Release Date:

July 3, 1943

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny

Summary:

Two starving castaways attempt to catch Bugs Bunny for dinner.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The two castaways are caricatures of Tedd Pierce (the tall thin one) and Michael Maltese (the short fat one). Pierce and Maltese even voice their caricatures as well.

Like with “Jack Wabbit and the Beanstalk”, Elmer does not appear despite “wabbit” being in the title.

The cartoon is in the public domain.

“The Penguin” plays during the scene of the castaways setting up the dinner table when they first meet Bugs up to the point where Bugs imitates Tarzan as well as Bugs’ puppeteering of the roast chicken.

This is the last cartoon to have layouts by John McGrew.

Presumably, this is the last Warner cartoon to have animation by Rudy Larriva. While Larriva never again worked with Jones after he left, he coincidentally directed 11 cartoons in the mid-1960’s starring Jones’ most popular creations- the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote.

What I Like About This One:

The tall castaway imagining the short castaway as a hamburger and deliriously saying, “Hold the onions!” which confuses the short castaway (animated by Ben Washam).

The short castaway shaking salt on the tall castaway’s knee, only to hide the salt shaker and whistle when the tall castaway looks in his direction (animated by Washam).

Spotting an island, the castaways make their way over by using their raft as a sail with the short castaway making the wind by blowing. He is still blowing when they get onto the island so the tall castaway has to slap him to get him to realize they’re now on land (animated by Phil DeLara).

When they first see Bugs greeting them with “Uh, what’s the good word, strangers?”, food is their first thought and they set up a dinner table. Seeing the castaways running towards him, Bugs imitates Tarzan and swings into some bushes (animated by DeLara).

Hearing native drums, the castaways see Bugs dressed in a Hawaiian outfit and doing a Hawaiian-like dance. Bugs welcomes them to “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a Island” and asks them “What’s up, doc?” in native language. He also says something else in native language which is translated to “Now is the time for every good man to come to the aid of his party”. The tall castaway says thanks to which Hawaiian subtitles appear: “Ofa eno maua te ofe popaa”. The short castaway points to the lettering and asks, “Gee, did you say THAT?” The tall castaway just shrugs, since he doesn’t know Hawaiian either. Bugs continues the dance and dupes the castaways into repeating it. With them distracted, Bugs walks away. Seeing that Bugs left, the tall castaway stops dancing. The short castaway is still dancing so he gets slapped again (animated by Robert Cannon).

The beautiful rendition of “Trade Winds” that plays when the castaways read about native customs.

The tall castaway tries a trick where natives toss coins into the boiling water but Bugs swipes the pot away resulting in the short castaway hitting his partner over the head with the lid (animated by Rudy Larriva).

Taking a bath in the stew pot, Bugs initially joins in the castaways’ chant of “We’re gonna have roast rabbit!” before realizing he’s the main course and jumping out (animated by Larriva).

Hiding up in a tree house, Bugs puts a roast chicken in his place and uses his puppetry skills to make it look like the chicken is alive. But a knot in the strings that Bugs tries to untie unintentionally causes the chicken to point up to Bugs’ hiding place (animated by Ken Harris).

After pulling him down from the tree house, the castaways fail to catch Bugs but they still manage to have the chicken. But Bugs pulls the skin away, leaving behind nothing but bones. This causes them to cry in frustration until they hear a ship (animated by Harris).

Overjoyed at finding a way home via the ship, the castaways chant “We’re going on a boat! We’re going on a boat! Tra-la-la-la-la!” Bugs bids them farewell, only for HIM to go up the gangplank and leave the castaways behind! Realizing they’ve been tricked again, the tall castaway stops saying several goodbyes and slaps the short castaway for continuing to say several goodbyes long after the ship has sailed into the distance (animated by Cannon). The cartoon ends with the castaways chasing each other in hunger, imagining each other as a hamburger and hot dog respectively (animated by DeLara).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½