''Ballot Box Bunny'' is a 1951 Warner Bros.

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 1970s to the ...

theatrical cartoon 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 written by

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 ...

. The cartoon was released on October 6, 1951, and features

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 ''Merr ...

and

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 ...

Plot

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This i ...

for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of a small town, offering such empty promises as: "There's enough fresh air and sunshine in this great country of ours for everybody – and I'll see to it, that you'll get your share!".

is underneath the podium drinking carrot juice when Sam makes a pledge to make good on his previous promise "to rid this country of every last rabbit" if elected. Bugs is horrified and then decides he needs to fight Sam by running against him for mayor. Both of them proceed to engage in various stereotypical election ploys. Bugs tries to win the townspeople over with

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

's famous "I speak softly, but I carry a BIG stick!" quote, even dressing up like Roosevelt. However, Sam declares "I speak LOUD and I carry a BIGGER stick, and I use it too!" He uses it on Bugs. Sam starts kissing babies (one of whom reacts by spitting the kiss off); he goes to kiss disguised Bugs, who plants one on Sam first then yells that "a bad man bit my wittle nose", attracting some women of the town who chastise Sam and rough him up as punishment. Sam then steals Bugs'

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

stand at gunpoint ("If there's any giving away cigars, Yosemite Sam'll give 'em!"). Bugs switches his free "SMELLO" cigars for five-cent ATOM Explosive ones ("You Will Get A BANG Out of This"). Sam lights one for a voter, and it immediately explodes, resulting in Sam receiving a solid punch in the face. Sam then sends a boxful of "assorted" picnic

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

s to steal the food from Bugs' free picnic. As they march by carrying the food, Bugs inserts a stick of

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and patented in 1867. It rapidl ...

inside a

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...

. Sam is taking the food from the ants and packing it into a sack; he stuffs the watermelon in and cheerfully scurries behind a wall. After the explosion blows up the sack, everything in it, and much of Sam's clothing and hair, Sam emerges saying, "I hate that rabbit!" Next, he rigs a cannon at the front door of Bugs' headquarters and greets Bugs with friendship at the back door; he knocks his boot heel against the floor to fool Bugs into going to answer the front door. The plan backfires when Bugs pretends that the person at the door is a girl from " Saint Louie" there to see Sam. Sam believes it's an old flame, Emma, and rushes to greet her, triggering the cannon. Sam then challenges Bugs, asking him if he can "play the pi-anna", and Bugs accepts the challenge; Sam rigs explosives in the piano, attached to a specific key, and presents the piano to Bugs to play " Those Endearing Young Charms" (a gag recycled from a Private Snafu short), but Bugs manages to avoid the trap by misplaying the tune on purpose, avoiding the rigged key. A frustrated Sam finally takes over and plays it correctly, falling for his own trap. A quick chase through the streets leads the pair to the parade for the newly elected mayor. But as it turns out, a literal "

dark horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

" candidate, a

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrel ...

-colored

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

, stepped in and won. The car bears a sign reading "Our New Mare". Bugs suggests a game of Russian Roulette and hands Sam a revolver. Sam agrees, points the gun at his head, closes his eyes and pulls the trigger; he gets the click of an empty chamber. He then hands the gun to Bugs, who points the gun at his head, closes his eyes, and pulls the trigger as the "camera" irises into black in the center of the screen, to the sound of a gunshot. An iris opens up on Bugs to the left, showing that he had actually ducked immediately before he fired and now holds a smoking gun. He proclaims, "I missed!" The right side of the screen irises open to reveal a scorched, hatless Sam shot in the head by Bugs' wayward blast, and Sam grumbles: "I hate that rabbit!"

Trivia

* The statue contains a list of crew members from the film. It reads, "Pro Patria 1865: Batchelder, Champin, Farren, Julian, Nicholson, Perez, Pratt and Ross."Ballot Box Bunny
. ''www.bcdb.com'', August 31, 2013 * Building names to look out for: Ross & Co, Josiah Freep, Frizby, M. Perez, P. Julian Yard Tools.

Home media

''Ballot Box Bunny'' is available, uncut, with the ending restored, on '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1'', Disc 1.

References

External links

* * {{Friz Freleng , state=collapsed 1951 films 1951 animated films 1951 short films Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Short films directed by Friz Freleng American political comedy films Films about elections Cultural depictions of Theodore Roosevelt Films scored by Carl Stalling Bugs Bunny films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Yosemite Sam films 1950s English-language films

Plot

Trivia

Home media

See also

References

External links