View Full Version : Bug's Final Years
Bugs Bunny
10-04-2005, 06:08 PM
I am writting this article based on Bug's final year at Theatrical cartoons before Warner Brothers was to be shut down and De Patie Feleng handling the Daffy Vs Speedy shorts. One question comes into my mind are these worth watching?
gilligan fanati
10-04-2005, 06:56 PM
I went with Transylvania-6500
musicradio77
10-04-2005, 07:03 PM
"The Unmentionables" was the one that I chose as a Bugs Bunny cartoon during his final years (1963-64). "False Hare" was the last Bugs Bunny short in 24 years. The first one was "A Wild Hare" back in 1940.:bugs2:
cbrubaker
10-04-2005, 08:11 PM
"The Unmentionables" was pretty good, compared to others.
Marty26
10-04-2005, 08:56 PM
I also have to agree with most that Unmentionables was probably the best of the bunch. Dumb Patrol wasn't bad either, despite such an obvious "running out of ideas" plot (and a really stupid/pointless cameo by Porky Pig).
Sogturtle
10-04-2005, 09:53 PM
Being the turtle that I am and having a LONG term relationship with rabbits :D :bugs2: I tend to view several of these final selections quite fondly and kindly... Namely "Transylvania 6-5000", "The Unmentionables". Despite what anyone else might say or think I like the competition/chase gags of "Hare Breadth Hurry", "The Iceman Ducketh", and even of "The Million-Hare" (though find its ending pathetic). I even like the return of the forgetful Big Bad Wolf in "False Hare" (though of course it is not uproariously funny).
Jaime_Weinman
10-04-2005, 10:21 PM
I went with "The Unmentionables."
An interesting thing about "Transylvania 6-500" is that, if you look at the storyboard Bugs points to in the "Bugs Bunny Show" episode on the first LTGC, it seems to be the storyboard for that cartoon (you can make out the figure of Count Bloodcount).
J Lee
10-04-2005, 10:44 PM
"The Unmentionables" is a good use of Rocky & Mugsy to take advantage of the popularity of the Robert Stack TV show at the time, and probably the best overall use of music by William Lava in any of the cartoons he scored for WB (the smaller band as opposed to the Stalling/Franklyn orchestrations works in context with the Roaring 20's type of music).
It also has the last really funny Bugs aside to the audience, while he's sending Rocky & Mugsy down into the cerial mixer, while "Translyvania 6-5000" has the last new comedy routine that the studio would create that would be used in other cartoons to follow -- the "Abra-Kadabra/Hocus-Pocus" gag.
The other shorts are either too static or the plots are too contrived. But I actually do like "False Hare" better than the first Bugs-Big Bad Wolf short McKimson six years earlier, "Now Hare This", which has the most obvious and leaden end-gag of any Bugs cartoon.
TnAdct1
10-04-2005, 11:00 PM
I voted for Transylvania 6-5000, however in the end, it's actually a tie between that and the Unmentionables (especially when it came to the cereal gag).
mmtper
10-04-2005, 11:25 PM
I, too, think it's a tie between Unmentionables and Transylvania, though both would have been even better if they were produced only 5 or 6 years earlier. I'm also kinda fond of the silly gags in Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare ("Tell me about your id, ven you vas a kid") and the patriotic aluminum carrot of Mars Hare.
Cartman
10-04-2005, 11:48 PM
I'll go with THE UNMENTIONABLES. That has some good scenes in it such as Bugs popping out of the cake in a flapper outfit.
Daffysleftfoot
10-05-2005, 12:32 AM
I voted for Transylvania 6-5000. Maurice Noble's designs in that one are amazing. :cool:
frogboxer
10-05-2005, 01:17 AM
I also voted for "Transylvania." I love the scene near the end where Bugs keeps saying "Abracadabra!" to turn Bloodcount back into a bat, thereby crushing him under the huge stone he's lifting.:D
That said, "The Unmentionables" is a pretty good one, too, so I can definitely understand why it has so many votes as well.
Chow Hound
10-05-2005, 11:21 AM
I think they are all worth watching (especially compared to the cartoons of today). I voted for Transylvania 6-5000 because it's the one I remember most vividly.
Bartman
10-05-2005, 12:30 PM
Out of all of those, I had to pick "The Unmentionables", one of Friz's better post-1960 cartoons and one of John Dunn's better writing jobs.
I always thought TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000 was a decent 1960s effort, but arguably the best on that is THE UNMENTIONABLES. All of the other choices are Bugs at his worst.
-Thad
Javeman
10-05-2005, 05:50 PM
My vote goes for The Unmentionables.
Am I the only one that hates Transylvania 6-5000?
