Release Date:

December 18, 1954

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny

Summary:

A pint-sized bank robber named Ant Hill Harry, aka Baby Face Finster, robs the bank and takes advantage of his small size and baby-like face to pose as a baby in a stroller. When his bag of stolen money rolls down the street in the stroller and said money lands in Bugs Bunny’s hole, Finster pretends to be an abandoned baby left at his hole in order to retrieve it. Bugs is at first delighted to take care of him and treats Finster like an actual baby, before eventually finding out about his true identity.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1324 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

This is the first of a few Jones cartoons from this period to have layouts by former Disney layout artist Ernie Nordli instead of Maurice Noble (though here, he’s credited as “Ernest Nordli”).

The 2006 film, “Little Man” infamously ripped off the plot of this cartoon and actually won a Razzie award for “Worst Remake or Rip-Off” the following year in 2007 (indeed, I have no doubt that Jones and Michael Maltese would’ve also disliked the film had they still been alive to see it).

Milt Franklyn scored this cartoon.

Despite this being one of Jerry Beck’s favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons, this one didn’t make the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons book (it’s the only one on the list to not be in the book, although he does count The Bugs Bunny Show as being among his favorites, which is mostly why the show itself has been undergoing a restoration project since early 2025).

The cartoon uses the 1955 red-purple rings in the opening and closing.

Finster is based off of gangster “Baby Face Nelson” (who was also parodied as “Baby Face Half Nelson” in Freleng’s “The Unmentionables” 9 years later).

Favorite Scene:

Bugs turns on his television just as he hears buzzing noises. He looks into the bathroom door’s keyhole and finds “Finster shaving at his age? And tattooed? And smoking a cigar?”, all of which he says in confusion. Upon seeing a broadcast about him and that he is actually an abnormally small bank robber, Bugs wises up and proceeds to abuse Finster in various hilarious ways.

What Happens in This One:

At the bank, several citizens are seen reaching for the ceiling and a bank teller is nervously loading up a bag full of money as a presumably tall robber wearing a hat and cloak is pointing a gun at him. The robber takes the bag of money and walks out backwards, all the while pointing his gun. The alarm sounds when he departs but after he turns several corners before ending up in an alley, he puts his bag in a stroller, tosses his hat near the trash, and then removes his cloak, revealing it to be Finster, who’s been standing on stilts to make himself look tall. With the police running towards him, Finster ditches his robber mask and stilts and then puts on baby clothes to make himself look like an innocent baby, causing the police to run back the other way (animated by Abe Levitow).

After the police run off, Finster sports an evil smile while getting out of the stroller and watching them run away, only to see (animated by Levitow) the stroller rolling down the hill, so he chases after it. The stroller stops in front of a large rock, causing the bag of stolen money to fly into Bugs’ hole and hit him on the head offscreen as he exclaims, “Ow-wich!” Realizing what this bag is full of, Bugs comes up, covered in dollars, as he laughs, “I’m rich! Diamond-studded hutches! 14-karat carrots!” before he goes back down, with the smoke coming from him forming into a dollar sign, and him grabbing three dollar bills that were left floating in the air. Having witnessed this, Finster starts thinking up a scheme while puffing on a cigar (animated by Lloyd Vaughan).

Inside his hole, Bugs is sorting the money while singing, “We’re in the Money”, before he is interrupted by baby crying outside. It turns out to be Finster posing as an abandoned baby outside the hole. Bugs goes up to investigate, “Eh, what’s up, uh, pediatrician?” and reads the note attached while mumbling, “Dear Kind Rabbit, Please take care of my little baby. His name is Finster. Thank you, oh, thank you. A Mother (broken-hearted, at that)”. With soulful eyes, Bugs takes pity on him, “Oh, the poor little foundling waif. Of course. I’ll be glad to”. Finster then holds up another note in annoyance, “P.S. Take him inside, you dope- you want him to maybe catch cold? Broken-hearted mom” (animated by Vaughan)

After Bugs has brought Finster inside and sat him down in a high chair, he tells him, “Now you wait just a minute, Finster, and Uncle Bugsy will get ya something to play with”. Once Bugs leaves, Finster notices the money on a table and begins bouncing in the high chair towards it. While searching through a toy chest, Bugs turns around to see what the noise is, only to see Finster babbling in baby-like gibberish, so he goes back to looking for a toy. After Finster gets closer to the money, Bugs has found the very toy he was looking for which is a wooden human figure bobbing up and down against a stick, “Ah, yes. Here it is. Hey, kid. How do ya like th-” (animated by Vaughan), only to see Finster climbing into the bag of money as he shouts, “Finster!” He then takes Finster away from it and puts him into a crib, “No, no, no, no. You mustn’t play with the money. It’s VERY dirty!” Finster then holds his breath and starts turning blue in the face, much to Bugs’ shock, “Finster, stop that! Why are ya holding your breath?” With his eyes shut, Finster points to the money and folds his arms as he goes from blue to purple. Bugs quickly grabs it off the table and gives it to him, “Okay, kid. Okay. Here, here, here ya are”, as Finster lets it out offscreen and then acts like a baby happily playing with the money. Bugs leaves in relief, “Gosh, don’t do that again! You had me scared!” (animated by Ken Harris)

