The Unmentionables
| The Unmentionables | |
|---|---|
| Production company | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date | September 7, 1963 |
| Run time | 6:22 |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Ralph James Julie Bennett |
| Producer(s) | David H. DePatie |
| Music composed by | Bill Lava |
| Story by | John Dunn |
| Animation | Gerry Chiniquy Virgil Ross Bob Matz Art Leonardi Lee Halpern |
| Director(s) | Friz Freleng |
| Series navigation | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| Title card | |
| |
The Unmentionables is the four-hundred and eighty-seventh Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 7, 1963. It was written by John Dunn, produced by David H. DePatie, and directed by Friz Freleng.
In the Roaring Twenties, Bugs Bunny is appointed by the U.S. President as Special Agent Elegant Mess, and is tasked with rounding up the criminal underworld in Chicago. He goes after Rocky and Mugsy, the source of all the crimes going on in the city.
Detailed Summary
Memorable Quotes
Witness: Operator! Operator! Get me the police!
Phone operator: Just a moment, please...
(The gangsters shoot across the phone booth, cutting both him and the booth in half)
Phone operator: Sorry... you've been disconnected.
Bugs: Look, fellas. How many times do I have to tell ya? I haven't got a cold!
Mugsy: Eh-he-he-heh! This is fun, Rocky!
Rocky: That dame's not a dame. Quick, don't just stand there gapin'. Go gett'em.
(Rocky's goons faint from Rocky's trigger-happy tantrum)
Mugsy: Gee, Rocky! You made a boo-boo!
Bugs: Yeah! And I'm bookin' ya for moider.
Rocky: Oh yeah? Well, I'm the bookie around here, and I'LL do the bookin'.
Bugs: (pulls carrot-shaped gun) Stick 'em up. You're under arrest!
Rocky: Look, Mugsy. He's gonna shoot us with a carrot.
(Rocky laughs with Mugsy until Bugs pulls the trigger and blasts them)
Bugs: That's da trouble with carrots. They're only good once.
Narrator: On October 28th, Agent Mess slapped the handcuffs on Rocky and Mugsy, and brought them to justice. They were sentenced to 20 years of hard labor, which was a little tough on Agent Mess, who was never able to find the keys to his handcuffs.
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Organizations
- Acme
- Acme Mfg.
- Daily View
Locations
- Earth
- United States
- Rocky's hideaway
- Acme Mfg. plant
- Juliet Prison
Objects
- Cement
- Flapper disguise
- Carrot gun
- Acme Cereal
Vehicles
- Taxi cab
Production
Development
Filming
Music
The music was composed by Bill Lava, while the "Merrily We Roll Along" title themes were composed by Milt Franklyn.
Crew credits
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: September 7, 1963 in theatres
Behind the scenes
- The title is a play and parody the television crime drama series The Untouchables.
- To design the short, Friz and his production team studied the works of John Held, Jr.
- This cartoon combines some plot elements from Bugs and Thugs and Golden Yeggs.
- This was the final theatrical cartoon to pair Rocky & Mugsy with Bugs, and the last one to feature the gangster duo.
- Some of the animations used in the factory scene were reused from both I Gopher You and Chili Weather.
- This is the final Bugs Bunny cartoon to be made by Friz Freleng, until Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol and The Fright Before Christmas.
- This is also one of a few cartoons in which Bugs has less dialogue than any other character.
- In this cartoon, Mugsy's character design is somewhat reverted back to his original design in Bugs and Thugs. Although he has a necktie and yellow newsie cap under this visual design, it would later be used in subsequent appearances later in modern media.
Legacy
- The plot of this cartoon would be used in the second act of The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie as well as some scenes from this cartoon. The ending of said cartoon was also used at the end of the second act.
- The carrot factory's level design, from Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time, was based on the Acme manufacturing plant from this cartoon.
In popular culture
- The scene where Rocky gets shot by Bugs in the dark inside is somewhat reused in a DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' The Inspector series, in the short Sicque! Sicque! Sicque!
Critical reception
Home availability
- In the United States:
- December 1, 2020: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection on Blu-ray.
