Bewitched Bunny
| Bewitched Bunny | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card. | |
| Production company | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date | July 24, 1954 |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Bea Benaderet |
| Producer(s) | Edward Selzer |
| Music composed by | Carl Stalling |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Animation | Lloyd Vaughan Ken Harris Ben Washam |
| Director(s) | Charles M. Jones |
| Series navigation | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| Title card | |
| |
Bewitched Bunny' is the three-hundred and thirty-fifth Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on July 24, 1954. It was written by Michael Maltese, produced by Edward Selzer, and directed by Chuck Jones.
After saving Hansel and Gretel from being Witch Hazel's dinner, Bugs has to save himself from becoming Hazel's dinner.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Hazel: Come in to my house, children, and I'll give you candy, and ice cream, and pickled herring, and sweet-and-sour upside down cake, and hard-boiled, all day suckers.
Gretel: Mein name ist Gretel.
Hansel: Und mein name ist Hooonsel.
Bugs: Honsel? Hooonsel? Hon-sel? (gentle voice) Run for ya dear little lives! For she is a witch and means tah cook ya for her supper!
Gretel: ACH!
Honsel: UND HIMMEL!
(Hansel and Gretel attempt to run away but not before stopping in front of Witch Hazel)
Hansel and Gretel: AAH, ya mother rides a vacuum cleaner!
Bugs: Ah, sure, I know. But aren't they all witches inside?
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Locations
- Earth
- Forest
- Hazel's candy cottage
- Forest
Objects
- Hansel and Gretel storybook
- Magic powder grenade
Production
Development
Filming
Music
The music was composed by Carl Stalling. It uses a different rendition of the What's Up Doc? theme.
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: July 24, 1954 in theatres
Behind the scenes
- This cartoon updates the Bugs Bunny introduction card, which has a different font and placing the words "Bugs Bunny" into one line, instead of two to fit. The fade-in was also placed in the title card instead of the curtain sequence used before 1954. This would be used in all cartoons until the 1956 Merrie Melodies cartoon, Half-Fare Hare, where it would be updated again with a different Bugs design starting in Wideo Wabbit.
- The cartoon received some controversy in Canada due to a line said by Bugs after Hazel turns into a rabbit, which was precieved as misogynistic.[1] The closing line, "Ah, sure, I know. But aren't they all witches inside?", was cut on commercial broadcasts in the 1980s, and was replaced with, "Sure uh, I know, but after all, who wants to be alone on Halloween?", which was a re-recorded line taken from the television special Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special.
- The controversy surrounding the line was covered in a 1999 article, where a Toronto viewer heard its negative implications after seeing the cartoon on Global Television Network, and filed a formal complaint to the Broadcast Standards Council.[1]
- The controversy was briefly mentioned by Eric Goldberg in the cartoon's commentary track on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5 DVD set.[2]
- Despite the change, the unedited line has aired (as late as 2015) on the Canadian cable channel Teletoon Retro.
Legacy
- Although edited for time, it was used both times for the Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales feature film, and the Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special television special.
Critical reception
Home availability
- In the United States:
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Saunders, Doug. "The Bureaucrats and Bugs Bunny, The Toronto Globe and Mail, Aug 19 1999". Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- ↑ Lambert, David. "The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour - Complete Disc-by-Disc Details of Golden Collection Vol. 5 Cartoons, Extras". TVShowsOnDVD.
