Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)There is some stupendous animation in this Cartoon Craze collection that contains 4 Bugs Bunny episodes, and includes one that is on "The Censored 11" list, a list United Artists made in 1968 of eleven cartoons they deemed too politically incorrect or racist for today's audiences. "All This and Rabbit Stew" is the offending cartoon, and there is a scene in "Fresh Hare" that also usually gets edited. When Ted Turner bought the cartoons from United Artists, he continued the ban, but Digiview has managed to get "Rabbit Stew" and an uncut version of "Fresh Hare" released.
The Bugs Bunny cartoons (as well as episodes # 5, 6 and 8) were made in the Leon Schlesinger Studios, are in Technicolor, and have music by Carl Stalling. We hear the famous voice of the great Mel Blanc, who did Bugs from 1940 through 1989, and though not credited, the marvelous voice of radio actor Arthur Q. Bryan, who did Elmer Fudd from 1940 through 1959 (Blanc added Fudd to his extensive repertoire in the years that followed). Total running time is 62 minutes.
Episode list:
1: "Falling Hare" (1943). Directed by Robert Clampett, animated by Rod Scribner.
In the Air Force, Bugs doesn't believe in gremlins, until he meets up with one of the devilish critters, and they go on a mighty scary flight. This is the first time a gremlin appeared in a Warner Brothers cartoon.
2: "Fresh Hare" (1942). Directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng, animated by Manuel Perez.
Mountie Elmer Fudd chases Bugs, saying "At wast the wong arm of the waw is weaching out and cwosing in on you." This is an episode that usually has its final scene deleted (where Bugs along with Fudd and five Mounties sing "I Wish I Was in Dixie" and "Camptown Races" in blackface) but is here seen in its entirety.
3: "All This and Rabbit Stew" (1941). Directed by Fred "Tex" Avery, animated by Virgil Ross.
One of the 11 cartoons censored by United Artists, this edition will surely not be around for long. Watching this may make one wince, somewhat like watching "Birth of a Nation," where the work is brilliant, but goes way over the line by today's sensitivities.
4: "A Case of the Missing Hare" (1942). Directed by Chuck Jones, animated by Ken Harris.
Featuring Bugs, and Ala Bahma the Magician, who gets into an altercation with Bugs by putting posters of his show over Bug's "door" (a hole in a tree), and Bugs gets his revenge during Ala Bahma's performance.
5: "A Day at the Zoo" (1939). Directed by Fred "Tex" Avery, animated by Rollin Hamilton.
Avery's early experiment of a narrated format of sight gags and one liners, and features Egghead, who animation historians believe might have been the original model for Elmer Fudd.
6: "Robin Hood Makes Good" (1939). Directed by Chuck Jones, animated by Bob McKinson.
Features 3 squirrels and a fox, in a morality tale.
7: "Pest Pupil" (1957). Directed by Dave Tendlar, animated by Morey Reden and George Germanetti for Harvey Films, with music by William Sharples.
Features Baby Huey, Mom, Dad, and a German tutor. Huey gets expelled from kindergarten for being "a dope," and tries to learn from a private tutor. Artistically, this episode is by far the least interesting of the collection.
8: "Ding Dog Daddy" (1942). Directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng, animated by Gerry Chinquy.
Features Shy Dog, Daisy, and Bulldog. Shy Dog falls in love with a metal statue of Daisy, and when the statue is turned into a bomb for the war effort, he finds her, with explosive results. I like the way the steel mill and bomb factory is drawn, and set to Beethoven's 5th.
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