''Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears'' is a 1944 '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones and written by

Tedd Pierce Edward Stacey "Tedd" Pierce III (August 12, 1906 – February 19, 1972) was an American screenwriter and voice actor of animated cartoons, principally from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s. Biography Pierce was the son of a stockbroker, Samue ...

. The short was released on February 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 ...

. This short marks the first appearance of Jones' dysfunctional version of The Three Bears, and is a parody of the old fairy tale, ''

Goldilocks and The Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...

''. Mel Blanc provides the voices of Bugs and Papa Bear (for the latter using a raucous voice similar to

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 ...

only a little higher-pitched). Mama Bear is voiced by Bea Benaderet, while

Kent Rogers Kent Byron Rogers (July 31, 1923 – July 9, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in several live-action features and shorts, and a voice actor for Warner Bros. Cartoons and Walter Lantz Productions. Career For Warner Bros. Cartoons, R ...

voiced dim-witted

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

. Stan Freberg is often incorrectly credited with voicing the character of Junyer. The cartoon was released four months before Rogers' death in the crash during a training flight in Pensacola, Florida, while he was in the military during

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 ...

Plot

The Three Bears are hungry and want something to eat, so they settle on a plan to lure Goldilocks to them with porridge. They find, however, that all they have is carrots, so they make

carrot soup Carrot soup (referred to in French as ''potage de Crécy'', ''potage Crécy'', ''potage à la Crécy'', ''purée à la Crécy'' and ''crème à la Crécy'') is a soup prepared with carrot as a primary ingredient. It can be prepared as a cream- o ...

instead. The family then pretends to go on a walk through the woods, but quickly comes back to hide in the house and wait for Goldilocks to arrive. The delicious aroma of the carrot soup causes

to literally float out of his rabbit hole and into the Bears' home. A plot derived from that of the traditional ''

Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...

'' story unfolds, with Bugs Bunny as the unwitting guest in the home of the three bears. Bugs Bunny eats the Bears' soup; they prepare to attack him as he does, but fall to the floor pretending to be rugs when Bugs nearly sees them. After eating and then stretching out on the 'rugs' for a bit, Bugs goes for some 'shuteye' in Junior's bed. The Bears recite the Goldilocks story lines and then attack Bugs, but he manages to escape and is seen standing next to Papa Bear's bed, watching the Bears essentially beat up an empty bed. When Mama Bear realizes the situation, she approaches Bugs with her fists raised. He flatters her and tells her that she's beautiful ("Your eyes. Your lips."), and gives her a kiss before he flees. Mama Bear stops Papa Bear and Junior from chasing Bugs, becomes amorous towards the rabbit ("Tell me more about my eyes!"), and attempts to embrace him. Bugs tries to ward off Mama Bear and get out of the house, opening three doors that reveal Mama Bear in three different seductive poses (in a see-through nightgown, talking on the phone, then in a dress and blonde wig, smoking a cigarette, finally in a bathtub). Bugs crashes through a wall and runs back into his hole. But Mama Bear (unseen) has somehow gotten there first. With Bugs cornered, she starts giggling like a schoolgirl, wanting to hear him tell her more about her eyes. She then has her way with Bugs, kissing repeatedly off-screen. Bugs then emerges from the hole, his face now covered in red lipstick before running off into the horizon screaming. Mama Bear, who is now shown wearing a thick layer of red lipstick, emerges from the hole, sighing with contentment over her time with Bugs.

Cast

* Mel Blanc as

/ Papa Bear * Bea Benaderet as Mama Bear (uncredited) *

as Junior Bear (uncredited)

Home media

*VHS - ''Cartoon Moviestars'': Bugs! *Laserdisc - ''Cartoon Moviestars'': Bugs! and Elmer! *VHS - ''Bugs Bunny Collection'': Bugs Bunny's Greatest Hits *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. 3, Side 2: Bugs Bunny *DVD - '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1'', Disc Three *DVD - '' Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection'', Disc One

Sources

References

External links