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

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"! :-)

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.

10tavm

Bugs and Thugs was one of my favorites as a kid

Bugs goes to the bank to get a carrot among many in his deposit box. At the same time, Rocky has robbed it and is about to get in his car with Mugsy as the driver when Bugs comes in first mistaking it for a taxi. When Rocky comes in with his bags of money, the rabbit at first thinks it's laundry. He wises up and attempts to call the police at a nearby gas station but is caught by Mugsy before he can complete it. It all results in one of the funniest police captures in cartoon history! This was one of my favorites as a little kid and seeing it today on The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 1 brought back great memories of watching this on "Bugs Bunny and Friends" which aired every afternoon at 3:30 pm central time on WRBT-TV, Baton Rouge, La. (It's now WVLA). Kudos once again to Friz Freling.

8movieman_kev

Shut up shutting up

Gangsters Rocky and Mugsy are first introduced in the short that has Bugs Bunny getting into the getaway car of the duo by accident when he mistakes it for a cab. The short is pretty funny, yet Bugs isn't really in the top of his form here. Still it's worth watching and contains a highly quotable line or two. The ending is a tad on the weak side however. It's still the best of the Rocky and Mugsy shorts (they were in two others I believe, but don't quote me on that). This animated short can be found on disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1.

My Grade: B-

9lee_eisenberg

bugging the thugs

Even if you're not totally familiar with gangster movies from the '40s and '50s, "Bugs and Thugs" still comes out quite funny. When Bugs Bunny accidentally enters a gangster car while crook Rocky is robbing a bank, Rocky decides that Bugs knows too much (e.g., 2+2=4, Carson City is the capital of Nevada, George Washington was our first president), so they take him hostage. As always, Bugs is ahead of everyone. But it's not until the end, during a trick involving the cops - Irish, natch - that Bugs shows his true, normal colors. I probably would have done what Rocky and Mugsy did.

It's just always great how the Looney Tunes cartoons played off of the popular culture of their era. Rocky was probably a parody of James Cagney, and Mugsy just seems to be a big excuse to be dimwitted. Anyway, it's a really funny cartoon, even if we have to wait a little while until Bugs does his usual stuff.

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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."]