Duck Dodgers
10-05-2005, 06:07 PM
Being the turtle that I am and having a LONG term relationship with rabbits :D :bugs2: I tend to view several of these final selections quite fondly and kindly... Namely "Transylvania 6-5000", "The Unmentionables". Despite what anyone else might say or think I like the competition/chase gags of "Hare Breadth Hurry", "The Iceman Ducketh", and even of "The Million-Hare" (though find its ending pathetic). I even like the return of the forgetful Big Bad Wolf in "False Hare" (though of course it is not uproariously funny).
No, Soggie me friend.
That ain't the forgetful wolf but another character , used by Bob McKimson in another short , THE TURN TALE WOLF ( 1952 ).
Cartoon King
10-05-2005, 07:20 PM
I voted Transylvania 6-5000 and put it over the top...for now. Although I really like The Million-Hare as well. "I wonder if that silly duck will remember he can fly?":bugs2:
J Lee
10-05-2005, 09:56 PM
No, Soggie me friend.
That ain't the forgetful wolf but another character , used by Bob McKimson in another short , THE TURN TALE WOLF ( 1952 ).
McKimson used the (slightly) foregetful wolf in 1948's "Wind-Blown Hare", when Bugs has to steer him to the proper page for the Red Riding Hood story. But that characater also had a little bit of the eventual Uncle Big Bad in him.
The really forgetful wolf was the one used by Freleng against Bugs in 1958's "Hare-less Wolf" and before that in 1955's "Red Riding Hoodwinked". But since Friz liked to pit strong characters against Bugs and Charles M. Wolf was anything but, that cartoon was kind of ... foregettable :rolleyes:.
Sogturtle
10-06-2005, 07:05 AM
No, Soggie me friend.
That ain't the forgetful wolf but another character , used by Bob McKimson in another short , THE TURN TALE WOLF ( 1952 ).
Yep Duck you're right and I'm wrong... For whatever reasons I combined and confused the several big bad wolves...:o :o Such is life.
Geezil
10-06-2005, 12:56 PM
The Unmentionables, even though (as I've said elsewhere) Bugs's "Elegant Mess" nom de guerre in that one still makes me wince. It always struck me as the tiniest bit rushed in execution, and therefore a little bit embarrassing when held up as a sample of a "WB gag" ("Gee, Geezil, is that what you mean when you tell me about 'polished writing for cartoons'?" said the sarcastic neighborhood skeptic). But I also know that most GACers would likely say mine is an exaggerated Monday morning quarterback's view of that point anyway.
Which is one good reason why I usually stick to Terrytoons here. ;)
Am I the only one that hates Transylvania 6-5000? No, you're not alone. I never cared for that short, as I just find very drab and dull because of the excessive dialogue, which wouldn't be so bad if what Bugs was saying was actually funny. I think the background designs look ugly, and Bill Lava's music score is perhaps his worse. The ending is also pretty weak.
My vote was for "The Unmentionables", as its probably the only one on that list that made me laugh.
No, you're not alone. I never cared for that short, as I just find very drab and dull because of the excessive dialogue, which wouldn't be so bad if what Bugs was saying was actually funny. I think the background designs look ugly, and Bill Lava's music score is perhaps his worse. The ending is also pretty weak.
I've always hated Transylvania 6-5000. It's, simply put, not very funny. It also winds up eerily foreshadowing the Jones made-for-TV shorts of the 1980s. Too much talk, and not enough action. Like you said, there's just too much dialogue. As was to be the case in the 80s shorts, Jones just seemed to get taken with being witty, and the result is a bunch of verbal gags that just fall flat. And even as a kid, I found Bugs' dreadful "These Transylvanian hardwoods ain't too soft!" just positively embarassing!
Mike
Oh yeah. I forgot to say that I too voted for The Unmentionables.
Boy Wonder
10-06-2005, 07:15 PM
I go with about 40% of the crop, with the Unmentionables. It had clever writing, gotta love Rocky and Mugsy, and did I say the writing was sharp for 1963 Looney Tunes?
"The Unmentionables" and "Transylvania 6-5000" are probably the best and most memerable. I probably lean more towards "The Unmentionables" being best, though.
Coincidentally, both cartoons had artwork inspired by well-known illustrators. The opening scenes of "The Unmentionables" are done in the style of John Held Jr. and I've heard the backgrounds of "Transylvania 6-5000" are inspired by Ronald Searle (I could have sworn that Bob Givens had mentioned this in an Animation Blast issue, but I can't find my copy right now).
angilbas
10-08-2005, 01:59 PM
Transylvania 6-5000 got my vote. The irony of :bugs1: never being frightened by the spooky setting (skillfully crafted) worked for me, and Count Bloodcount (very well voiced by Ben Frommer) was extraordinary among cartoon vampires. This film may also be the best-animated of Warner's 1963 releases.
