Release Date:

July 26, 1952

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny

Summary:

A filthy rich Texas oil baron is not pleased that one of the holes on his property isn’t gushing oil. This hole turns out to be Bugs Bunny’s, and he heckles the oil baron and his silent assistant, Maverick, who only responds with nods and head shakes.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1207 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

While his voice isn’t as gruff (though Mel Blanc still voices him), the oil baron’s voice sounds like a Texan version of Yosemite Sam.

Like with “Hillbilly Hare” and “French Rarebit”, Bugs has two antagonists, one of which has black hair and one of which has red hair. In this case, the oil baron has black hair while Maverick has red hair. Unlike the other two duos, however, these two have some differences. The oil baron talks, but Maverick never does. Maverick is also never seen with Bugs (though Bugs does steal his clothes and dress up as him to fool the oil baron, albeit offscreen and this is only revealed after he lowers the oil baron down into the hole too fast). Lastly, Maverick’s eyes are always obscured by either his oversized hat or his hair.

The title is a pun for “oily hair”, alluding to hair oil. For a while, until I learned what hair oil is in the late 2010’s, I actually thought this was supposed to allude to someone’s hair being covered in the black substance.

Another misconception I had about this cartoon until around 2019 is when the oil baron realizes, “No! I have too much of that filthy green stuff already!”, I originally thought he somehow owned a ton of slime (like the kind Nickelodeon is known for). Of course, I realize since then he was referring to money.

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

This is the last Warner cartoon to have any involvement from Peter Alvarado. For the next cartoon (and Monday’s cartoon), “Hoppy Go Lucky”, he would be replaced by Robert Givens, who returned to the studio for a stint as McKimson’s layout artist until leaving in 1955.

Maverick shares a similarity towards the Bookworm (Sniffles’ friend from Jones’ early years as a director) in that they are both mute and only respond with head nods and head shakes.

Notably, Bugs doesn’t seem to mind the possible destruction of his hole near the end!

“Powerhouse” plays during the scenes where the oil baron and Maverick begin constructing the oil well on Bugs’ hole up to the point where Bugs tells the oil baron that this isn’t an oil-drilling hole, when the oil baron has Maverick lower dynamite down into Bugs’ hole, and when Bugs, wearing Maverick’s clothes, lowers countless dynamite sticks down to the oil baron and Maverick before stuffing the last TNT barrel into the hole by jumping on it.

Speaking of which, there IS a Raymond Scott tune called “Oil Gusher”, which is one of the few Scott tunes that neither Carl Stalling nor Milt Franklyn ever used.

At the 5:30 mark, due to a cel error, the oil baron’s torso and feet disappear (something I did not notice until rewatching this cartoon to write this post, which is what I always do whenever I write the individual cartoon posts to make sure everything I have to say about each cartoon is accurate).

Favorite Scene:

The cake with dynamite candles sequence which ends with the oil baron thinking of a wish too late and presumably getting his mouth blown off.

What Happens in This One:

On “Hi-Way $101.00”, 531 miles from “Dollar$ (Formerly Dallas), Texa$”, and 20 miles from “Deepinaharta, Texa$” is Bugs’ hole marked as “Deepinahola, Texa$” and with an arrow pointing towards it, “12 Inches”. In his hole, Bugs sings “Home on the Range” with different lyrics, “Oh, give me a home. Where the billionaires roam. And the oil and the cattlemen play. With their gushing oil wells and super hotels, and count up their money all day”. He ends with an alternate sign-off of “Good Evening, Friends”: “And that ain’t hay!” (animated by Charles McKimson)

A very long limousine driven by Maverick enters the scene with the car being so long that the oil baron has to call Maverick via long distance, complete with operator! (animated by Keith Darling) The oil baron, who has his own miniature living room in the limo, speaks with Maverick on the phone, “Hello? Hello? Hello! Hello, Maverick! Stop the car! There’s a hole out there in my property that ain’t a-gushin’ oil!” The limo stops suddenly, causing the oil baron to fly off his couch and land chin-first on his table. With the limo being so long, Maverick, whose clothes cover up his feet, so he only moves around by two spurs, has to drive a motor scooter to get from the driver’s seat to the oil baron’s door (animated by Herman Cohen).

After the oil baron gets out, he orders, “Come on, Maverick!” Maverick nods and follows him as the oil baron says to himself, “There just ain’t no holes in Texas without oils a-gushin’ out of them!” Maverick bumps into the oil baron when the latter stops at Bugs’ hole and nods after the oil baron yells, “Maverick! Keep your eyes open!” The oil baron instructs Maverick to help construct an oil well as the scene fades out (animated by Cohen).

The oil baron and Maverick are in the middle of building the oil well (animated by Darling) when Bugs suddenly emerges from his hole and taps the oil baron on the shoulder, who immediately drops his hammer and points his guns at him in response. After being asked, “Eh, what’s up, doc?”, the oil baron responds, “What’s up!? Why I’m-a aimin’ to dynamite this here oil-drillin’ hole, that’s what’s up! Now get!” Bugs contradicts, “Oh, no, doc. This here ain’t no oil-drilling hole. This here hole’s my home. Such as it is. My Little Grey Hole in the West. (chuckles) So you just run along and find yourself a nice hole somewhere’s else. Go on, scoot. Scoot, scoot, scoot”, attempting to shoo him away (animated by Charles).

