- The Looney Blog
- Posts
- Crazy Cruise
Crazy Cruise
Directed by Tex Avery
Animation by Rod Scribner; Bugs was already such a star at this point that he gets to cameo at the end of a spot gag cartoon.
Release Date:
March 14, 1942
Main Character(s):
None
Summary:
Another spot gag cartoon around the world.
That’s Not All, Folks:
This is Avery’s very last Warner Bros. cartoon and he is again uncredited. Around the time this was released, he was already working at MGM.
Since Clampett finished the cartoon, the cartoon is included on Disc 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5 DVD set where the third disc is a compilation of cartoons directed by Clampett.
The cartoon no longer airs on television due to a few scenes with racial stereotypes as well as the ending gag being related to World War ll.
This is the first cartoon to feature my favorite patriotic song, “We Did It Before and We Can Do It Again” (which Carl Stalling often used in Warner cartoons released during World War ll).
This is also the last cartoon where the credits are shown on the title card rather than being shown separately.
What I Like About This One:
On a plantation, we here what a little tobacco bug is saying, thanks to the aid of a super sensitive microphone: he’s an auctioneer ending with the tagline “Sold to an American!”
The ship stops at a “Sloppy Joe’s” bar in Havana, and then continues on a “direct” course to the continent. Except the ship instead loops around drunkenly several times.
In the snow-capped peaks of the Swiss Alps, a plane’s pilot is forced to follow the mountain range at a very low altitude- by means of the plane crawling across the mountains.
A mountain goat showing off his “dangerous past time” of leaping from peak to peak to the tune of “London Bridge”. The sequence ends with him jumping off a cliff.
In the Egyptian desert, the Sphinx is said to just sit there “defying the ravages of time through the ages, day in, day out, year in, year out, century upon century sitting there. Motionless, silent, quiet”. The Sphinx reiterates on how utterly boring this position is: “Monotonous, isn’t it?”
An oil gusher is only a spittoon.
In the African jungle, an insect-eating flower gets stung from the inside by a bumblebee.
The animals’ water hole is a water fountain in the middle of the jungle.
“Veronica Lake” is a lake in the shape of the woman of the same name.
Two big game hunters (who are caricatures of Friz Freleng and Ken Harris) attempt to capture a few cannibals but the cannibals end up having captured them!
In the last scene, some cute little bunnies are about to be attacked by a vicious Japanese vulture, but the rabbits scramble into a bush and shoot down the enemy with an artillery gun. One of the rabbits turns towards the camera, revealing himself as Bugs Bunny, who gives a “Thumbs up, doc. Thumbs up.” The iris-out closes on his ears, forming a “V” for victory (animated by Rod Scribner).
Where Can I Watch It?
At toontales.net!
Carrot Rating:
🥕🥕🥕 ½