Release Date:

March 15, 1952

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam

Summary:

All of the prospectors in the Klondike are terrified of claim jumper Yosemite Sam (as “Chilikoot Sam”), who wants their gold for himself. Sam is not pleased with the slim pickings around here, and is bewildered when Bugs Bunny comes in with a large gold boulder. Finding out from the barkeep, Pierre, that Bugs gets a “funny feeling” whenever he’s near gold, which allows him to find it easily, Sam uses Bugs to help him find gold.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1174 and was released as a Looney Tune.

As evidenced by the production number, this one was likely delayed due to Paul Julian’s departure and Irv Wyner replacing him.

Like “8 Ball Bunny”, this one begins with a number in its title. When listing all Warner cartoons in alphabetical order, this one would be placed with the “F”’s.

“14 carrot” is an obvious pun for “14-karat”. Incidentally, in 1957’s “Bugsy and Mugsy” (also directed by Freleng), Bugs misinterprets Rocky’s calling of the jewelry he and Mugsy robbed (“14 karat”) for the vegetable.

Despite taking place in the Klondike (up in Alaska), the climate isn’t cold and snowy.

During the scene where Sam and the dirt he’s digging up is taken away by Bugs driving a dump truck and then deposited over a cliff, Sam believes he’s dug “clean through to Chi-nee” when coming out upside down just before he lands on the ground. This is of course, a common joke in cartoons where one ends up in China after going underground. This joke would later be used by Freleng for the ending gag of “Tweety and the Beanstalk” (1957) and by Jones in the final gag of his last Warner cartoon, “War and Pieces” (1964).

Favorite Scene:

Sam vows to chase Bugs through “every state in the Union” and literally does up to Kentucky, complete with a montage of them running across a US map.

What Happens in This One:

In “The Klondike Where Men Are Men And Women Are Women (A Darn Good Arrangement)”, a prospector is shown panning for gold, when Sam suddenly shows up and threatens, “Okay, Louie! Drop the pan!” Louie is scared to see it’s “Chilikoot Sam!” Sam responds, “Yeah, Chilikoot Sam! The roughest, toughest, rootinest shootinest claim jumper that ever jumped a claim! And I’m-a takin’ over YOUR claim! Now get a-goin’ before I puncture your hide!”, and starts shooting while laughing maniacally. Sam then laughs at the way Louie ran away, “He jumped around like a toady-frog!” but is not pleased to see that he got only a few little gold rocks, “Hmm. Pickin’s is mighty slim around here! Hardly no reward for a day’s work!” (animated by Arthur Davis)

In the saloon that is literally called “Next to Last Chance Saloon” (to the right of the “Last Chance Saloon”), Sam takes the gold rocks he stole inside and asks Pierre the French-accented barkeep to weigh them up and also threatens, “And keep your thumb off of them scales or I’ll BLOW it off!” Pierre finds these are pretty small and are only worth $10. “Ten dollars!?”, Sam exclaims, “Why, it’s gettin’ so a man can’t earn a dishonest living no more!” He suddenly hears Bugs exclaim, “There’s gold in them thar hills!” and come in carrying a large gold boulder (animated by Davis). It turns out this isn’t the first one Bugs has found, as evidenced by Pierre asking, “Well, back with another one, eh?” After Bugs puts the gold boulder down on the counter, he asks, “Eh, uh, how about a couple of carrots for this rock, Pierre?”, to which Pierre complies. Bugs leaves, telling him, “Keep the change, doc” (animated by Ken Champin).

Sam sputters in incoherent bewilderment at how Bugs found gold that easily to which Pierre explains, “Oh, sure. He does that all the time. They say when he is near gold, a funny feeling comes over him!” Getting an idea, Sam deviously says to himself, “Well, I got a funny feeling coming over ME!” (animated by Champin)

Hiding behind a rock, Sam watches Bugs walking along while singing “Fiddle Dee Di” before he suddenly stops and does his “funny feeling”, which is a series of wacky moves and poses, timed to drums and cowbells. Bugs only finds a gold collar button. “I wish people would stop losing them things”. Sam appears out from behind the rock and greets him in a fake, friendly manner, “Well, if it ain’t my old friend, the rabbit! Say! I like you! You’re a good Joe! I like you so much, I’m a-gonna make you my partner! All you have to do is find the gold and I’ll share it with ya 50-50!” Wise to this ploy, Bugs flutters his eyebrows at the audience and plays along, “Honest and for true?” Sam confirms, “Sure! Square Deal Sam, they call me!” Upon Bugs declaring, “Well, what are we waiting for, partner? There’s gold in them thar hills!”, Sam excitedly follows him (animated by Virgil Ross).

