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 ...
''
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.
'' animated short 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 featuring
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
. The short was released on November 2, 1957, 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
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon fictional character, character created for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American black duck, black ...
.
Plot
Arriving at the theatre where he and Bugs are appearing, Daffy is furious to discover that the rabbit's name on the marquee is above his in much larger letters. Rebuffed by the unseen manager's claim that he gives his performers billing "according to drawing power", Daffy is determined to prove that he is the star of the show. To add further humiliation, his dressing room is actually a poorly disguised restroom. ("There can be only one explanation for white tile in a dressing room, and that's it!").
That evening, Bugs and Daffy are performing an on-stage number to " Tea for Two". Daffy, tired of Bugs hogging up all the cheering and applause (especially after the reception Bugs gets for his "
Shave and a Haircut
"Shave and a Haircut" and the associated response "two bits" is a seven-note musical call and response (music), call-and-response couplet, Ostinato#Riff, riff or fanfare popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comedic e ...
" bit), and convinced he is more talented, decides to try numerous numbers on his own in order to impress the audience.
He begins on the spot with a time step to " Jeepers Creepers". After failing to impress the audience, Daffy attempts to perform a trained
Pigeon
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
act. But the pigeons fly out, causing Daffy to have to try to regain dignity by dancing brightly off the stage. When he pokes his head out from behind the curtain, he is hit with a
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
. Bugs does a sawing-in-half trick; Daffy volunteers in hopes of proving that the trick is fake, but ends up literally sawed in half. ("Good thing I got Blue Cross."). Daffy attempts to sabotage Bugs'
xylophone
The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...
act by rigging it to explode when a certain note is played, but Bugs avoids the trap by deliberately playing the final note wrong twice. Frustrated, Daffy plays the tune himself, hits the rigged note and is blown up (this gag was also seen with pianos in ''
Private Snafu
Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional adult animated shorts, ironic and humorous in tone, that were produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The films were designed to instruct servi ...
'', ''
Ballot Box Bunny
''Ballot Box Bunny'' is a 1951 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The cartoon was released on October 6, 1951, and features Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.
Plot
Yosemite Sa ...
'' and '' Rushing Roulette''). In a final attempt to impress the audience while Bugs is
Juggling
Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...
, Daffy in a red Devil's costume performs a deadly stunt (which he refers as "an act that no other performer has dared to execute!"), by drinking a portion of
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
, some
nitroglycerin
Nitroglycerin (NG), (alternative spelling of nitroglycerine) also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating g ...
, a good amount of
gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
, and some
Uranium-238
Uranium-238 (238U or U-238) is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature, with a relative abundance of 99%. Unlike uranium-235, it is non-fissile, which means it cannot sustain a chain reaction in a thermal-neutron reactor. However, it ...
, "shake well", and swallowing a lit
match
A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
("Girls, you better hold onto your boyfriends!"), causing him to explode. The audience applauds the act, an impressed Bugs says they want more, but Daffy (now a transparent ghost) replies that he "can only do it once".
Production
The basic setting and conflicts of ''Show Biz Bugs'' were reprised for the linking footage for the television series ''
The Bugs Bunny Show
''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is a long-running American animated anthology television series hosted by Bugs Bunny that was mainly composed of theatrical '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons released by Warner Bros. between 1948 and 196 ...
''. ''Show Biz Bugs'' was also re-worked as the climax of ''
The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie
''The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie'' (credited onscreen as ''Friz Freleng's Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie'') is a 1981 American animated comedy package film with a compilation of classic ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' War ...
'' (1981).
According to the audio commentary on the second ''Golden Collection'' set, the song " The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" was intended to be used during the sequence where Daffy showcases some trained birds. A pre-score recording was produced, but was not used in the final cartoon. Other pre-score music included slightly longer versions of both " Tea for Two" and " Jeepers Creepers".Show Biz Bugs . ''Big Cartoon DataBase'', August 30, 2014
This would be the second to last
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
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon fictional character, character created for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American black duck, black ...
cartoon
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 '' ...
would direct with his musical methods and techniques (the final one would be ''
Person to Bunny
''Person to Bunny'' is a 1960 '' Merrie Melodies'' animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on April 1, 1960, and stars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd.
