Rabbitson Crusoe

Very funny Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam short, directed by Friz Freleng. In this one Sam is shipwrecked on an island for twenty years with nothing to eat but coconuts and a man-eating shark named Dopey Dick to contend with. One day Bugs floats by in a makeshift raft and Sam, eager to eat something besides coconuts, quickly "rescues" him with the intention of turning him into rabbit stew. Some hilarious Sam material in this one. It's one of his best cartoons and one of the rare ones in which he is more of the star than Bugs. The coconut jokes and Dopey Dick are priceless. The animation is nice and colorful. Milt Franklyn's score is lively. Excellent voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc.

I find this cartoon very funny. That Yosamite Sam makes me laugh when he said "Eeewww.... I HATE COCONUTS! 20 years of coconuts, I can't STAND coconuts!" which made me laugh all the time. Sam even hits Dopey Dick the Shark several times with a wooden mallet, made Dopey Dick go back into the water which also made me laugh. This has to be Yosamite Sam's best laughing cartoon I have ever seen in my entire life. Even when Sam tries to get coconuts from the coconut tree, Dopey Dick goes after Sam. Sam tries to cook Bugs Bunny for him to have rabbit stew. Sam has no vegetables to add to the rabbit stew because he cannot find any vegetables on the tropical island.

Definitely the best of any of the Bugs-and-Sam cartoons made after the early 50s. Time this cartoon with your watch sometime (even if it means not being able to SEE the cartoon). Although the traditional opening titles display Bugs munching on his carrot, the star himself doesn't appear till a good minute-and-a-half into the film......this is taken up with Sam's struggles with Dopey Dick, the shark (flowingly animated by Gerry Chiniquy). Then, when Bugs finally enters the picture, it's WHAM-BAM-BOOM!! Actually, as in most of these Sam episodes, Bugs has to do little or nothing to vanquish his adversary. One-and-a-half minutes--in a cartoon totaling six-and-a-half minutes--is quite a dare in terms of timing, but director Freleng pulls it off with verve and virtuosity.

Even thought the title would make you think otherwise, Yosemite Sam carries this cartoon. He stars as Sam Crusoe, stranded after a low tide and a high rock caused his ship to be wrecked. The use of space in this cartoon is as inspired as Sam's curse words. There is the shipwreck on the left, a tiny island with a hut in the middle and an even smaller island with one coconut tree on the right. When Sam wants a match, he has to go all the way to the ship (via some slippery rocks). If he is hungry, he has to brave the rocks on the other side of the island to get to the coconut tree. Both sides of the island are terrorized by a shark liveried varmint named Dopey Dick, who is determined enough to climb up trees after Crusoe. Luckily Sam has carved himself a hammer and a baseball bat out of driftwood to defend himself (and a surfboard too).

After a steady 20 year diet of tossed coconut salad, coconut milk and boiled coconuts, Sam can't stand coconuts no more. Just then Bugs Bunny arrives peddling a wooden crate with his ears, and he seems to have an unending supply of carrots on board. Of course Sam is not interested in carrots, he wants to cook the rabbit. A three way fight of survival ensues between, Sam, Bugs and Dopey (that ‘hammerheaded halibut'). When Bugs hides away on the shipwreck, Sam uses a balloon to get at him. But Dopey Dick continually gets in the way. Eventually the forces of nature start to interfere, forcing the mortal enemies to strike a deal. As always, Bugs decides he wants to go to San Francisco.

8 out of 10

The stranded-on-an-uncharted-island premise has been used so many times, that the Termite Terrace crowd had to use it (and they would use it later for the feature film "Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island"). In "Rabbitson Crusoe", Yosemite Sam - as foul-mouthed as ever - has been stranded for 20 years and is tired of eating coconuts and battling a shark (aka Shark-Livered Varmint, aka Hammerheaded Halibut) named Dopey Dick. So when Sam catches sight of Bugs Bunny floating around the ocean, he gets the rascally rabbit to come to the island...with the intention of turning him into rabbit stew. Sure enough, Bugs has ways of escaping this...which most likely involve Sam getting in danger.

As always, it's great fun to see Bugs turn the tables on individuals. And besides, Yosemite Sam is always asking for it. Maybe "Gilligan's Island" took a few tips from this cartoon. Really funny.