Release Date:

February 10, 1951

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam

Summary:

Yosemite Sam hunts for Bugs Bunny, who heckles him by taking refuge in his gun and then plugging up his rifle barrel with gum, which gets Sam engulfed in a bubble. After eventually capturing Bugs, Sam takes him back to his cabin where Bugs convinces Sam a party is going on inside the oven.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1158 and was released as a Looney Tune.

Notably, Sam is cast as a hunter in this one, a role which usually goes to Elmer. This is actually not the only case where one of Bugs’ usual antagonists other than Elmer is cast as a hunter. The other case in question is in “The Iceman Ducketh” (1964) where Daffy hunts Bugs for his fur after hearing big money is being paid for furs.

As this was in production before “Canned Feud” (yesterday’s cartoon), Freleng wrote this cartoon himself, hence why there is no story credit.

Starting with this cartoon, “What’s Up Doc” plays under the opening credits of every Bugs Bunny cartoon onward unless noted.

The title is a pun for the 1949 film “Chicken Every Sunday”.

As this cartoon’s release date, February 10, occurred on a Monday in 2020, I texted this info on that day to my friend/mentor who is also now my employer about this. At first, he didn’t get it since February 10, 1951 was on a Saturday and I had texted, “and today is Monday, February 10” (due to Saturdays being when new Warner cartoons were released during the Golden Age). It was only shortly that he got the joke with “Monday” being in the title.

Speaking of 2020, this was among the first cartoons to have been restored that year for HBO Max after a long hiatus (after the release of Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 3 in 2014, there were no more restoration budgets to continue restoring the remainder of the Warner cartoon library for the rest of the 2010’s). This same restoration appeared later that year on the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray set (it was originally planned to be on the Looney Tunes Super Stars Bugs Bunny Hare Extraordinaire DVD set before being reconsidered. I am definitely happy that it does have a restored disc release now, though).

The cartoon reuses a gag that Tex Avery often used where the silhouette of a guy in the audience interacts with the characters onscreen. In this case (like with Avery’s “Daffy Duck and Egghead” all the way back in 1938), Tedd Pierce is silhouetted as the guy in the audience, who Sam threatens to return to his seat, believing he’s trying to warn Bugs (although Bugs, of course, doesn’t need any warning, because it’s common knowledge that Sam always loses against Bugs). In addition, the audience member’s dialogue, “Yes sir! Yes sir!”, is reused from “Bacall to Arms” to when the fat hippo is told by Humphrey Bogart from the screen to sit down.

After Sam digs up Bugs’ hole, a cement bag in the background has the letters “HP” on it. These are, of course, the initials of Hawley Pratt.

Although Sam is shown to be a bachelor in this one, he seems to have an interest in the opposite gender as a pin-up of a woman in a 20th century bathing suit is seen near his fireplace and he becomes ecstatic during the “party in the oven” scene when Bugs tells him “the girls have been askin’ for ya!”

The cartoon begins and ends with references to the 1948 film, “Romance on the High Seas”. Bugs begins the cartoon singing “It’s Magic” with modified lyrics (beautifully sung by Mel Blanc, in one of his best ever jobs singing as one of the characters). In the end where it’s revealed there actually is a party going on inside the oven, said party is shown as live-action footage from the movie.

This is one of the few times where Bugs and Sam both win in the end. Another instance is in “This Is a Life” (1955) where Elmer also wins along with them.

What I Like About This One:

Bugs is seen cooking carrots on a rotisserie outside his hole with only his arm being seen as he sings a very beautiful rendition of “It’s Magic” with modified lyrics: “Oh, carrots are divine. You get a dozen for a dime, it’s magic. They fry, a song begins, they roast and I hear violins, it’s magic. Why do I kid myself? Other loves that I have are all really few” In the midst of the song, he takes one of the carrots and sings to it as if he’s singing it to a love interest as he descends into his hole and finishes the song, “When in my heart, I know, the magic is my love for you” (animated by Virgil Ross).

Meanwhile, Sam is sneaking along with a rifle and smells the carrots Bugs is cooking. “I smells carrots a-cookin’! And where there’s carrots, there’s rabbits!” He continues sneaking along, but someone from the audience (Tedd Pierce in silhouette) gets up from his seat and moves along saying, “Pardon. Pardon”. Sam threatens him at gunpoint, “Oh, no ya don’t! Get back in your seat!” The audience member immediately complies, “Yes sir! Yes sir!” before Sam warns, “The first one as tries to get out of here to warn that rabbit gets his hide blown off!” He pauses before adding, “And that goes for the rest of ya!” Sneaking along again, he also adds, “And I’ll do it too” (animated by Ross).

