Knighty Knight Bugs

Knighty Knight Bugs
Lobby card.
Production company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	August 23, 1958
Run time	6:28
Starring	Mel Blanc
Producer(s)	John W. Burton
Music composed by	Milt Franklyn
Story by	Warren Foster
Animation	Gerry Chiniquy Arthur Davis Virgil Ross
Director(s)	Friz Freleng
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Title card

Knighty Knight Bugs is the three hundredth and ninetieth Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on August 23, 1958. It was written by Warren Foster and directed by Friz Freleng.

Under the threat of execution methods, Bugs is sent by King Arthur to bring back the Singing Sword, which is being stolen by the Black Knight, Yosemite Sam.

Memorable quotes

King Arthur: Noble knights of the Round Table, ever since the accursed Black Knight captured our Singing Sword, evil times have befallen us. One of ye knights must recover the Singing Sword...
Sir Osis of Liver: (spits out drink) The Black Knight has a fire-breathing dragon!
Sir Loin of Beef: But-but-but... but the Black Knight is invincib-b-ble!
King Arthur: Odds bodkins! Hath the knights of the Round Table turned chicken?

Bugs: Yuk-yuk-yuk-yuk-yuk-yuk! Yuk-yuk-yuk-yuk-yuk! Only a fool would go after da Singing Sword! Yuk-yuk-yuk-yuk!
King Arthur: A good idea... Fool!
(Bugs stops dancing)
Bugs: Wha?
King Arthur: Unless if you bring back the Singing Sword, you will be out to the rack, burned at the stake, and beheaded.
Jester Bugs: B-b-beheaded?

Bugs: So dis is da Singing Sword. Big deal! I wonder why they call dis da Singing Sword?

Sam: Open that bridge, varmint! Open it, I say!
(the drawbridge drops on top of Sam)
Sam: CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT UP AGAIN!

Sam: Dragons is so stupid!

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
King Arthur	Mel Blanc
Sir Osis of Liver	Mel Blanc
Sir Loin of Beef	Mel Blanc
Bugs Bunny	Mel Blanc
Yosemite Sam	Mel Blanc
Dragon	Mel Blanc

Locations

• Earth
  • Great Britain
    • King Arthur's castle
    • The Black Knight's castle
    • Explosives tower

Objects

• Singing Sword
• Catapult
• Lasso
• Explosives

Production

Second Lobby Card with signature from Virgil Ross

Music

The music is composed by Milt Franklyn. It was the last short that he composed before joining a musicians' strike in 1958.

Franklyn would resume his role as music composer in the final short of 1959, Cat Feud.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: August 23, 1958 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The title is a play on "nighty-night." You're welcome.
• The MPAA number of this short is 18698.
• It is the only Bugs Bunny short to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, beating out cartoons Walt Disney's Paul Bunyan and Terrytoons' Sidney's Family Tree in 1959. It is also the fifth Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies entry to win that award.
• The names of Sir Osis of Liver and Sir Loin of Beef come from the 1949 short Rabbit Hood, as one of two of the titles Bugs gives when "knighting" the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient	Result
Academy Award	April 6, 1959	Best Animated Short Film	John W. Burton	Won

Everlasting Influence

• This short (minus the intro, credits and outro sequences) would be shown at the start of The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie.
• Certain aspects of the short would be used in the following video games:
  • Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Rampage
  • Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time
  • Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal
• The personas of "Jester Bugs" and "Black Knight Sam" were featured as playable characters in Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem, in addition to some references to the short itself.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • November 14, 2006: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 on DVD.
  • November 4, 2010: Warner Home Video releases The Essential Bugs Bunny on DVD.
  • August 12, 2014: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 on Blu-ray.
  • December 1, 2020: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection on DVD.