''Prince Violent'' (retitled ''Prince Varmint'' for television) is a 1961

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. Di ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' cartoon directed by

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

and Freleng's longtime layout artist Hawley Pratt. The short was released on September 2, 1961, and stars

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

and Yosemite Sam.

Plot

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

named Sam the Terrible is rowing upriver towards a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, and he is noticed by two people on a nearby riverbank, who quickly retreat to the castle, warning of an

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

. As Sam passes by Bugs Bunny’s hole, Bugs peeks out and thinks that Sam’s outfit is that of an “electric can opener broken loose”. Once he sees Sam entering the castle and forcing the residents to come out, the rabbit takes it upon himself to fight the enemy. In his first confrontation, Bugs calls Sam’s outfit a Halloween costume, and takes the

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

from Sam and dulls it, rendering it useless, before kicking Sam out of the castle. The Viking angrily calls Bugs “Prince Varmint” and tries to re-enter, only to have the horns of his cap get stuck in the castle door. Soon after, Bugs paints a door on the castle walls to trick Sam, who tries to break the “door” down with the help of a pink

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

, only to suddenly knock into some of the stones where the door was painted. Sam berates the pachyderm, who then angrily slams the Viking on the floor with his trunk multiple times. Next, Sam, with help from the elephant, is catapulting rocks over the castle walls. Bugs sees an opportunity to ruin Sam’s plans by pouring

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

on the elephant, which makes him sneeze a rock right into Sam, flattening him. After that, Bugs asks for the

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

to be lowered, thinking that Sam has gone. But Sam reappears and tries to cross the bridge with the elephant, only to break said bridge and fall into the moat. Sam then decides to try using the elephant’s belly as a boat so as to enter via the back. However, while Sam is sailing, Bugs plugs the elephant’s trunk with a cork. Soon, the pachyderm, in his struggle to breathe, runs back to land, forcing Sam to use his hat to sail back to shore, where he furiously chases away the “stupid pachyderm” (“AND DON’T COME BACK!!! I’ll handle that Prince Varmint myself!”). Frustrated, Sam tries to mine his way into the castle under one of the towers, only to have the tower pancake onto him. After this attempt fails (“I’m through foolin’ around! Now I’m gonna get serious!”), Sam attempts to blow open the castle door with TNT. When Sam tries to leave, however, the drawbridge has been raised from the other end and the Viking is forced to wait with the lit explosives. After the door blows open, Sam rushes in, only to meet the elephant that he chased away earlier, who proclaims (in a voice mimicking Joe Besser) that he is now on Bugs’ side (“I’m on the GOOD guy’s side now! So take that, bad guy!”), before chasing Sam back to the beach with a club. Furious, Sam vows that he will be coming back to get even with the double-crossing elephant (“YA DOUBLE-CROSSERS! I’m a-comin’ back, and I ain’t comin’ back to play marbles!”) as he escapes on his boat. Bugs comments about what can be accomplished for

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s (“Y’know, it’s amazing, the things you can accomplish for just peanuts!”), and rewards the elephant with a pack of them as the cartoon fades out.

References

External links

* {{Friz Freleng , state=collapsed 1961 films 1961 animated films 1961 short films 1960s American animated films 1960s Warner Bros. animated short films Looney Tunes shorts Films set in castles Films set in the Viking Age Short films directed by Friz Freleng Films scored by Milt Franklyn Prince Valiant Bugs Bunny films Yosemite Sam films 1960s English-language films

Plot

See also

References

External links