Later, Bugs comes in with a tray full of baby formula under a platter and with a coffeepot presumably full of milk, “Finster, here’s your formula”, only to see that Finster has left the crib by means of tying diapers together like sheets. As Finster begins to sneak away with the money, Bugs is heard calling, “Finster! Finster! Where are you?” before sneaking up on him and tickling him from behind, saying quickly, “Cootchie-cootchie-cootchie”. Finster hits Bugs on the head with a mallet, causing him to say groggily, “Cootchie” before collapsing. After coming to (animated by Ben Washam), Bugs stops Finster from leaving the hole, “Finster, you come back here! Aren’t you ashamed!?”, before he puts the bag of money atop a high bookshelf. He then decides, “Now we’ll play some nice games before beddy-time”. Finster points his gun at Bugs who feigns shock, “Oh, goodness. Hopalong Finster’s gonna shoot Big Bad Guy Rabbit with his toy pistol”. Upon getting blasted in the face with it, Bugs, missing a bit of fur between his ears, remarks, “Some toy” before noticing Finster attempting to climb up the shelf to get the money. Bugs takes him off to go to bed, “No, no, Finster. It’s bedtime. Sandman’s waiting” (animated by Harris).

Having tucked him into a crib marked “Baby Buggsy”, Bugs finishes singing a variant of “Rock-a-bye Baby”, “And down will come Finster, cradle and all”. As Bugs sneaks away to shut off the lights, Finster grabs a baseball bat (animated by Harris) and attacks Bugs with it every time he shuts off the lights, only for Bugs to see him asleep every time he turns them back on. Bugs walks up to him and says, “Click”, which tricks Finster into attacking him with the bat again. Thinking Finster is having a nightmare, Bugs shouts, “Finster! Finster, wake up!”, causing Finster to drop the bat and then hug him while saying, “Da-da!” in baby talk (animated by Levitow).

“Shucks. Huh. What a cutie”, Bugs remarks as he turns on his television set. The static of his set turning on is obscured by electric razor-like noises and upon seeing a light coming from the bathroom, looks into said bathroom through the keyhole. The noise is revealed to be coming from Finster, who is shaving with an electric razor while smoking and is also shown to have chest and arm hair and a tattoo inscribed, “Maisie Singapore 1932”. Completely confused at what he just saw, Bugs walks away, asking himself, “Finster shaving at his age? And tattooed? And smoking a cigar?” A broadcast on the television then comes on with an APB of Finster in a gangster outfit shown onscreen, revealing him to be 2 feet tall, and an announcer heard saying, “Have you seen this man? (animated by Vaughan up to here) He is Ant Hill Harry, alias Baby Face Finster. Notorious bank robber believed to have perpetrated the daring Last National Bank holdup this morning. He is 35 years old, stands-”. Finally realizing what’s going on, Bugs sneakily shuts off the set and gives an “Ah-ha!” glance over to his left (animated by Harris).

Bugs then calls out in an endearing manner, “Oh, Finster! Oh, Finster, baby!”, before finding him trying to climb up the shelf to get to the money again. “Oh, there you are, you naughty baby!” He grabs Finster and begins shaking him aggressively while sounding like an irritated parent, “How many times have I told you not to play with the dirty money?” Bugs puts Finster in the washing machine, “We’ll just have to get ‘ems all tidied up!”, and after taking out Finster, who’s covered in bubbles from the machine, he says, “There. Nice enough to be kissed”. He then tosses him into the air, causing the bubbles to come off once he hits the ceiling, “And whoops the baby!” As Finster begins to fall back down, Bugs leaves, “Oh, dear. I do believe I’ve forgotten my fudge!” Once Finster falls down next to him, Bugs picks him up, “Aw, sakes alive! Did ‘ems fall down?” Finster attempts to stab Bugs with a knife, only for Bugs to move in a way that results in Finster stabbing his own behind, causing him to scream in pain and then mutter unintelligible cursing for stabbing himself. Having had enough, Bugs begins spanking Finster, with each spank causing a weapon to fall out from Finster’s baby clothes, “We’ll just have to learn NOT TO PLAY WITH KNIVES and NOT to use NAUGHTY WORDS! And BELIEVE me, Finster, this hurts you MORE than it does ME!” (animated by Washam)

At the police station, a knock on their door is heard as the chief instructs the cop in the office with him, “See who it is, Clancy”. Clancy goes to the door and begins to ask, “Yes, what is it now? Where? Wh-?”, before looking down at the doorstep and seeing Finster tied up in a basket, along with the bag of stolen money to return to the bank, and with a note, “Dear Kind Police, Please take care of my little baby, Finster, alias Ant Hill Harry. He is a bank robber, embezzler, thief, and crook. Thank you, oh, thank you!! Grateful”, revealing that this is all Bugs’ doing without asking for a reward for turning Finster in and for returning the money (animated by Washam).

At the State Prison, Finster is revealed to be imprisoned in a cell and locked up in a prison playpen while he is throwing a temper tantrum about his arrest, “Get me out of here! (cries) Get me another mouthpiece! I’ve been framed! (cries) I didn’t do nothing! (cries)” From outside, Bugs peers into his cell and tsks, “Don’t be such a crybaby. After all, 99 years isn’t FOREVER!” (animated by Washam)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