absolutely fabulous, the episode was exciting (more so than many Looney Tunes episodes) and the quotes were very good. The animation is subtly good, it is not something to rant on about though. **SLIGHT SPOILERS** The end part with the policeman is absolutely classic, probably my second favourite Looney Tunes moment EVER (my first favourite was the "The End" scene from "Duck Amuck"). **SLIGHT SPOILERS OVER**.

In this short, Bugs Bunny lives in a city and just when he has dropped by the bank to take out some carrots, he goes into a car belonging to two gangsters, thinking it is a taxi. He finds himself in quite a lot of danger with these guys, but Bugs always somehow has Plans (often ranging from A- Z) up his sleeve...

This episode is partly based on "Racketeer Rabbit" a Bugs Bunny cartoon made a few years before this. Even though some of the gags are very similar, I prefer this one.

I recommend this to anyone who likes Bugs Bunny (even if you do not like it you might as well give it a go), to people who like the idea of a Looney Tunes gangster episode and to people who like clever jokes with just that pinch of slapstick and farce in them. Enjoy "Bugs and Thugs"! :-)

8utgard14

"I must be dreamin'. It couldn't be this easy."

I always loved it when Looney Tunes parodied the old Warner Bros. gangster pictures. In this short, Bugs Bunny gets mixed up with a pair of bank robbers, diminutive Rocky and his dimwitted sidekick Mugsy. This short is similar in many ways (including a lifted gag involving an oven) to the classic Racketeer Rabbit. This one has a lot going for it on its own, though. The music is energetic, the colors are lovely, and the animation is creative and fun. The peerless Mel Blanc handles all of the voices so you know what kind of quality you'll get there. The pace is fast and the jokes are very funny. Bugs is as likable as ever and the two thugs are goofy caricatures you can't help but enjoy.

7phantom_tollbooth

A very funny but lesser reworking of 'Racketeer Rabbit'

Having already kidnapped Daffy Duck and Tweety in previous cartoons, gangsters Rocky and Mugsy get out of their depth when they try and take on Bugs Bunny. Friz Freleng's 'Bugs and Thugs' is an often hilarious cartoon which nevertheless pales in comparison to Freleng's earlier take on a similar scenario, 'Racketeer Rabbit'. 'Bugs and Thugs' climactic routine, which involves Bugs faking a conversation with the law while the gangsters are hidden in an oven, is taken directly from 'Racketeer Rabbit' but performed in a slightly more hurried fashion as if Freleng is already bored with the gag. 'Bugs and Thugs' is still a sufficiently funny and entertaining cartoon but it isn't nearly as handsome or well timed as its predecessor.

Michael_Elliott

Classic Bugs

Bugs and Thugs (1954)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Bugs Bunny jumps into what he thinks is a cab but it turns out to be the car of gangsters Rocky and Mugsy. The two think Bugs knows too much so they drive him to a cabin where they plan on shooting him but we all know the rabbit is a lot smarter. This is yet another winning short for Bugs who manages to get involved in some really nice action as well as some great gags. The gag involving him checking to see if a train is coming is certainly predictable but the laugh is still there. Another great gag has to do with a gas stove. Rocky and Mugsy are great characters as well and you can't help but laugh at them.

Trivia
Near the end of the film, Bugs' office has a sign that says "-Member- Detective Guild, Local 839". Local 839 of the IATSE was the Animation Guild, whose members made the cartoon.

Goofs
When Bugs gets a carrot out of his safe deposit box, there are no keys involved - and the box only has one slot for a key. Usually two keys are required - one held by the bank, and one held by the renter of the box, for security.

Quotes
[Bugs makes sounds like a police car stopping]
Bugs Bunny: [Irish accent] All right, Clancey, take the boys and surround the house.
[Runs through the door]
Bugs Bunny: Jiggers, the cops!
Rocky: Hide me! Quick, hide me!
Bugs Bunny: Here. hide in here, quick.
[Puts Rocky inside the stove]
Mugsy: Hide me too! Hide me! Wah-hah-hah! It's not fair! You've gotta hide me, too!
Bugs Bunny: I must be dreaming. It couldn't be this easy. Okay, quick. Hide in here.
[Hides Mugsy in stove]
Bugs Bunny: Now don't move until I tell you too.
Bugs Bunny: [Knocking on door] All right, open up! This is the police!
[Forces door open]
Bugs Bunny: All right, where's Rocky? Where's he hiding?
Bugs Bunny: [Normal] He's not in this stove.
Bugs Bunny: [as policeman] Oho! He's hiding in the stove, eh?
Bugs Bunny: Now look, would I turn on this gas if my friend Rocky was in there?
Bugs Bunny: [as policeman] Um, you might, rabbit. You might.
Bugs Bunny: Well, would I throw a lighed match in there if my friend was in there?
[Throws match in stove; it explodes]
Bugs Bunny: [as policeman] All right, rabbit, you've convinced me. I'll look for Rocky in the city.
[Closes door]
Bugs Bunny: The coast is clear, fellas. They've gone.
[Rocky and Mugsy come out of the oven, all burned and groggy; just then the real police arrives]
Policeman: Okay, Clancey. Take the boys and surround the house.
Bugs Bunny: Jiggers, fellas! The cops!
[Rocky and Mugsy hide back in the oven]
Policeman: [Knocking on door] Open up! This is the police!
[Bursts through door]
Policeman: All right, Rabbit. Where's Rocky? Where's he hiding?
Bugs Bunny: He's not in this stove.
Policeman: Oho! He's hiding in the stove, eh?
Bugs Bunny: Would I turn on this gas if he was in there?
Policeman: Um, you might, rabbit. You might.
Bugs Bunny: Well, would I throw a lighed match in there if he was in there?
Rocky: Oh no, you don't!
[He and Mugsy burst out of stove and grovel at the policeman's feet]
Rocky: Take me with you! Don't leave me with that screwy rabbit! I confess! I did it! Arrest me! Arrest me!

Connections
Edited into The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special (1980)

Soundtracks
Spring Song
(uncredited)
Music by Felix Mendelssohn
[Plays when Bugs says, "...through winding roads, past the green meadows and down shady lanes."]