The Unmentionables would also have received my vote had this been a multiple-choice poll. The late 1920s setting was very well designed, :bugs2: in flapper drag was a hoot, and Freleng's daringly morbid humor showed itself on two occasions.
The other cartoons in this list showed that Warner's artists were still trying hard to make quality products. The designs were good enough to make even the weakest among them better than junk (I especially liked Robert Gribbroek's layouts in Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare). Devil's Feud Cake, though, was a rather clumsy cheater. And The Million-Hare occasionally sounded four or five years ahead of its time the way :daffy: talked.
-Tony
Bartman
10-08-2005, 02:25 PM
The Unmentionables would also have received my vote had this been a multiple-choice poll.
-Tony
Um, this was a multiple choice poll...:confused:
Um, this was a multiple choice poll...:confused:
No, it's a single choice poll (at least, on my screen it is). Multiple choice polls have little boxes instead of little bullet-point circles.
Bugs Bunny
10-08-2005, 06:59 PM
Being the turtle that I am and having a LONG term relationship with rabbits :D :bugs2: I tend to view several of these final selections quite fondly and kindly... Namely "Transylvania 6-5000", "The Unmentionables". Despite what anyone else might say or think I like the competition/chase gags of "Hare Breadth Hurry", "The Iceman Ducketh", and even of "The Million-Hare" (though find its ending pathetic). I even like the return of the forgetful Big Bad Wolf in "False Hare" (though of course it is not uproariously funny).
Hey Soggy! I tought I was the only one who liked "The Million Hare", "The Iceman Ducketh" and "False Hare". "The Iceman Ducketh" might've worked better if Daffy was replaced with Yosemite Sam or Elmer Fudd.
Sogturtle
10-09-2005, 08:36 AM
Hey Soggy! I tought I was the only one who liked "The Million Hare", "The Iceman Ducketh" and "False Hare". "The Iceman Ducketh" might've worked better if Daffy was replaced with Yosemite Sam or Elmer Fudd.
Bugs Bunny~
Nooooo you're NOT TOTALLY alone in liking those three latter Bugs cartoons...;) It may only be me and my musical preferences *(like most everyone I'm a tremendous lover of Stalling's work) but I do wonder if a lot more people would view the latter wabbits (and other final Warner work) as at least "fair" or "good" if better musical scores and orchestrations were in place of Bill Lava's ragged, repetitious ones... HEY!!! Think that replacing Lava's scores could be classified as "restored"?!?! (or is that just "rescored") :p :D :bugs2:
J Lee
10-09-2005, 10:12 AM
Bugs Bunny~
Nooooo you're NOT TOTALLY alone in liking those three latter Bugs cartoons...;) It may only be me and my musical preferences *(like most everyone I'm a tremendous lover of Stalling's work) but I do wonder if a lot more people would view the latter wabbits (and other final Warner work) as at least "fair" or "good" if better musical scores and orchestrations were in place of Bill Lava's ragged, repetitious ones... HEY!!! Think that replacing Lava's scores could be classified as "restored"?!?! (or is that just "rescored") :p :D :bugs2:
Well, you could restore "Devils Feud Cake" pretty easily by just borrowing the cartoons' origical scores and Franlyn's linking segments from "The Bugs Bunny Show".
As for the others, I suppose until the cost and technical capabilities of synthesizers gets down to the point that you can orchestrate a film score in the comfort of your own living room, we'll just have to wait until Warners rediscovers its classic cartoon division -- outside of DVD sales -- in the near future (or they could insert Lava's musical cues from "F-Troop" which he obviously enjoyed doing a lot more than his cartoon work of the same time :) ).
Bartman
10-10-2005, 02:27 PM
No, it's a single choice poll (at least, on my screen it is). Multiple choice polls have little boxes instead of little bullet-point circles.
No, a multiple choice poll/question means you have more than one from which to choose - hence the term 'multiple choice'. Boxes and bullets have nothing to do with it...
MF TOON
10-10-2005, 03:17 PM
Transylvania 6-5000 is the only truly exceptional and original short of the bunch.
No, a multiple choice poll/question means you have more than one from which to choose - hence the term 'multiple choice'. Boxes and bullets have nothing to do with it...
I know that that is what multiple choice really is, but the way angilbas used the term strongly implied a different meaning - a poll where more than one choice could be made. I assumed you had interpreted it the same way I had...
Bartman
10-10-2005, 04:24 PM
I know that that is what multiple choice really is, but the way angilbas used the term strongly implied a different meaning - a poll where more than one choice could be made. I assumed you had interpreted it the same way I had...
C'mon, Jack - I never interpret things as other people do - that's why I am sooooo unique!! :cool:
C'mon, Jack - I never interpret things as other people do - that's why I am sooooo unique!! :cool:
Oops, sorry, I forgot. :shame:
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