Bugs and Sam walk up a mountain with Sam carrying the digging tools. Bugs tells him, “We oughta be gettin’ near gold territory now!” and once at the top, says “I’m beginning to get that peculiar feeling!” and goes into his “funny feeling” bit again. Once Bugs confirms, “That’s the spot!”, Sam excitedly starts digging into the ground with a pickax, with Bugs requesting, “Maybe I should help. After all, we ARE partners”. Sam reveals his true intentions, “Partners!? Our partnership is dissolved! This is all mine! Now beat it!”, and throws a rock at him, which Bugs ducks. Bugs is annoyed, “Well, of all the double-crossin’-!”, but then sees that he’s standing on a cliff, and upon seeing the long drop below, realizes that Sam is about to chop through and fall (animated by Ross). “Gee, I couldn’t do that to the little guy” (animated by Manuel Perez). He begins to warn, “Hey, Sam!”, but Sam only throws another rock at him and yells, “Shut up!” With Sam refusing to listen, Bugs shrugs and waits for the inevitable to happen while munching a carrot. Sam eventually chops a hole against the cliff side resulting in him falling into the lake far below. Bugs then leaves the mountain with the digging tools (animated by Davis).

At another spot, Bugs figures, “He should be along any minute now” and starts digging with a shovel upon hearing Sam fume, “I’ll tear him from limb to limb!”. Sam catches up to him, “Aha! Caught ya! Tryin’ to get the gold for yourself, eh? Gimme them tools! Now, scram, ya dirty thief!”, swinging the shovel at Bugs, who runs off. As Sam is in the midst of digging, the dirt area he’s digging up is suddenly picked up and carried off by a dump truck, which is being driven by Bugs. Bugs deposits Sam and the dirt over the edge of a cliff. Sam comes out upside down and believes, “Great horny toadies! I must’ve dug clean through to Chi-nee!”, before he and the rubble land on the ground (animated by Perez).

Coming out of the rubble, Sam fumes, “Ooh! Ooh, I’ll get that fur-bearin’ critter even if I has to chase him through every state in the Union!” (animated by Perez) Having accepted his challenge and wearing a track and field outfit, Bugs calls out to him, “Ya better hurry, Sam if you wanna catch me! I got my running pants on!” He gets into a starting position and says the usual, “On your mark, get set-” before Sam finishes and fires at his tail, “Go!” (animated by Davis) A montage of Sam chasing Bugs across a US map then ensues with them going out of Alaska (which wasn’t a state yet when this cartoon was released), through Canada, and down into the contiguous US into Washington (animated by Ross), Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana (animated by Davis).

In Kentucky, Bugs gets the “funny feeling” again, but Sam believes this is another trick. “Oh, no ya don’t! Ya don’t get me to go for that trick again!”, but then sobs, “But I can’t take any chances!” He starts digging with a pickax, as Bugs watches him. Sam ends up taking out several bricks of 24k gold, excitedly claiming, “Gold! I’ve struck it rich! I’m a billionaire! I’m a trillionaire! I’m a zillionaire! I’m rich! I’m rich!”, but the camera pans back to reveal that the place is the United States Gold Reserve at Fort Knox, and two guards are watching him unknowingly steal gold from them! Seeing the guards, Sam’s excited shouts then turn to an “Uh oh” tone, as he slowly takes more gold bricks out, “I’m- I’m- (groans in worry)” (animated by Champin, with Ross animating Bugs’ “funny feeling”).

Bugs watches Sam being dragged off by the guards into the distance as Sam rants, “Put me down now! It’s my gold! I worked hard for it! Let me go now! I’ll call the cops! Put me down! It’s my gold! I found it! Let me go!” Bugs then calls out to Sam, “So long, Sam! See you in 20 years!”, only for a guard behind him to ask, “And what are YOU doing here?” Bugs answers nervously, “Oh, uh, me? Well, uh, heh ,heh, I-I’m waitin’ for a streetcar”. After the guard asks, “Oh, yeah?”, a ship’s horn suddenly blares and somehow appears without moving on water. Bugs decides, “But in a spot like this, a boat will do”, and climbs aboard it before it departs into the distance (animated by Perez).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