What's Up Doc?

For my money, the penultimate of Bugs Bunny's career.

Bugs tells his life story over the phone to the Disassociated Press (a clue for what we're in for.) We follow the trace of his career from dancing school, vaudeville, unemployment, a break from "big vaudeville star" Elmer Fudd (!), a twist in the act that's a hit with the audience and puts them in the big time.

And finally, Hollywood. The bit where they sing the title song does it for me. But even then, they still have a joke on him at the end. See it yourself.

I saw hardly anything wrong with this short - apart from the fact that it felt too short. I thought it was sweet, funny and had a good storyline. I thought it good that after less than ten years of Bugs Bunny, the WB studios were ready to make a history episode of Bugs Bunny's life. That is what the plot-line is. It may not be how other people see it, but it's just a cartoon. "What's Up Doc" may not have the humour right for everybody, but it can appeal to a wide range of people, many who might even say they do not like Looney Tunes. This is one of my favourite Bugs Bunny shorts and there are many other people out there with similar tastes as me, who will enjoy it even more, or just as much.

In this episode, Bugs Bunny, sunbathing beside his swimming pool, receives a call from a reporter who wants to know about his life. Bugs gives an account of his days from babyhood to the now and we see him performing in familiar and unfamiliar episodes and it is a delight to watch...

I recommend this to anybody who is bored of the slapstick and farce in Looney Tunes and prefers different sorts of this WB cartoon series. Enjoy "What's Up Doc?" :-)

Okay, now, I'm sick of hearing about how Robert McKimson doesn't match up with against the "great" Looney Tunes directors like Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, and I've even read in a book written by one of the foremost cartoon critics, Leonard Maltin, that he doesn't even compare well against Art Davis! I'm not going to denigrate those other directors (well, maybe Davis), we come here to praise McKimson. Sure, he's had his stinkers, but so has everyone else mentioned. When anyone says he's not in the the same league as these others, just remember that those four are a few of the greatest names in cartoon history. As evidence for my case I call upon "A Lad in His Lamp", "Hillbilly Hare", "Walky Talky Hawky", "Devil May Hare", "Stupor Duck", and the list of great 'toons goes on. How about the creation of such characters as Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk, Hippety Hopper, Sylvester Jr., Speedy Gonzales, and the Tasmanian Devil, amongst others.

In What's Up Doc? (yes, my little rant is over) we have another of those wonderful devices where a cartoon character tells us about his rise to stardom, and it's never been done better. (Quick Quiz: Name all of the stars in the park). The vaudeville scenes are highlighted by the duo of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd singing "What's Up Doc?". Although I'll admit that the joke at the end is a little tame, overall this is one of those memorable Warner Bros. cartoon from their golden age. Oh, and did I mention that this is directed by Robert McKimson?

While the cartoon feels rather short and the story on the standard side, it is a interesting, memorable and handsomely mounted Bugs Bunny cartoon. Nothing here is remarkably funny, but there are some effective scenes like the scene in the park and the repeat of "What's Up Doc?" The cartoon also begins and ends in a very cute fashion, and throughout there is handsome animation, lovely vaudeville-like music and excellent voices from Mel Blanc and Arthur Q.Bryan as Bugs and Elmer who make a great double act if I must say so. Bugs is great here, he's been better, but I like his somewhat subdued side here, and Elmer is fine.

Overall, memorable and interesting, not the best but a cartoon worth watching. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Before Hollywood biographies centered on drug abuse and such things, "What's Up Doc?" portrayed Bugs Bunny telling his life story from childhood - "I knew I was different, and then it hit me: I was a rabbit in a human world." - up to his career in entertainment. However, it seems like there's a little less in this cartoon than the Looney Tunes cartoons usually showed. But I'd say that it's strength lies in its portrayal of the lack of employment in Hollywood (which I've heard is actually around 95%), and how it forces individuals into self-degrading work. I always get the feeling that whenever the Termite Terrace crowd made cartoons spoofing Tinseltown, they were probably basing the cartoons on their personal experiences. Maybe I can't prove that, but I just get that feeling.

So, it's not the greatest cartoon, but worth seeing. I don't know whether or not you're rooting for me, so now I have to go.