''Baton Bunny'' is a 1959 Warner Bros. ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American 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

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

and

Abe Levitow Abraham Levitow (July 2, 1922 – May 8, 1975) was an American animator who worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons, UPA and MGM Animation/Visual Arts. He is best known for his work under Chuck Jones' direction. Career Levitow was born in Los Angeles ...

. The short was released on January 10, 1959, 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 ''Merr ...

. It shows Bugs conducting an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

- with a

fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

bothering him. Bugs conducts, and in part, plays the overture to "Ein Morgen, ein Mittag und Abend in Wien" (A Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna)", a composition by Franz von Suppé. Though Mel Blanc was credited for vocal characterizations, there is no dialogue in the short; the only vocal effect made was when an audience member is heard coughing. This is the third and last

cartoon (the first two being ''

A Corny Concerto ''A Corny Concerto'' is a 1943 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on September 25, 1943, and stars Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck. They perform a parody of Walt Disney's ''Silly Sy ...

'' and ''

Rhapsody Rabbit ''Rhapsody Rabbit'' is a 1946 American animated comedy short film in the ''Merrie Melodies'' series, directed by Friz Freleng and featuring Bugs Bunny. The short was originally released to theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 9, 1946. ...

'', although he says three lines in the latter) where Bugs is silent. Or, nearly silent; at one point, he 'shushes' the brass. This is also one of the last cartoons to get a

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 ...

Blue Ribbon reissue in 1968.

Plot

Bugs is about to conduct "The Warner Bros. Symphony Orchestra" (supposedly in concert at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

). As he begins his elaborate preparation, someone in the audience starts coughing loudly. Bugs holds up a sign reading, "Throw the bum out!", which the audience does. Other problems plague Bugs' conducting, notably a bothersome

and awkward cuffs that keep falling off; with each of these issues, his reactions act as direction to the orchestra, which responds accordingly, angering Bugs. In the middle of the performance, as a result of the music at that moment, Bugs plays dual roles as an indigenous person and the American troops chasing him. As his performance ends, the fly returns, landing on Bugs' nose. Bugs loses his

sanity Sanity (from la, sāntā) refers to the soundness, rationality, and health of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational. In modern society, the term has become exclusively synonymous with ''compos mentis'' ...

and attempts to kill the fly, crashing through the orchestra and into the instruments as he does so. As the music ends and the fly seems to be dead, Bugs bows to the crowd. Instead of applause, there is only silence and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

s chirping. Bugs looks around and sees that the seats are empty, then he becomes aware of faint clapping - coming from the fly. He bows to the fly, and the cartoon ends.

Home media

The short was released on DVD on the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1'' in 2003.

References

External links

* 1959 films 1959 animated films 1959 short films Films directed by Abe Levitow Short films directed by Chuck Jones Looney Tunes shorts Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Bugs Bunny films Films set in Los Angeles Animated films without speech Animated films about insects American musical comedy films 1959 musical comedy films Films scored by Milt Franklyn Animated films about music and musicians 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese Films about flies {{1950s-animation-film-stub

Plot

Home media

See also

References

External links