''Buckaroo Bugs'' is a 1944 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

'' Looney Tunes'' cartoon film directed by Bob Clampett. The cartoon was released on August 26, 1944, and features

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

in his official Looney Tunes debut.

Plot

The film is set in a small town of the "San Fernando Alley" ( San Fernando Valley).Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 165Young, Young (2010), p. 746 According to the narration, "Our story begins when the West was young, and early pioneers settled down to never more roam, and made the San Fernando Alley their home." Despite its

setting, the short makes references to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

. A pretend

train robbery Train robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains. History Train robberies were more common in the past when trains were slower, and often occurred in the American Old West. ...

, lists as "valuable cargo": butter, gasoline, sugar, shoes, and tires – all of them items for which there was a shortage in the War due to rationing. The short also has Bugs stealing all the carrots from a

victory garden Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I ...

, which is another World War II reference. Unlike in most shorts,

serves as an antagonist. In the cartoon, he plays a carrot thief called the Masked Marauder, whom Brooklyn's "Red Hot Ryder" must bring to justice. The cartoon portrays Red Hot Ryder as a dimwit who cannot distinguish Bugs Bunny from the Masked Marauder, his black horse named Horsey with a mind of its own, and his good-natured slowness is consistently mocked: When Bugs Bunny as the Masked Marauder threatens to shoot Red Ryder, saying, "Stick 'em up, or I'll blow your brains out," the latter treats it like a choice, replying, "Well, now, that's mighty neighborly of you." In the end, Red Hot Ryder catches on, but is unable to catch the Masked Marauder. Bugs tricks him and his black horse into jumping into the Grand Canyon and they (eventually) crashed down, making a man-and-horse-shaped hole into the ground, Red Hot Ryder finally figures out that Bugs is really the Masked Marauder. Bugs pops up from beneath the ground with a lit

candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candle ...

and says "That's right! That's right! You win the $64 question!" (a reference to the "big prize" on the famous radio quiz show '' Take It or Leave It''). He then kisses him and blows out the candle, with Bob Clampett's "Bay-woop!" sound effect to close the cartoon.

Crew

* Direction:

Robert Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

* Story:

Lou Lilly Louie Haskall Lilly (February 26, 1909 – August 9, 1999) was an American animator, screenwriter and director best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Awards *1985 Golden A ...

* Animation:

Manny Gould Emanuel Gould (May 30, 1904 – July 19, 1975) was an American animated cartoonist from the 1920s to the 1970s, best known for his contributions as a director, writer and animator for Screen Gems, and solely an animator for Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

(As M. Gould) * Additional Animation: Robert McKimson, Rod Scribner, Basil Davidovich, A.C. Gamer (effects) * Layouts and Backgrounds:

Thomas McKimson Thomas Jacob McKimson (March 5, 1907 – February 14, 1998) was an American animator, best known for his work at the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio. He was the older brother of animators Robert and Charles McKimson. Tom McKimson was born in Denv ...

and Michael Sasanoff * Voice Actors: Mel Blanc,

Robert C. Bruce Robert Cameron Bruce Jr. (October 6, 1914 – August 24, 2003) was an American voice actor and the son of Robert Cameron Bruce (1887–1948) who was a cinematographer and documentary producer. He was the narrator for a number of Warner Bros. ca ...

* Musical Direction:

Carl W. Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by Wa ...

* Producer: Leon Schlesinger

Home media

* VHS - ''Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals'': Bugs Bunny Cartoon Festival Featuring "Hold the Lion, Please" * VHS - ''Bugs Bunny Collection'': Bugs Bunny on Parade * LaserDisc - ''

The Golden Age of Looney Tunes ''The Golden Age of Looney Tunes'' is a collection of LaserDiscs released by MGM Home Entertainment, MGM/UA Home Video in the 1990s. There were five sets made, featuring a number of discs, and each disc side represented a different theme, being ...

'', Vol. 2, Side 5: Bob Clampett * VHS - ''Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition'' Volume 7: Welcome To Wackyland * DVD - '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5'', Disc 3 (with two commentary tracks: one by Michael Barrier and the other by Spumco workers John Kricfalusi, Eddie Fitzgerald, and Kali Fontecchio) * Blu-ray/DVD - '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2'', Disc 1 (with two commentary tracks: one by Michael Barrier and the other by Spumco workers

John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, voice actor and former animator. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which was ...

, Eddie Fitzgerald, and Kali Fontecchio)

Explanatory notes

* "Buckaroo Bugs" and "

The Old Grey Hare ''The Old Grey Hare'' is a 1944 ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on October 28, 1944, and features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Title The title is a double play on words. One is the typical pun between " ...

" use the same font for the opening titles. They were both also directed in the same year by Clampett. * This was Leon Schlesinger's final

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

cartoon as producer as he sold the studio to Warner Bros. around the time of the release, though Schlesinger was still involved with the marketing of the characters until his death on December 25, 1949. * This was Bugs Bunny's first short in the ''Looney Tunes'' series. At the time, both ''Merrie Melodies'' and ''Looney Tunes'' were becoming more similar to each other. The ''Looney Tunes'' series went into full-time 3-hue Technicolor in 1944.

References

External links