Plot
In his Hollywood home, Bugs Bunny is being interviewed o ...
'' released in 1960; though Daffy did make a brief cameo in ''
Apes of Wrath
''Apes of Wrath'' is a 1959 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on April 18, 1959, and stars Bugs Bunny. This cartoon recycles the plot from the 1948 cartoon '' Gorilla My Dreams''. Th ...
'' released in 1959 and was also directed by Freleng).
The
xylophone
The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...
gag was previously used in the
Private Snafu
Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional adult animated shorts, ironic and humorous in tone, that were produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The films were designed to instruct servi ...
short ''Booby Traps'' and the Bugs/
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...
short ''
Ballot Box Bunny
''Ballot Box Bunny'' is a 1951 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The cartoon was released on October 6, 1951, and features Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.
Plot
Yosemite Sa ...
'' (and later in the
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode, ...
cartoon '' Rushing Roulette''), except in both cases the instrument used was a piano. The song used in each case, as in ''Show Biz Bugs'', is " Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms".
The final act and the pigeon circus had been used in an earlier Porky Pig cartoon called ''
Curtain Razor
''Curtain Razor'' is a 1949 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on May 21, 1949, and stars Porky Pig.
Plot
An operatic tenor voice (provided by Mel Blanc) and piano music for the Act III Prelud ...
'' in which a fox does the same act Daffy does attempting to show Porky he is a star, and, much like ''Show Biz Bugs'', the final act in ''Curtain Razor'' has been edited on Cartoon Network to remove him ingesting gasoline (the syndicated version of ''The Merrie Melodies Show'' also cuts the gasoline-drinking and edits it even further by cutting out the fox swallowing a match).
Reception
In a commentary by
Greg Ford
Greg Ford is an animator, director, historian and consultant to Warner Bros. Animation. He is perhaps best known for directing the films ''Daffy Duck's Quackbusters'', ''Weezer Slander: The Movie'', and '' (Blooper) Bunny''.
Biography
During ...
, he cites that the short contains some of
Warren Foster
Warren Foster (October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971) was an American writer, cartoonist and composer for the animation division of Warner Brothers and later with Hanna-Barbera.
Early life
He was born in Brooklyn, New York to Marion B. Fos ...
's "best gags as a writer". Ford also described it as "a definitive Bugs/Daffy showbiz rivalry cartoon".
Comic book writer
Mark Evanier
Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series ''Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and bl ...
writes, "By 1957 there wasn't much about Daffy Duck that was daffy. He'd morphed into a greedy, self-obsessed rival to Bugs... and maybe the most psychotic property in the rarely stable Warner Bros. canon. ''Show Biz Bugs'' is enormously funny, though, as we watch him match
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 '' ...
in his self-inflicted destruction of both ego and body."
Music
* "
I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
"I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" is a song from 1927, which was written by Mort Dixon with music by Harry M. Woods. Original recordings were made during 1927 by Nick Lucas (No. 2), Ben Bernie (No. 3), and Jean Goldkette (No. 10).
History
...
Vincent Youmans
Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer.
A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, Ot ...
Harry Warren
Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
The Essential Bugs Bunny
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' DVD set, disc 1. It also includes an audio commentary by historian
Greg Ford
Greg Ford is an animator, director, historian and consultant to Warner Bros. Animation. He is perhaps best known for directing the films ''Daffy Duck's Quackbusters'', ''Weezer Slander: The Movie'', and '' (Blooper) Bunny''.
Biography
During ...
along with a "Pre-Score" track that includes earlier versions of " Tea for Two" and " Jeepers Creepers" as well as a version of " The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" (supposedly to underscore Daffy's "trained pigeons" act) that was ultimately unused. It is also available on the "A Salute to Friz Freleng" VHS, the ''Superior Duck'' VHS, and the "Looney Tunes: Curtain Calls"
laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
.
See also
*
List of American films of 1957
A list of American films released in 1957. ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A-B
C-H
I-N
O-Q
R-T
U-Z
See also
* 1957 in the United States
References
External links
1957 filmsat the Interne ...