Release Date:

January 6, 1951

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny

Summary:

Bugs Bunny becomes Christopher Columbus’ mascot when he supports his belief of the world being round. When they set sail to discover America, however, Columbus’ crew believes that having a rabbit aboard is bad luck and attempt to get rid of him.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1156 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

This is the second cartoon to parody Christopher Columbus with the first being “Kristopher Kolumbus Jr.” The baseball gag from that cartoon is also reused here.

This one is notable for having Bugs encounter a historical figure. Another instance where he does this is in Freleng’s hilarious “Napoleon Bunny-Part” (1956).

The title is a pun for “here we go”.

The cartoon was originally titled “Lucky Rabbit’s Feat”. There would be a cartoon called “Rabbit’s Feat”, released in 1960, in Bugs’ third of five cartoons where he is pursued by Wile E. Coyote.

Columbus’ portrayal in this cartoon is a caricature of how Fredric March portrayed him in the 1949 film, “Christopher Columbus”.

This is one of a few cartoons to use the voice of an actress named Grace Lenard, who voices Queen Isabella in this cartoon. McKimson also used her again in 1952’s “The Super Snooper” where she voices the sexy female duck known as “The Body”.

While not available to view on its own, the animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

The music that plays over the opening credits (a rendition of “Don’t Give Up the Ship”) is also used over the main menu of the Looney Tunes Super Stars Bugs Bunny Hare Extraordinaire DVD set (as it was released before 1954, it is one of the few cartoons on that set presented properly).

What I Like About This One:

Columbus and King Ferdinand are first seen arguing about the world’s shape with “round” and “flat”, respectively (animated by Charles McKimson). Columbus says it’s as round as an apple while King Ferdinand says it’s as flat as a pancake. Annoyed, Columbus raves, “She’s a-round! She’s a-firm! She’s a-fully packed! She’s a-round like my head!” King Ferdinand flattens Columbus’ head with a mallet and says, “She’s flat like your head!” (animated by Bill Melendez)

Columbus and the globe are both kicked out of the palace (animated by Charles) before Columbus raves in faux-Italian. Bugs pops out of the ground and asks, “Eh, whatsa up, uh, docsa?” Columbus tells him, “I’m a-disgusted. A-nobody believes-a the world-a she’s a-round”. Bugs looks at the globe and states his thoughts, “Eh, she looks a-round to me, doc”. They then hear (animated by Rod Scribner) Queen Isabella calling to them. After they go over to her, she explains, “If you can prove the world is round, Chris, I’ll give you my jewels” (animated by Charles). Irritated that no one other than Bugs believes him (“Ravioli! All the time ‘prove’”), Columbus exclaims, “A-prove a-schmoove. She’s a-round” (animated by Scribner).

Bugs assures him, “Don’t let your spaghetti boil over, Chris. I’ll prove it for ya!” (animated by Charles). When Columbus asks how, Bugs demonstrates by taking out a baseball and throwing it into the distance. Seconds later, it comes back in the other direction, covered in travel stickers (animated by Melendez).

On April 7, 1492, Columbus’ ship’s log reads, “Today we set sail from Spain- Bugs Bunny on board -as mascot- for luck”. Once both Columbus and Bugs board, the crew are immediately against the idea of a rabbit joining them. A few sailors exclaim, “A rabbit! She’s a jinx!” and “He’s a-bad luck!” (animated by Charles) Columbus argues, “Rabbits are good luck. Atsa matta for you?” A tall, bald sailor comes up to him and retorts, “She’s-a bad luck! Atsa matta for you?” Bewildered at having a crew member talking back to him, Columbus responds, “Atsa matta for ME!? Atsa matta for YOU!?” Bugs jumps in, “Atsa matta for you! Tell ‘em, Chris!” Columbus speaks pungently to the bald sailor in faux-Italian with Bugs adding, “In spades!” (animated by Melendez)

Bugs then barks orders to the crew to do typical ship chores such as “Hoist the anchor! Stow the mizzenmast!” and instructs the bald sailor scrubbing the deck, “Come on, Curly! Pop up to the poop deck!” Heading into one of the rooms on the ship, Bugs says, “Let’s get this excursion started”, but before he can open the door, he ends up missing a sword thrown at him that gets pinned to the door. He then sees the crew confronting him with the bald sailor throwing the next sword. Bugs opens the door so the sword ends up flying into the room. It turns out it went through Columbus’ hair as he comes out and demands to know, “Who’s-a the wise-a guy!?” (animated by Phil DeLara)

