Wackiki Wabbit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wackiki Wabbit Merrie Melodies series
Directed by	Charles M. Jones
Produced by	Leon Schlesinger
Story by	Tedd Pierce
Voices by	Mel Blanc Tedd Pierce Michael Maltese (uncredited)
Music by	Carl Stalling
Animation by	Ken Harris
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	July 3, 1943
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 min (one reel)
IMDb profile

Bugs Bunny in "Wackiki Wabbit"

Wackiki Wabbit is a 1943 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, starring Bugs Bunny. It was written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Chuck Jones. Voices were provided by Mel Blanc, Tedd Pierce (the tall, thin man), and Michael Maltese (the short, fat man - their appearances are rough caricatures of the actual men). The musical score was conducted by Carl Stalling.

Wackiki Wabbit is notable for its experimental use of strongly graphic, nearly abstract backgrounds. The title is a double play on words, with "Wackicki" suggesting both the island setting (as in "Waikiki") as well as suggesting "wacky" (crazy) along with the usual Elmer Fudd speech pronuncation of "rabbit", although Elmer does not appear in this picture.

[edit] Plot synopsis

The cartoon opens with two castaways adrift on a small raft in the middle of the ocean, underscored with "Asleep in the Deep". Hunger starts to overcome them, to the point where they start imagining each other (or even their own limbs) as food. They spot an island in the distance and rush ashore, meeting Bugs Bunny. Chasing Bugs through the jungle, they spy him, semi-disguised as one of the "natives", dancing. Bugs welcomes them with, "Ah! White Men! Welcome to Humuhumunukunukuapua'a'a'a island." He then proceeds to speak in Polynesian-accented nonsense, a long stretch of which is subtitled simply "What's up, doc?" and a very short segment is subtitled, "Now is the time for every good man to come to the aid of his party." The tall and skinny man says, "Well, thanks!" and the short, fat man, actually seeing the peculiar subtitle, "ofa enu maua te ofe popaa", says, "Gee, did you say that?" The skinny man shrugs.

For a while, Bugs tricks them by substituting a skinned chicken for himself in the large cooking pot. He taunts them with the chicken, using it as a marionette, until the strings are tangled and he has to make a quick escape.

Before the castaways can regroup, they are interrupted by a steam whistle from a ship. As the men leap for joy at the prospect of being saved, Bugs kisses them goodbye and presents them with leis before pulling a switcheroo and boarding the ship himself. The boat pulls out, leaving the two men on the island, still waving goodbye to Bugs. The Skinny Man slaps the Fat Man (off-camera, following the Hays Office rules) for still yelling "Goodbye!", and the two once again imagine themselves as a frankfurter and a hamburger, chasing each other into the distance as the cartoon irises out.