Release Date:

February 9, 1957

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck

Summary:

Intending to go to Pismo Beach, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck mistakenly tunnel into Ali Baba’s treasure cave. Daffy is immediately obsessed with getting all the riches for himself, only for him and Bugs to have to evade the cave’s guard, Hassan.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1415 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The iconic phrase “HASSAN CHOP!” comes from this cartoon.

The cartoon was ranked number 35 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons and is also in the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons book.

Carl Stalling scored this one.

This is the only cartoon to be featured in more than one compilation movie. It was used in 1979’s “The Bugs Bunny-Roadrunner Movie” as well as 1982’s “Bugs Bunny’s 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales”.

Jones would rework a few elements from this cartoon for 1961’s “The Abominable Snow Rabbit”.

During his tenure on “SportsCenter”, Rich Eisen would sometimes say “HASSAN CHOP!” whenever a dejected baseball player would throw down his bat.

The cartoon was released on Jerry Beck’s second birthday.

Favorite Scene:

Daffy immediately jumps to the conclusion that the real genie he finds wants his treasure and stuffs him back into his own lamp, only to pay the price for it.

What Happens in This One:

After the title card and credits are shown across a camera pan in the cave, the exterior of the cave is shown with Ali Baba having the rock-like door in front of it close with the magic word, “Close, sesame!” Before he leaves on his small camel, he warns, “Guard well this treasure, o Hassan, or the jackals shall grow fat on thy carcass!” Holding his large sword, Hassan assures, “No one shall pass Hassan!” As Ali Baba and his camel depart, Bugs is seen tunneling across the desert sand and unknowingly up to Hassan standing in front of the cave with his sword pointing into the ground. Bugs bumps into the sword but then goes around it and tunnels right under the cave. Hassan does an angry take and attempts to open the door but forgets the magic word, “Open… duh…. eh, open…. duh…. o-open, uh, sasparilla? Uh, open, Saskatchewan?” (animated by Abe Levitow)

Bugs stops tunneling well into the cave and assumes he’s arrived, “Well, here we are! Pismo Beach and all the clams we can eat!”, but starts looking around upon realizing something’s not right. Daffy, who’s revealed to have come along with him, pops up and pounds some dirt out of his head, “What a way for a duck to travel! Underground!”, before he too realizes something off about this location, “Hey, wait a minute! Since when is Pismo Beach inside a cave!?” He then notices all the treasure in the cave as Bugs starts saying, “I wonder, uh, you know, I just bet we should’ve turned left at Albuquerque. And then maybe a right turn at La Jolla. Hmm. Eh, mm-hmm. Well, we can’t be too far off, so if we, uh-” Daffy suddenly begins jumping on Bugs and forcing him back down into the hole, “It’s mine, d’ya understand? Mine! All mine! Get back in there! Down, down, down! Go, go, go! Mine, mine, mine! (evil laughs)” After Daffy dashes off to the treasure, Bugs rises back up and asks, “Eh, what’s up, duck?” (animated by Ben Washam)

In ecstasy, Daffy dives into one of the treasure chests before jumping high into the air out of another, “I’m rich! I’m wealthy! Yahoo!” He submerges into another chest before coming up wearing a jewel on his head, holding a necklace in his left hand and a few coins in his right, “I’m comfortably well off! Wahoo!” (animated by Washam) Meanwhile, Hassan is still struggling with the correct word, “Duh, open, septuagenarian? Eh, uh, open, uh, saddle soap? Eh, o-open, sesame?” The rock door suddenly lifts up from Hassan finally having said the correct word. Briefly startled, Hassan angrily marches in to confront Bugs and Daffy. Wearing a jewel cap and pushing a small mine cart full of treasure, Daffy scats to “We’re in the Money” before coming across Hassan and misinterpreting what he’s supposed to be, “Ah! Red cap! Uh, call me a cab, boy, and be quick about it! I’m a heavy dipper!” Hassan brings down his sword onto Daffy, slicing his jewel cap into and parting the feathers on his head as if they were split hairs. After letting out some fake crying noises, Daffy does nothing for a few seconds and then runs off while screaming (animated by Levitow).

