| Super-Rabbit | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies series | |
Lobby card |
|
| Directed by | Charles M. Jones |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc Richard Haydn (uncredited) Tedd Pierce (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Ken Harris |
| Layouts by | John McGrew |
| Backgrounds by | Gene Fleury |
| Studio | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 3, 1943 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 8 min. (one reel) |
| Language | English |
Super-Rabbit is a Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny who is parodying the popular character Superman. It was released to theaters on April 3, 1943.
Contents |
"Look! Up there in the sky! It's a bird!" "Nah, it ain't a bird, it's a divebomber!" "NO! It's SUPER RABBIT!"
The cartoon opens like the 1940s Superman cartoons, radio shows, and later movie serials and television show. "Faster than a speeding bullet" (a cork popped out of a gun), "More powerful than a locomotive" (a "choo-choo" train), "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" (but Bugs falls, screaming frantically, after he clears the building).
The story begins in the lab of scientist Professor Cannafraz, whose voice seems patterned after Richard Haydn's radio character Edwin Carp on the Burns and Allen radio show. The professor is creating a "super carrot." His test subject, Bugs (aka "rabbitus idioticus") --, who variously addresses Cannafraz as "Boibank," "Edison," and "Pasture" -- immediately wolfs down the proffered carrot. Now he has super-abilities such as super-strength, invulnerability, and flight, but only temporarily; he must periodically eat another carrot to replenish his powers. Bugs declares this a "cozy" deal, then remembers a newspaper article about "Cottontail Smith", a hunter in Texas who wants to hunt down all rabbits. Seeing a need, Bugs gathers up the super carrots, stashes them in a cigarette case, gives the professor a kiss on the nose, and departs. He flies into the clouds, past a horse who happens to be sauntering in the middle of the air: the horse turns to the camera and shouts, "A rabbit? Up HERE!?"
Bugs flies to Deepinaharta, Texas (a recurring WB gag inspired by the song "Deep in the Heart of Texas"), and assumes a 'disguise' as a "mild-mannered forest creature," complete with oversized glasses and hat. He soon encounters Smith, who bears a striking resemblance to fellow Texan Lyndon Baines Johnson, at that time a U.S. congressman. Smith tries to shoot Bugs, but none of the bullets penetrate. Bugs hands him a cannonball, eats another carrot ("Just a precaution"), then, upon being struck by the cannonball, plays basketball with it, quickly shoving Smith and his horse onto bleachers while he acts as his own cheerleader: "Come on, kids! We'll give 'em the old rickety-rack! Bricka bracka, firecracka, sis boom ba! Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny, rah rah rah!" After Bugs returns to the air to "think up some more deviltry," the bemused Smith and his horse fly into the sky with their own airplane. They soon find themselves piloting a control stick and the top window of their plane - and nothing else.
Bugs runs out of power, but when he tries to "recharge" again his carrots fall to the ground. When Bugs lands, he opens his eyes to see a line of eaten carrots. Smith and his horse are now both superheroes. Bugs turns to the camera and says "This looks like a job for a REAL Superman!" He ducks into a phone booth, and both Smith and the horse are ready to attack - until the booth opens and they both snap to attention and salute. Bugs marches out in a Marine uniform, singing The Marines Hymn. "Sorry, fellas, I can't play with you anymore. I got some important woik to do!" Still singing, he marches off past a sign pointing to 'Berlin, Tokyo and points East.'
The U.S. Marine Corps were so glad that Bugs Bunny decided to become a Marine in this film that they insisted that the character be officially inducted into the force as a private, which was done, complete with dogtags. The character was regularly promoted until Bugs was officially "discharged" at the end of World War II as a Master Sergeant.[1]
Cottontail Smith later appears as one of Yosemite Sam's sidekicks in Looney Tunes: Back in Action. The character himself has a voice similar to Sam's and Foghorn Leghorn's, only slightly less raucous.
Bugs' acquisition of temporary super-powers by eating special carrots is later duplicated by DC Comics anthropomorphic rabbit super-hero Captain Carrot.
Bugs' "Bricka bracka firecracka" cheer is used in Darrell Hammond and Christopher Snell's "Wappin'," a rap, or "wap," song sung by Elmer Fudd; a chorus of Bugs fans interrupts Elmer's song with the chant, then allows Bugs himself to take over the song.
This was Bugs Bunny's sixteenth cartoon, as well as the forty-seventh cartoon by Chuck Jones. It is also the first "Superman" parody on Looney Tunes. The second is Stupor Duck, when Daffy Duck is the not-so-superhero looking for a villain who didn't exist. Curiously, Warner Bros. would later acquire DC Comics - publishers of Superman.
This cartoon can be found on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3. Available alongside another Superman/Looney Tunes parody Stupor Duck on the Superman: The Ultimate Collection box set
| Preceded by Tortoise Wins by a Hare |
Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1943 |
Succeeded by Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk |
