Rebel Rabbit is a 1949 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
Plot[]
Bugs notices high bounties on various animals. $50 (about $540 today) on foxes, $75 (about $810 today) on bears, but then he becomes offended by the two-cent bounty (about $0.21 today) on rabbits. Bugs has himself mailed to Washington, D.C., where a supercilious game commissioner explains that the bounty is so low because, while foxes and bears are "obnoxious" animals who damage property, "rabbits are perfectly harmless." Bugs vows to prove that "a rabbit can be obnoxious than anybody" and storms out, slamming the game commissioner's door so hard that the glass shatters.
Bugs begins his campaign of direct action by attacking a guard on the leg with his own billy club. From there, he pulls stunts like renaming Barney Baruch's private bench to "Bugs Bunny", painting barbershop pole stripes on the Washington Monument, and rewiring the lights in Times Square to read "BUGS BUNNY WUZ HERE".
Various newspapers comment about Bugs' actions as he shuts down Niagara Falls (revealing some barrels underneath it). Bugs then sells the entire island of Manhattan back to the Native Americans and is shown walking through it wearing a stereotypical feathered headdress and smoking a peace pipe, asiding to the audience that "they wouldn't take it back unless I threw in a set of dishes". Afterwards, Bugs saws Florida off from the rest of the country, and quotes "South America, take it away!" Bugs then wonders what other kind of devilry he can commit. Bugs heads to Panama and swipes all the locks off the Panama Canal, which are represented as actual locks as he yells "I got 'em! I got 'em!". Bugs then heads to Arizona where he fills up the Grand Canyon. He then concludes his campaign by literally tying up railroad tracks.
An outraged Senator Claghorn–esque Congressman speaks before the United States Congress and demands that they take action against Bugs, but is interrupted by Bugs who emerges from the congressman's hat, slaps him and gives him a mocking kiss. The cartoon then shows live-action footage of the entire War Department mobilizing against him. Tanks come rumbling out of their garages, soldiers pour out of barracks, and bugles blow as the news of this is shown.
Bugs, now satisfied with the $1 million bounty on his head (about $10,750,000 today, although the bounty is for him specifically, not rabbits in general), is snapped out of a Tarzan yell by the whole US Army coming after him, much to his horror. Bugs then dives into a fox hole as artillery shells surround the foxhole. Bugs then says "Could it be that I carried this thing too far?" just as the shells explode. It then cuts to Alcatraz Island where Bugs, in his jail cell, finally remarks "Ehhh, could be...!"
Caricatures[]
- Artie Auerbach - "Mm, could be."
Censorship[]
- The Fox Network and WB Network airing of this cartoon cut the scene during the montage of Bugs destroying America where Bugs trades Manhattan back to the Native Americans and is shown walking through it wearing a feathered headband and smoking a peace pipe.[1]
- Cartoon Network did air this cartoon uncut for a time until it aired with the scene where Bugs gives Manhattan back to the Indians cut, and the audio of the guns firing at Bugs after Bugs declares himself king of the beasts muted (which the latter edit is due to an audio error).
Availability[]
Bugs Bunny: Hare Beyond Compare: 14 More Bugs Bunny Classics
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc One
Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny Golden Carrot Collection, Disc 3
Streaming[]
Notes[]
- Financier and political consultant Bernard Baruch was famous for spending time on park benches in New York and Washington, an exceptionally obscure reference by today's standards.
- Several barrels are revealed behind the waterfall when the water stops in reference to the fad stunt of going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
- City stock footage from "Lights Fantastic" (1942) is used when Bugs rewires Times Square.
Gallery[]
References[]
External Links[]
Rebel Rabbit at SuperCartoons.net
Rebel Rabbit at B99.TV
| Preceded by Mississippi Hare |
Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1940-1964 |
Succeeded by High Diving Hare |