Daffy, with a jewel in hand, runs up to Bugs, who has gotten out of the hole, and is brushing himself off, “Quick! Quick! Save me, pal! And it’s yours! Gorgeous, isn’t it? Don’t be afraid! Have it appraised any place!” Bugs just nonchalantly tosses the jewel aside, much to Daffy’s shock, which then turns to annoyance, “Proud punk!” Hassan runs while holding his sword in a ready to attack position and shouts, “HASSAN CHOP!” Hiding up in the rocks, Daffy tells him, “Yeah? Well-well-well, chop the rabbit! He-he brought us here!” Hassan only sees Bugs in a bottle disguised as a genie, “Me genie, the light brown hare!” Hassan bows down, “Oh, mighty genie!” Bugs instructs, “Release me and I shall grant thee a rich reward!”, to which Daffy angrily shouts, “He’s lying! Chop him! Chop him!” Ignoring Daffy, Hassan picks up the bottle and shakes it upside down to get Bugs out, “Hassan release you, oh, master!” The bottle’s cork pops out and Bugs in his genie disguise falls out, landing on his head before standing back up in the correct position, “Thank you, Hassan. Now wouldst thou like to have all this treasure for thy very own?” Hassan answers excitedly, “Oh, oh, yes, master! Hassan like! Hassan LIKE!” Bugs pretends to grant it, “Very well” and after doing a few poses, does a nonsensical chant dance that begins with “Iggity-aggity oop!” Once finished, Bugs “grants” the wish, “It’s yours”. Hassan races over to the treasure and dives into one of the chests. Daffy comes up to Bugs and snarks, “‘Iggity-aggity oop!’”, before imitating Bugs’ dance, “Oh, oh, squeak! Ah, ah, (raspberry noise)!” (animated by Ken Harris)

Bugs has walked out of the cave, still wearing the genie turban in his disguise and realizes he is indeed at the wrong location evidenced by the numerous sand dunes, “I don’t know. I have a feeling that Pismo Beach ain’t QUITE this wide”. He then witnesses Daffy running out of the cave while wearing a large jewel and screaming, “Help! Help! Help! Save me, pal! Save me! HELP!” Hassan is following him with his sword raised and again yelling, “HASSAN CHOP!” Bugs calmly leads Daffy behind a large rock, “Okay, Daff. Back here”. From behind the rock offscreen, Bugs asks, “What’s with you, anyway?”, to which Daffy answers, “I can’t help it. I’m a greedy slob. It’s my hobby. Save me!” Hassan then runs by the rock, exclaiming once more, “HASSAN CHOP!” Still acting as a genie, Bugs misleads Hassan by pointing upwards into a cloud and saying in a stereotypical genie voice, “Him go that a way!” Hassan goes up the rope into the cloud, with Bugs trapping him in there by snapping the rope. Daffy, who’s hidden in the turban, whispers, “Is he gone?” Once Bugs confirms in his normal voice, “Yeah. I got rid of him”, Daffy immediately jumps off Bugs’ head and runs back to the cave, all the while wearing the turban. “Oh, boy! I’m rich! I’m wealthy! I’m independent! I’m socially secure! I’m rich! I’m rich! I’m rich!” Bugs only shrugs to the audience at this (animated by Richard Thompson).

A while later, Daffy has finished putting all of the treasure into an enormous mine cart, climbing a ladder to dump them into the cart’s interior. “There. I think that’s the last of it”. After he slides back down, Daffy decides, “Just a quick check to see if I missed anything”. He spots a genie lamp and wonders, “Hey! What’s this? Hmm” before rubbing it with his elbow, “Well, polished up, it might bring another quick four bits on the open market!” To his surprise (animated by Harris), an actual genie emerges out of it, “I am the genie of the lamp, oh, master!” Daffy angrily throws the lamp down and makes a very false conclusion as he begins stuffing the genie back down into his own lamp, “Oh, no ya don’t! You want my treasure! Well, it’s mine, understand!? ALL MINE! DOWN, DOWN! GO, GO! MINE!” He is suddenly pushed off by the genie erupting furiously out of the lamp and cursing Daffy for this, “Duck! You have desecrated the spirit of the lamp!” Bugs quickly jumps back into his hole and leaves the cave as the genie is heard continuing, “Prepare to take the consequences!” Unfazed, Daffy doesn’t care, “Consequences, schmonsequences. As long as I’m rich”. The genie then casts his spell on Daffy (animated by Washam).

Having arrived at the actual Pismo Beach, Bugs is attempting to pry open a clam as he says to himself, “I wonder how that crazy duck ever made out with that genie”. Once the clam opens, Bugs sees what’s in it, “Hey! What do ya know? A pearl!” Suddenly, a miniature Daffy, now with his voice high-pitched, runs out of the hole, revealing that the genie shrunk him. He runs up to the pearl in the clam as he shouts, “It’s mine, you understand? Mine, mine, all mine! Go, go, go! Mine, do ya hear me? Out, out, out! Mine, mine, mine!” As Daffy is heard continuing, “There’s only enough for me!”, Bugs responds sarcastically, “Oh, brother” and then says in slight annoyance, “Close sesame!” The clam slowly shuts on Daffy as he finishes, “I’m rich! I’m a happy miser!” (animated by Thompson)

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

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