Release Date:

January 3, 1948

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny

Summary:

Adrift in a barrel, Bugs Bunny ends up in “Bingzi-Bangzi, the Land of Ferocious Apes” where a mother gorilla, depressed at having no children, finds him and wants him to be her baby. Deciding to go along with it, Bugs ends up having to go against the mother gorilla’s child-hating husband, Gruesome, who plans to do away with Bugs. Of course when it comes to Bugs, that is easier said than done.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1036 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The cartoon is a parody of the jungle-themed movies of the 1930’s and 1940’s that prominently featured gorillas, such as the “Tarzan” films (Tarzan himself also makes a cameo in this cartoon).

This is a notable instance where Mel Blanc voices a female character, in this case, Mrs. Gorilla. Another instance where he voices a female character is for the mother turtle in McKimson’s “The Shell Shocked Egg” (released later in 1948).

The cartoon’s plot was reused for Freleng’s “Apes of Wrath” (1959). Incidentally, both cartoons were written by Warren Foster.

This cartoon is a perfect example of McKimson’s portrayal of Bugs with him being a tough guy who goes up against fierce and dangerous foes, in this case, Gruesome.

Bugs would go up against a similar-looking gorilla in McKimson’s “Hurdy Gurdy Hare” (1950).

The cartoon is in the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons book.

You can find out who animated what scene here.

The title is a pun for the phrase “girl of my dreams”.

“Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals” plays during the scene near the end where Gruesome chases Bugs all over the jungle and up to the point where Bugs skids to the edge of a cliff. This is also the most memorable usage of this piece (and easily the best rendition as well).

If you closely in Gruesome and Mrs. Gorilla’s home, they have a picture frame of the “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil” monkeys.

What I Like About This One:

While adrift in the barrel and tossing out carrot stems, Bugs sings a beautiful rendition of “Trade Winds” while reading “Esquire” and also has a jug of H20 with him (animated by Anatolle Kirsanoff with Charles McKimson animating the shot of Bugs in the barrel).

The rendition of “Congo” that plays during the scene where we first see the lives of the apes in “Bingzi-Bangzi” including a few that read books such as “Apes of Wrath” and “Our Vines Have Tender Apes” (animated by Fred Abranz).

Mrs. Gorilla asks, “Why hasn’t the stork ever visited us, Gruesome?” but he keeps growling as he could possibly care less. “Kids”, he mutters before continuing to growl (animated by Manny Gould).

Crying by the river, Bugs’ barrel suddenly shows up and he finishes “Trade Winds” just as Mrs. Gorilla looks inside and decides to take him home (animated by Izzy Ellis). As Bugs performs a brilliantly-sung rendition of “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat”, Mrs. Gorilla swings across the canyon with Bugs’ barrel and at one point stops at a “Stop” and “Go” signal coming out of a tree branch to let Tarzan pass. As Mrs. Gorilla goes to the top of a tree, Bugs rises out of his barrel just as he sings the last verse, “But with love as my guide, I’ll follow the tide. I’ll keep sailing till I find you” and upon realizing he actually did find someone, asks Mrs. Gorilla, “What’s up, doc?” (animated by John Carey)

Mrs. Gorilla happily zooms down to the ground with Bugs (animated by Kirsanoff) and starts kissing him affectionately, but Bugs won’t have any of that and tells her off. “Cut that out, Gargantua! I ain’t an ape! I’m a rabbit! Hey, look. Long ears. Fluffy tail. Technically known as a rodentus rabbitus!” This only ends up hurting Mrs. Gorilla’s feelings as she sobs, “My baby doesn’t love me!”, which causes Bugs to feel guilty. “That’s my soft spot. Dames cryin’. So she thinks I’m her baby. Well, I can go along with the gag.” He apologizes and begrudgingly refers to her as “Mother” to which he is pulled offscreen and suddenly in baby clothes. “Me and my big fat mouth!” (animated by Charles)

After Mrs. Gorilla brings Bugs back to the house (animated by Abranz), Gruesome is surprised and is not pleased when Bugs refers to him as “Daddy” and starts acting like a monkey all over the house, ending with him plucking the red hair off of Gruesome’s hair. “I think I’ll take Junior for a little walk”, he tells Mrs. Gorilla (animated by Gould).

Gruesome skips along while having Bugs hit the ground and then plays “Upsy-Daisy” by tossing him into the air very hard (animated by Ellis). Bugs decides, “Eh, this kid don’t know his own strength” as he falls with Gruesome intentionally failing to catch him. “Eh, you missed me, doc. Shall we try it again, MY way?”, Bugs asks. His “way” is bashing Gruesome on the noggin with a shovel which causes him to jump up and down angry (animated by Abranz).

Bugs then gets Gruesome to dance in tune to Conga music while Bugs scats the Conga tune and repeatedly kicks a coconut tree with the intention of having one fall on Gruesome’s head. Bugs ends the dance by shaking the tree where a coconut hits Gruesome directly on the head, making him look like he’s wearing a football helmet (animated by Gould, with Kirsanoff animating the shot of the tree’s coconuts being revealed).

Gruesome begins to chase Bugs (animated by Ellis) and while Gruesome is hanging upside down on a limb, he finds Bugs walking across upside down and telling him, “Break it up! Break it up! You can’t hang around here!” Gruesome is so shocked at this sight that his feet go off the limb, although his fall isn’t shown (animated by Carey).

In tune to a fantastic rendition of “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals”, a frantic chase through the jungle ensues first across tree branches and vines (animated by Abranz), and then only Bugs’ and Gruesome’s silhouettes being shown in the trees. This sequence ends with Bugs skidding to a cliff (animated by Kirsanoff) with Gruesome approaching him (animated by Charles).

Bugs surrenders and tells Gruesome, “Okay, doc. You got me fair and square. I throw myself on your tender mercies” (animated by Charles). He then allows Gruesome to beat him up, but Gruesome ends up getting so tired out from doing this that Bugs is able to knock him over by blowing at him. “Ha! I wore him out!”, Bugs confides as he grabs a branch and imitates an ape (animated by Gould).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