On June 23, 1492, the log reads, “No Land in Sight- Crew Grumbling- Blame Mascot”. In their bunk beds below deck, the crew are seen ranting to each other about Bugs as one yells, “Rabbit’s a jinx!” (animated by John Carey) Meanwhile, Bugs and Columbus are shown sharing a bowl of soup for dinner where when it slides to their side of the table when the ship rocks back and forth, they take turns eating it while talking. “Are you sure you didn’t take a wrong turn, Chris?” “No wrong turn. Tomorrow-” “Tomorrow we what?” “Tomorrow we land.” “Tomorrow we land? Good. I’ll go down-” “Where are you goin’? Down where?” “And tell the crew”. Bugs gets up (animated by DeLara) only for the soup bowl to splat onto the ground next to him before he can walk out the door. Upon seeing the sign, “Captain’s Mess” on the door, Bugs decides, “Well, if it’s the Captain’s Mess, let HIM clean it up!” (animated by Charles)

The crew are still grumbling to each other in their beds, “That rabbit’s-a to blame!” “Let’s-a cut his ears off!” Bugs comes down and informs them, “Hi, fellas! (animated by Carey) Here’s your lucky rabbit with good news! We land tomorrow!” The crew cheers at this news (animated by Charles) before Bugs entertains them by singing “Let That Be a Lesson to You” while strumming a mandolin. After finishing, he goes back up, “So long, men! See you on the beach in the morning!”, to which they cheer (animated by Scribner).

The next scene fades in with the words, “Weeks Later No Land in Sight” shown onscreen. Fed up with Bugs, the crew begin to chase him all around the ship (animated by Carey). Bugs hides in the ship’s cabin and finds a postcard and spyglass as one of the crew members is heard shouting, “We lost-a him! Search-a the ship!” This crew member enters the room and finds Bugs before Bugs tells him, “Wait a minute, doc! Look, land!” and upon giving him the spyglass to see for himself, puts the postcard- which is of a skyscraper- in front of the spyglass. “She’s-a land!”, the crew member shouts before he jumps overboard without thinking (animated by DeLara). Seeing a picture of a desert island on the wall, Bugs gets an idea (animated by Charles).

Bugs nails the picture on the side of the ship (animated by Carey) and shouts, “Land ho! Land! Terra firma! Land ho!” The remainder of the crew immediately races off the ship, tearing through the picture into the water. Bugs then helps the smallest crew member overboard just as Columbus comes down blowing some sort of whistle-pipe combination. He asks Bugs where the crew is to which Bugs informs, “I had to discipline them, captain”. Columbus asks suspiciously, “What did you do?” Bugs answers, “I FIRED them”. Seeing the crew going off into the distance with their ships, Columbus calls to them, “Come-a back, my crew! I’ll-a FIX the rabbit!” Bugs reminds him, “You don’t know what you’re sayin’, Chris! We can do it together. They’ll be more credit for YOU!” (animated by Charles)

On October 11, 1492, the log reads, “Crew gone- One ship left- Mascot now cook. May have to cook mascot”. Bugs is shown serving Columbus dinner, with Columbus being very dismayed to find out he’s only being served “one little beans?” Bugs tells him to use his imagination and asks him if he’ll go for white or dark meat as if it’s a steak. Columbus answers with a greedy expression, “A-white!” and imagines Bugs as a headless roast chicken. Realizing that Columbus is hungrily coming towards him (animated by Charles), Bugs runs off still imagined as a headless roast chicken before he gets Columbus to snap out of it by splashing him with water, which causes him to see Bugs as a rabbit again (animated by Carey).

Columbus asks, “A-which way did he go?” Bugs points him forward, “That way, doc!” After Columbus runs off (animated by Carey), Bugs tells us, “And I’M going THAT-A way!” pointing in another direction. Suddenly, the ship hits land (animated by Emery Hawkins), causing Bugs to fall off of it. After Bugs falls headfirst into the sand on the shore (animated by Carey), he pops out and realizes, “Hey! America! I did it! Bugs Bunny discovers America!” He then hears Columbus calling out, “Bugs-a Bunny? WHO’S discovered America?”, standing proud with the then-flag of Spain. Bugs agrees, “Okay, Chris. You can have the credit” (animated by Scribner) and ends the cartoon with, “Heh. No use changin’ all the history books just for little old me!” (animated by Charles)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½