Southern Fried Rabbit

WARNING! This article contains content that may not be seen as age appropriate, and may also be considered offensive or upsetting for some readers. It may contain obsolete references to Black slavery and the Confederate States of America. Reader discretion is advised.

Southern Fried Rabbit
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	May 2, 1953
Run time	7:00
Starring	Mel Blanc
Producer(s)	Edward Selzer
Music composed by	Carl Stalling
Story by	Warren Foster
Animation	Arthur Davis Manuel Perez Ken Champin Virgil Ross
Director(s)	I. Freleng
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Title card

Southern Fried Rabbit is the three hundred and seventeenth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on May 2, 1953. It was written by Warren Foster, produced by Edward Selzer and directed by Friz Freleng.

Bugs heads to Alabama in the hopes of finding the record carrot crop he reads on a newspaper. However, during his travels, he crosses paths with "Colonel" Sam, who claims to be a enlisted Confederate soldier guarding the Mason-Dixon line, regardless that the Civil War had ended years ago.

Memorable quotes

Bugs: (in Southern draw) Well, shave my mouth and call me corn pone! If it ain't the lil' ol' South.

Sam: Great horny toads, I'm up North! Gotta burn my boots! They touched Yankee soil!

Bugs: What's the hassle, schmassle?
Sam: My orders from General Lee is to hold the Masey-Dixon line. And no Yankees are crossin' it!
Bugs: General Lee? Why, the war between the states ended almost 90 years ago.
Sam: I'm no clock watcher! And until I hears from General Lee official, I'm a-blastin' any Yankee that sets foot on Southern soil. So scram, Yankee!

Sam: Yankee Doodle!? You traitor!
Bugs: Don't beat me, master! Please don't beat me, master! Don't beat that tired ol' body! No, no!
(Bugs hands Sam a whip and runs away, before returning as Abraham Lincoln)
Bugs: What's this I hear about you whipping slaves?
Sam: But, but, but, but, but, but, but...
Bugs: Never mind the buts! Here's my card. Look me up in my "Gettysburg Address".

Sam: The first dang Yankee that steps out of that dugout gets his head blasted off!

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Bugs Bunny	Mel Blanc
"Colonel" Sam	Mel Blanc
Robert E. Lee
Brickwall Jackson
Scarlet

Organizations

• Daily Snooze
• New York Yankees
• Chattanooga Lookouts

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Alabama (mentioned)
    • Mason-Dixon line
    • Plantation house
    • Tennessee
      • Chattanooga
        • Baseball field

Objects

• Daily Snooze newspaper

Vehicles

• None

Music

The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.

It also contains the following tunes:

• "Dixie" - sung by Bugs Bunny while heading towards Alabama
• "Old Black Joe" by Stephen Foster - plays as a leitmotif when Bugs arrives near the Mason-Dixon line
• "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster - perfomed by Bugs on banjo, while as a slave
• "Yankee Doodle" - performed by Bugs shortly after singing the previous song

Crew credits

• Layouts: Hawley Pratt
• Backgrounds: Irv Wyner

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: May 2, 1953 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The title is likely a reference to the dish "Southern fried rabbit," in which rabbit meat is cooked in a similar fashion to fried chicken. It may have also been a play on "Southern-fried," an adjective referencing characteristics related to the Southern U.S.
• The MPAA certificate number is 15463.
• The newspaper Bugs reads is dated on September 3, 1952. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1965, making this short 88 years apart from its end.
• Bugs' disguise as General Brickwall Jackson is a spoof of Stonewall Jackson, an actual general in the Confederate army.
• Scarlet, the name Bugs assumes while pretending to be Southern belle, is likely taken from Scarlet O'Hara, a character in the novel Gone with the Wind and its 1939 film adaptation.
• It is one of the few cartoons where Sam takes off his hat. In this short he is depicted as being bald with a few strands of hair, though in an odd case of continuity error, he gains a set of red hair after being blasted by a cannon.
• The first scene of Sam charging out of a battlefield was cut in television airings on Cartoon Network and The WB, due to its display of the Confederate flag (specifically the Battle Flag of the Army of Tennessee). Oddly enough, this scene was left enact in earlier airings on the former network.
• A scene involving Bugs passing the Mason-Dixie Line, while disguising himself as a Black slave and Abraham Lincoln, was cut in airings on Cartoon Network and The WB, due to the former disguise being perceived as blackface and a harmful stereotype of Black people.
• The slave scene was similarly cut when the short aired as part of Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends on syndication and Fox Kids, in addition to the removal of a scene where Sam gets blasted by a cannon, which was replaced by a still of Bugs as a Southern belle.

Errors

• As stated earlier, Sam is depicted as bald when he greets himself to "Scarlet". But after he gets blown by a cannon at the door, he suddenly has a set of hair.

Legacy

• The majority of this short was used in the television special Bugs Bunny: All American Hero.

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • November 14, 2006: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 on DVD.