Sam gets close to Bugs’ rotisserie and leans over it while pointing his gun barrel down into Bugs’ hole as Bugs is scatting to “It’s Magic”, only for Bugs to stick his arm through the barrel and unknowingly salt and baste Sam’s nose as well as squeeze a lemon over it! Bugs then pulls Sam nose-first down into the gun barrel as Bugs bites Sam’s nose offscreen. Sam jumps out yelling in pain, “YAAAAAAAAAA-Ooooooh! That consarn idjit rabbit bit my nose!” He then threatens while pointing his gun down into the hole, “Come out of there, ya flea-bitten varmint before I blast the fur clean off’n your carcass!” (animated by Arthur Davis)

Bugs instead pops up through Sam’s gun barrel and asks “Eh, what’s up, doc?” Sam answers, “What’s up!? Your TIME’S up, rabbit! Now get out of that gun!” Bugs refuses, “Uh uh. I like it here. I just love the smell of gunpowder”. Sam forces him out by clicking his gun backwards, sending Bugs flying out inside the shell of a bullet. Sam threatens him at gunpoint, “Now start prayin’ ‘cause I’m a-blowin’ ya to smithereenies at the count of ten!” ,but while Sam’s counting, Bugs chews a piece of bubble gum, and sticks the chewed-up piece in the gun barrel so that when Sam sneers, “Goodbye, rabbit!”, the blast results in Sam getting engulfed in a pink bubble (animated by Davis).

Sam curses inside the bubble, with his curses being inaudible from the outside. Bugs blows at him sending him floating off the edge of a cliff. Sam blows himself back up to the top only for Bugs to pop his bubble with a pin, resulting in Sam now being a pink, gooey mess as he falls to the bottom and keeps bouncing up and down with the gum acting as a bungee jump (animated by Davis).

Walking back, Bugs hears the gum-covered Sam scream, “Ooooooooh!” as he shrugs, “Eh, here we go again” and runs to his hole. Sam attempts to throw a large rock down into the hole after Bugs, only for it to fly back up to him and hit him in the face due to the gum (animated by John Carey). Now having the gum off of him, Sam digs around Bugs’ hole with a shovel and while he’s jumping on the shovel’s handle to uproot the part he dug, Bugs is seen shaking around inside from Sam’s jumping as he vibrates, “Hey, what’s this? An earthquake?” Sam takes the dug up part of Bugs’ hole (animated by Ken Champin) and empties it out in a sieve. After doing so, Sam orders, “Now, ya carrot-chewin’ coyote! Get a-goin’!” (animated by Manuel Perez)

Inside his cabin, Sam is seen tossing wood into the fire for the oven with Bugs hanging up on a hook by his feet like a headless chicken. Bugs gives Sam another piece of wood, “Here. Throw this on the fire. I just love the smell of old hickory”. After Sam does, Bugs steals Sam’s hat as Sam orders, “Give me that hat!” Bugs tosses it aside, “There ya are, mac”. Putting it back on his head, Sam rants, “Ooooh, ya durn crazy galoot!” Bugs takes the hat again and this time tosses it into the fire. Sam reaches in for it and mistakenly puts a burning piece of wood atop his head, “Why, ya doggone crazy idjit! That’s my new hat!” Due to the heat from the wood on fire, Sam starts sweating, “Phew! It sure is gettin’ powerful warm in here!” and now realizes that what he’s wearing is not his hat as he rushes back to the oven and gets out his burning hat, frantically blowing out the flames (animated by Perez).

Sam orders, “Now get in that oven!” Bugs promptly gets down from the hook and complies, “Well, okay, mac. If you say so” (animated by Perez). Walking up to the oven, Bugs asks, “In there?” to which Sam answers, “Yes, in there!” Bugs refuses, “Uh uh”. Sam brings out his rifle and orders, “Get in there!” Acting irritated, Bugs does so, “Okay, okay. Quit shovin’”. After shutting the oven door, Sam prepares his table for his potential meal only to see Bugs walk out without a word and go back with an electric fan and a pitcher of water with two glasses, explaining, “Hot in there” (animated by Champin) before going back in (animated by Ross).

After Bugs gets back into the oven, Sam orders, “Now quit stallin’ and start roastin’!” Bugs opens the oven door back open as party music and laughter is heard inside as he asks Sam for a bottle opener. Bugs then goes back out to get some cracked ice and a few chairs, taking them into the oven with him. He comes out a third time to dump cigarette ashes into Sam’s hat like a garbage disposal: “Be a pal and see if you can’t scare up a few more ashtrays, kiddo, huh?”. Sam begins to get annoyed and opens the door just as Bugs leans out with his face covered in kiss marks and asking, “Ain’t ya comin’ in, mac? The girls have been askin’ for ya!” “They have!?”, Sam asks in excitement, “Well, hold the phone!” He comes back with a bow tie and with the hair on his head well-combed: “Well. Here I am! Ready and a rarin’ to go!” Bugs calls into the oven before shoving Sam in, “Hey, girls, the life of the party is here!” before his kiss marks disappear as he laughs, “Imagine him fallin’ for a gag like that!” (animated by Ross)

Bugs tosses in a few pieces of wood deciding, “I’ll warm up the party a little for him!” before his conscience gets to him. “Eh, I couldn’t do that to the little nimrod”. Bugs tells Sam, “Come on out, mac. It’s all just a gag”, but upon opening the door, sees that there actually IS a wild party going on inside the oven via live-action footage. As Sam is heard exclaiming happily, “Whoopee! What a party!”, Bugs happily goes into the oven to join in the fun. “I don’t ask questions. I just have fun!” (animated by Champin)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