Release Date:

April 30, 1949

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam

Summary:

In a small Western town, Bugs Bunny is presenting various acts onstage but the only act Yosemite Sam wants to see is Fearless Freep the High Diver. When Freep is unable to show up, Sam forces Bugs to do the high diving act, but it’s always Sam who ends up taking the plunge.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1077 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue.

This is a great example of a cartoon making use of a single joke (Sam falling into the tank of water) and making it funny every time and never repetitive.

This is the first cartoon where Sam says, “Great horny toads!”

This is the last cartoon to use the “Bugs sits atop shield eating a carrot before he pulls down the Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies card” intro. Almost every Bugs Bunny cartoon released after this one uses the familiar Bugs headshot.

Both restorations for this cartoon (the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 DVD set in 2003 and the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 3 Blu-ray set in 2014) inexplicably have a lower audio pitch.

The cartoon was used in the 1981 compilation movie, “The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie”, a compilation of Freleng cartoons.

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

Sam references the at the time hit novelty, “Open the Door, Richard”. This was previously referenced in “Crowing Pains”.

When Bugs is announcing the acts at the start of the cartoon, one of the posters behind him is advertising “Frizby the Magician” (a reference to Freleng).

Freleng previously used a high diving gag in “Stage Door Cartoon” and would do so again in his next cartoon, “Curtain Razor” (which is this coming Monday’s cartoon).

For six summers in a row (2016-2021), my family had a membership for the Shamrock Recreation Club in Watkinsville which had two pools with the lower one having a diving board. Whenever I went off the board, I would normally imitate Sam’s falls from this cartoon as well as of Wile E. Coyote’s falls whenever he fell off a cliff.

What I Like About This One:

The exciting music over the opening credits, which signifies you are definitely in for something special.

As Bugs is announcing the “15 sensational acts; 15 elaborate scenes”, he asks the audience to pardon him for a moment while he chomps a carrot. He continues, “Butterfingers and Clumsy, the World’s Foremost Jugglers; Fearless Freep and His Sensational High Diving Act”. Sam proves how much of a fan he is when he immediately zooms up, “Fearless Freep!? That’s my boy!” and shouts, “Yippee!” while firing his guns. Bugs tells him, “Step aside, son. Ya bother me” while nudging him with his cane. As Bugs announces, “15 sensational acts for 15 cents”, Sam jumps up and grabs a whole roll of tickets for Freep’s performance: “Give me a ticket! Give me a whole MESS of them! I’m-a splurgin’!” Bugs cuts the roll before Sam can take them all (animated by Virgil Ross).

An excited Sam comes in, firing his guns, and announces, “Bring on Fearless Freep! On with the show!” (animated by Pete Burness) As the townsfolk stomp their feet and clap in rhythm for the upcoming attraction, Sam demands Bugs, “Come on! Quit stallin’! Bring on Freep!” As Bugs is explaining Freep’s death-defying 500-foot dive into a small tank of water on the stage, he hears a knock on the backstage door. It’s a telegram from Freep, “Delayed By Storm. Stop. Arrive Tomorrow- Signed Fearless Freep”. Gulping upon hearing the audience become impatient, Bugs gets them to quiet down and announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, due to an unfortunate delay, Fearless Freep will be unable to perform his high diving act today” (animated by Manuel Perez). Sam doesn’t take the news very well as he jumps up in anger: “WWWWWWWWWhat!?” (animated by Ken Champin)

Sam comes up on the stage and complains, “I paid my four bits to see the high diving act, and I’m-a gonna SEE the high diving act!” Bugs tries to again explain about the delay but Sam interrupts him, “Oh yeah? Well, SOMEONE’S gonna do the high diving act, and that someone’s-a gonna be YOU”. Bugs says he can’t because heights give him dizzy spells, “goosebumps on my goosebumps”. Sam shows that he won’t take no for an answer by firing at Bugs’ feet to which Bugs decides, “Well, ya talked me into it” (animated by Champin).

After Sam forces Bugs up the very long ladder (animated by Burness), Bugs looks down at the long plunge below and runs back to Sam in fear. Sam pushes him off towards the edge but Bugs holds on with his toes (animated by Gerry Chiniquy). Sam demands, “Now, ya varmint, DIVE!” Bugs seemingly complies, “But you gotta close your eyes while I put on me bathing suit”. Sam does so, but tells him to “Make it snappy!” After Bugs puts on an old-fashioned bathing suit, Bugs spins the board around (animated by Ross) so that he jumps down onto the platform and imitates the falling sound effect by whistling before yelling, “SPLASH!” and gargling down a glass of water (animated by Chiniquy).

Thinking “By gar! The critter went and done it”, Sam steps off the board and begins to fall. Bugs races back down to watch this in action. Sam falls into the tank so fast that it comes apart, leaving him to only move around in standing water (animated by Perez).

Bugs is about to present the next act but he is confronted by a drenched Sam who threatens, “I said I aim to see ya dive, and I’m-a going to!” (animated by Perez) At the top of the board, Bugs jumps on it several times while doing the “1 for the money, 2 for the show, 3 to make ready and 4 to GO!” and jumps on it so hard when saying, “and 4 to GO!” that he catapults Sam into taking the plunge again. Bugs realizes that he forgot to refill the tank with water, so throws some water out of a bucket of it. The water races Sam down below the stage as Sam silently begs for it to land in the tank before he does, and then forces it down by jumping on it. The water makes it into the tank but Sam instead crashes through the stage floor (animated by Chiniquy).

Bugs announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, our next attraction-” but shrugs upon seeing Sam approaching him and demanding “Up, you. Up you go” (animated by Burness). Sam doesn’t see Bugs on the edge of the diving board, but instead finds him apparently upside down on the bottom of the board. “Great horny toads! What’re you doing down there upside downy?” “I’m not upside down, doc. You are. Look”. Sam silently reacts to the fact that he’s actually the one upside down as he falls into the tank upside down headfirst (animated by Champin). “Bright boy”, Bugs laughs but Sam comes back up again and confronts him with, “Now you dog-blasted ornery no-account long-eared varmint!” Bugs snaps back, “Hey! Just a minute, you! Them’s fightin’ words!” After Sam confirms, “Yeah, them’s fightin’ words!”, Bugs dares him to “step across this line”, which he draws with his foot over the edge. Sam steps off and in the midst of falling once more, rises back up and tells Bugs quietly, “I hate you” before continuing the fall (animated by Burness).

Sam comes back up and sees that Bugs has set up a door on the edge of the board. He demands, “Open up that door!” before asiding to the audience, “Ya notice I didn’t say ‘Richard’?” When Bugs doesn’t comply, Sam runs back and charges at the door with, “He’yar I come!” Bugs opens it at the last second, leaving Sam to run in mid-air. Sam tries to scramble back but Bugs hands him an anvil before he watches this next fall while munching a carrot (animated by Ross).

Bugs then disguises as an Indian scout, telling Sam that Bugs apparently went “that way” and advises him to take a “short cut” to “head him off at pass”. Sam says, “Thank you, stranger!” and runs off with his guns firing. Said shortcut of course leads to the end of the board and Sam falls again. Sam then falls without explanation two more times before silence is briefly heard (animated by Champin).

A sawing noise is then heard before the scene cuts to Sam sawing the board from the platform with a tied up Bugs on the edge. Sam gloats while sawing, “Now, ya smartypants. Let’s see ya get out of THIS one! (laughs) This time you’re-a divin’!” Sam and the platform fall instead of Bugs, leaving the board suspended in mid-air. Bugs ends the cartoon with, “I know this defies the law of gravity, but, uh, you see I never studied law” (animated by Ross).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