Release Date:

June 25, 1949

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny

Summary:

Bugs Bunny’s playing of numerous instruments unintentionally disrupts opera singer Giovanni Jones who is trying to practice for his concert at the Hollywood Bowl that evening. After Giovanni attacks Bugs every time he is disturbed, Bugs decides to get revenge by heckling him during his concert.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1080 and was released as a Looney Tune.

This very cartoon, ladies and gentlemen, is my absolute favorite cartoon, period. Not only is it a perfect showcase of why the Warner Bros. cartoons were easily the best, and how powerful the Chuck Jones-Michael Maltese partnership was, it is also extremely hilarious from start to finish AND was the very cartoon that got me hooked on these cartoons since 2013. Why this one didn’t end up in the 50 Greatest Cartoons in 1994, I will never understand as it is A LOT funnier than almost all of the non-Warner cartoons in that book (I strongly believe that this one should have been at spot number 21 instead of “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs”).

Giovanni’s last name being Jones is an obvious reference to Chuck.

In the cartoon’s climax, Bugs disguises as Leopold Stokowski and snaps the conductor’s baton in half when offered it. This alludes to Stokowski’s refusal to conduct with a baton.

Giovanni’s singing is provided by an opera singer named Nicolai Shutorov (except for the scene where he falls into a tuba headfirst and is yelling to get out, which is provided by Mel Blanc).

When Bugs plays the harp, he sings “My Gal is a High Born Lady” which was originally racist. The lyrics were rewritten by either Maltese or Carl Stalling to instead have it about the dancing prowess of the singer’s girl. These new lyrics include stuff like “She’s a fancy stepper, when she dances, go and see her as she kippers and prances. My gal don’t do much talkin’; dances even when she’s walkin’. 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, she dances all day long. My gal is a high-born steppin’ ginger. With salt and pepper, she’s a fancy stepper, when she dances, go and see her as she kippers and prances-”, with the last line being interrupted by Giovanni confronting Bugs a second time.

This is the second cartoon where Bugs says, “Of course you know, this means war!” The first was in “Case of the Missing Hare” (which was the first cartoon to establish Jones’ approach to Bugs in that he should only attack when provoked. This is also the first time this approach is used with Maltese as his storyman).

This is the last cartoon to use a black background in the 1949 release season with orange rings but only in the opening rings. Starting with the closing rings at the end of this cartoons, the background reverts to blue.

The cartoon is in the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons (and rightfully so).

This is one of the few cartoons where Bugs doesn’t eat a carrot at any point.

The cartoon was used in the 1979 compilation movie, “The Bugs Bunny-Roadrunner Movie”, a compilation of Jones cartoons.

Giovanni is one of the few background characters who watches the game in “Space Jam” (1996). He also appears as the boss of the company where Daffy’s girlfriend, Tina Russo, works at in the Looney Tunes Show episode “Customer Service” (2012).

What I Like About This One:

Bugs is first seen sitting outside his hole and singing “What Do They Do on a Rainy Night in Rio?” while playing the banjo (animated by Phil Monroe). Meanwhile, Giovanni is attempting to practice opera singing to “Largo El Factotum” from the Barber of Seville, but can’t concentrate and absentmindedly joins in at one point, singing in his operatic voice: “What do they do in Mississippi, when skies are drippy” but then does a slow burn take and angrily walks up to Bugs (animated by Ben Washam). He destroys his banjo by mangling with the strings, snapping it in half and putting the remains into the banjo head, dumping them out, and then shoving the banjo head over Bugs’ head. Bugs believes that Giovanni is a “music hater” (animated by Monroe).

Giovanni is attempting to practice again (animated by Washam) but Bugs is now playing the harp and singing “My Gal is a High Born Lady” (animated by Ken Harris). The singing is so infectious that Giovanni is soon dancing to it and singing the line, “1, and 2, and 3, and 4, she dances all day long” before he snaps out of it and walks out again (animated by Washam). Bugs stops his song to find Giovanni angrily staring down at him and after he asks, “Eh, what’s up, doc?”, Giovanni puts Bugs’ head in the middle of the harp and slams both ends of the harp together. Bugs figures, “Hmm, also a rabbit hater. Oh well” (animated by Harris).

