Ali Baba Bunny

This is a great cartoon for several reasons: 1 - Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are both in it; 2 - it's filled with classic lines (many by Daffy); 3 - the humor is both subtle and slapstick; and 4 - it looks fantastic with a restored version. The colors are magnificent. (See it on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5).

This story includes a bunch of treasure, a big guard named "Hassan" guarding the loot, and a genie. As with some other cartoons that featured both Bugs and Daffy, our rabbit friend doesn't do much, just lets the duck make a fool of himself.

This is very entertaining start to finish - tons of good gags - and one of those cartoons that always will be funny no matter how many times you see it.

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are burrowing their way to a beach in South Florida they take a wrong turning and end up in a cave containing diamonds and riches. Daffy immediately reacts and greedily tries to claim all the treasure for himself. However as he carries it out of the cave he meets Hassan, the guard, who threatens to chop him in half. Daffy runs back to Bugs for help.

Any short film staring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck is going to have potential no matter what the setting or plot, however it is no guarantee that the cartoon will work necessarily. This film is a case in point as I didn't feel it was very good. The material is reasonable enough and there is enough energy to be amusing but it is never really laugh-out-loud funny.

Part of the problem for me were the characters. Bugs is OK but feels like he doesn't have enough material to really do his tricky stuff well, this is the downside of splitting the short with Daffy. As a fan of Daffy in his crazy period, his greedy side is not as funny to me but it is that that the film relies on here. As such this weakened the short a little for me but for fans of that side of the duck it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Overall this is an average cartoon despite the presence of two big stars. Neither Bugs nor Daffy are really used as well as they have been in other things on their own. However any short with these two is always going to be at least worth a look.

A wrong turn on the way to Pismo Beach finds Bugs and Daffy deep in Ali Baba's cave, where a mountain of treasure tempts the always avaricious duck despite a hulking guard wielding a scimitar. This is a pretty typical Bugs outing. All the expected gags are trotted out as the every-resourceful rabbit flips from identity to identity (genie, snake-charmer, etc) to outwit his dim-witted and credulous opponent despite the best efforts of his pushy, hyper-kinetic, duck-billed sidekick. I remember watching this one as a kid and then running around the playground waving a stick and yelling "Hassan chop", a behaviour that, these days, would result in the rapid deployment of a team of child counsellors tasked with explaining to me that ethnic stereotypes and threats to slice people in twain just aren't funny (#35 in the '50 Greatest Cartoons').

An absolutely wonderful cartoon. But I'm biased - saw it first at the Cartoon Cinema in Sheffield England in 1958 or thereabouts aged 7 with grandmother. To me it's one of the finest and funniest Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Granted it might attract disparaging comment for the stereotypical Arabs - but it is of its time and that time was 1957. So far as I know it never has attracted criticism from the Arab world.

It is delightful for the interplay between the greedy (capitalist?) duck and his pretensions ("I'm comfortably well off...") and the world wise but decent Bugs Bunny - who rescues the duck from his folly only for Daffy to blow it at the end - with yet more greed.

A fable for our times yet again?

Oh, and Pismo Beach is in California, not Florida.

Duncan Stewart.

One fine day, the Sultan of Baghdad closes Sesame, and reminds guard Hassan: "Guard well this treasure, or may the jackal grow fat on thy carcass." Hassan affirms: "No one shall pass Hassan." However, neither man counted on two people, er, animals: Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. It just so happens that they accidentally burrow right into the cave. When they see where they've landed, Bugs tries to figure out where they took a wrong turn, while Daffy spots the treasure. His greedy side takes over, and after forcing Bugs back into the hole, Daffy proceeds to play in the treasure.

Meanwhile, Hassan has finally remembered the password. He goes after Daffy, while Bugs disguises himself as a genie and grants Hassan a wish. After they finally manage to get rid of that guard, Daffy accidentally finds the real genie, and...well, let's just say that they don't become friends. Bugs flees, of course.

Once again, Chuck Jones and company hit the comedy jackpot. This is what classic cartoons are all about. In my opinion, the Looney Tunes were always better than Disney.