Annoyed, the oil baron grumbles in anger before ordering, “Lower away, Maverick!” Maverick pulls a lever (animated by Charles) that lowers a box of dynamite into Bugs’ hole. The oil baron raves, “No doggone, long-eared rabbit’s a-gonna stop me from dynamitin’ no oil-drilling hole!” Bugs acts like the box of dynamite is a gift. “Well, what do ya know? Somebody sent me a present. Gee, just what I’ve always wanted. I guess he wants to make it a regular blowout! Well, I better go get the party trimmings”. Bugs walks into another room and comes back dressed in a party hat and with noisemakers and a cake. “I just loooooooove parties!” (animated by Phil DeLara)

The oil baron attempts to push the TNT plunger, but the only noises that come out of it are the sounds of noisemakers (animated by DeLara). He orders, “Maverick, haul up the dyneemite! Something’s gone haywire!” Instead of the box of dynamite, a cake inscribed, “Happy Birthday” and with the dynamite as candles comes up instead. The oil baron is perplexed, “A birthday cake! Now who could’ve knowed it was my birthday? Especially when it ain’t” (animated by Cohen). Bugs pops up to tell him, “Well, what are you waiting for? Go on. Make a wish and blow out the candles”. The oil baron stands atop the TNT plunger to do so (animated by Charles) and struggles to think of a wish. “No! I got too much of that filthy green stuff already!” He then thinks of one and attempts to blow them out, but they now explode. After the explosion, the oil baron, with his hands over his mouth, looks down at it, and gives the audience a shocked look, indicating that what happened to his mouth is not a pretty sight (animated by Cohen).

Hiding his guns behind his back, the oil baron acts like he’s attempting to reason with Bugs, calling down to him: “Oh, uh, rabbit! Will ya’ll a-step over he’yare where I can see ya? Oh, uh, I got a proposition to talk to ya about!” Bugs steps into view from his hole and asks, “Now, uh, what was it you wanted to say?” The oil baron pulls out his guns and answers, “What I’VE got to say, I’m a-sayin’ with lead! (evil laughs) Bugs puts an extension pipe below the hole’s entrance and confirms, “You may fire when ready, Grizzly”. Oblivious that the other end of the extension pipe goes out a small hole behind him, the oil baron shoots into the hole, with the pipe causing all of the bullets to hit him in the behind. Briefly looking over his guns, the oil baron continues to shoot but still gets bullets in his behind. The oil baron demands, “Come on out of there, ya rabbit varmint! Or we’re a-comin’ down after ya!” Bugs calls up to him, “Okay, doc! As long as I know you’re coming, I’ll bake a cake!” The oil baron slow burns at this and again calls, “Maverick!” (animated by Rod Scribner)

Maverick again bumps into the oil baron and is told by him to “Now get down in there and fetch the critter out!” He nods to this and also to the oil baron telling him, “Give the line a yank and I’ll haul ya up!” After Maverick is lowered down into the hole, a thumping noise is heard offscreen. “Maverick” comes back up by himself as the oil baron asks him, “Well, where is he!? Didn’t ya get the critter!?” “Maverick” shakes his head at this (animated by Scribner), so the oil baron decides, “Doggone! If ya want something done right, ya gotta do it yourself! Get over there and lower me down, Maverick!” “Maverick” nods to this and lowers the oil baron down into the hole very fast. After landing into the hole with an offscreen crash, the oil baron yells, “Not so fast!” (animated by Cohen) It turns out that “Maverick” is actually Bugs disguised as him as he flutters his eyebrows at the audience (animated by Charles).

In Bugs’ hole, the oil baron looks around for him, “I can’t locate the critter nowheres!” (animated by DeLara) He decides, “I’ll have to BLAST him out!” and calls up, “Oh, Maverick!” The real Maverick, who’s unharmed, but wearing only large red longjohns, bumps into the oil baron, and fails to realize there’s a “Maverick” both next to him and outside the hole. “I told ya to keep your eyes open!” He calls back up to Bugs, “Lower down some dyneemite, Maverick! A WHOLE heap of it!” Bugs shrugs and decides, “Okay. If he wants it, he’ll get it”. He starts dropping in box after box of dynamite as the oil baron passes them all down to Maverick while doing an evil laugh and then remarking, “I’ll blow the critter to the outskirts of Dallas!” After putting in the final TNT keg, Bugs jumps on the keg, now overstuffed with dynamite, to get it down into the hole (animated by Scribner).

The oil baron is heard saying, “Doggone it, Maverick! It’s so dark down here, I can’t see my hand before my face!” (animated by Scribner) Having removed Maverick’s clothes, Bugs calls down to him, “Just look in my left hand dresser drawer and you’ll find my cigareete lighter!” (animated by DeLara) The oil baron flicks it on and off a few times in the dark, while surrounded by all the dynamite (animated by Cohen) as Bugs awaits the explosion. The explosion causes a gusher to emit from the hole - a gusher of carrots that the unharmed oil baron and Maverick helplessly ride the top of (animated by Darling). Bugs realizes, “Hey! Looks like I brought in a carrot gusher!” Taking one of the carrots, Bugs comments on the absurdity of this, “Yeah, I know. I know. But anything can happen in Texas!” (animated by Charles)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½