After using a throat spray, Giovanni is about to sing just as tuba noises are heard. Said tuba is coming from Bugs, who retreats into his hole with it upon seeing Giovanni approaching. But Giovanni simply pulls him out from the tuba, ties his ears to a tree branch, and pulls him down so that he repeatedly hits the branch headfirst. Fed up, Bugs declares, “Of course you know, this means war!” (animated by Washam)

That night at Giovanni’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl, he starts singing “Sextet” from “Lucia di Lammermoor”, unaware that Bugs is sitting on top of the Hollywood Bowl’s shell. Bugs first flicks the shell, causing it to vibrate and slightly mess Giovanni up. He then confides, “Acoustically perfect” before hitting the shell with a mallet, which causes Giovanni to vibrate so hard (animated by Harris) that he falls into a tuba headfirst (animated by Lloyd Vaughan).

Amidst Giovanni’s muffled screaming to be let out while he’s kicking in the air, Bugs announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, there will be an unavoidable interruption in the program”. Bugs asks the conductor to “Break into a vamp till we get back, maestro” (animated by Vaughan).

Bugs fixes Giovanni’s outfit up and pours liquid alum in his throat spray before screwing the sprayer back on. “Open wide. That’s the nice bad opera singer”, Bugs says as he sprays into Giovanni’s mouth before getting him back out there when his “cue” sounds. With each “Figaro”, Giovanni’s head and voice hilariously shrink (animated by Vaughan).

Bugs next dresses in drag as a female fan, a bobbysoxer who claims that “Frankie and Perry just aren’t in it. You’re my swooner, dreamboat, lover boy”, referring to Sinatra and Como, respectively. He asks for Giovanni’s autograph, which Giovanni gladly obliges, unaware that what Bugs gave him is a dynamite stick rather than a pen. After Bugs tiptoes away, an explosion is heard, with a charred Giovanni walking out to take his bows before collapsing (animated by Harris).

Disguised as Leopold Stokowski, Bugs comes out, much to the delight and astonishment of the orchestra who all say and whisper “Leopold!” over and over again. Giovanni says it too as does the conductor who nervously stammers it: “L-L-Leopold”. Bugs goes up to the conductor’s podium and sticks his hand out for the baton (animated by Monroe), only to snap it in half. Bugs has Giovanni sing various notes by using his hands, at one point bending backward very low so that Giovanni sings a low note (animated by Vaughan).

Bugs stops the applause and cracks his knuckles to enact his final stage of revenge (animated by Vaughan): holding his hand up in the air for very long, forcing Giovanni to sing a very long and loud note and not letting him stop, which causes Giovanni’s face to turn all sorts of different colors, his bow tie to come undone and then his suspenders to come undone, and his pants to fall down and reveal his flowery underwear (animated by Monroe).

Getting annoyed from Giovanni’s continued long note, Bugs leaves his glove in mid-air by itself to continue the long note while he goes off to mail-order some earmuffs, which are delivered to him instantly. He soon returns to put his hand back in his glove still remaining in mid-air. At this point, Giovanni’s clothes are destroyed and his face is still turning several different colors as he thrashes around and pounds the ground in desperation. Eventually, his long note causes the Hollywood Bowl’s shell to crumble and the entire stage to crash atop him (animated by Harris).

After the smoke from the wreckage clears, Bugs takes his bows to the applause as does an utterly humiliated, black-eyed, and destroyed Giovanni who comes out of the rubble. Seeing a large boulder about to fall off a girder above Giovanni, Bugs has him do an encore of the high note, which Giovanni does, causing the rock to directly hit him offscreen. Satisfied, Bugs removes his Leopold wig and ends the cartoon by strumming the ending instrumental of “Good Evening Friends” (animated by Harris).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