Yep! It’s another one that’s been lovingly reheated from its first exposure to the public back in February of 2015 on the old tumblr blog. That one had people that actively participated! Get the idea? This place started in early March and it’s now late October. Total page views,including all posts and pages? Just went over an incredibly measly 500. That’s embarrassing! Yet I muddle on, mainly because I’m so damn long winded and the cats get tired of it too. Some day this will all be published! Then you’ll see! Mwaah-hah-hah………..
Oh,and as per usual I’m not changing a goddamn thing. It is just as it first appeared down to the last extraneous comma. Even the illustrations are the same! WordPress makes laziness easy!
Sunday! Cartoon day y’all! And do I have a great one for you this time. Bully For Bugs may be my all time favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon. It’s got everything. Classic David vs Goliath “plot”, exotic locale, full animation, and Chuck Jones’ trademark hilarity of facial expression… It’s as good as a cartoon has any right to be.
Things to savor in this one start with the bull himself. From the first moment this fearsome critter explodes onto the scene, you just know it’s gonna be fun. Check out his fantastically animated facial expressions first of all, then his star-encrusted exhaled breath! Unbelievably awesome!
And some of the sounds that help bring the bull to life are insane as well. Those snorts and wheezes sound dangerous! You truly and profoundly believe that this thing has limitless potential for mayhem.
The way the bull moves too, like a hellishly propulsive locomotive of cartoon death. That bull has some heft to him, some genuinely terrifying mass and weightiness. Just brilliant animation.
And this is all before we even see Bugs! His entrance is like a little fluttery respite from impending doom. An island of wisecracking subtlety amidst what’s sure to become even more bovine malevolence. Dialog enters the already near perfect gathering of cartoon elements of joy, and hilarious dialog it is! Coachella Valley Carrot Festival indeed!
I love the way the bull inserts himself into Bugs’ reality, like a runaway steamroller, approaching from behind with as much brutal momentum and ire as can possibly be conveyed in any medium ever conceived.
This is what cartoons are all about. Can you imagine seeing that on film? It simply could not possibly carry the same emotional and visceral weight. You’re almost backing away from the screen that bull is so real, so palpable and surly an unstoppable physical force.
The whole cartoon is just more and more of this, gag after mostly predictable gag, but it’s all done so artfully, with such craftsmanship, such attention to detail and convincingness of physics, that you just can’t look away. You’re terrified for poor ol’ Bugs even though you know he’s gonna win in the end.
The final gag, with the glue and the sandpaper and the match and the TNT? Well, it just doesn’t get any better than that, does it? Bugs wordlessly and nonchalantly putting up the “The End” cape is absolutely perfect! Like a deliciously understated after-dinner mint following an epic feast of succulent but once violent meats and only the heaviest yet most scrumptious vegetables.
I know I’m foaming at the mouth even more than is my norm on this one, but I really do feel like it deserves every adjective and adverb I can trowel offa my frontal lobe. What you have here is the perfect marriage of great animation, great dialog in perfect proportion and contrast to the rest, attention to details like facial expressions and bodily functions, incredible sound effects, fine music, a wonderful palette of colors, just everything.
This is a perfect ten of a cartoon, at least for me. I hope you enjoy it even half as much as I have, over and over and over again over the years.
It’s always an adventure finding the full length version of any WB cartoon,and this one’s no exception. In prior posts I’ve gone with versions with nerds explaining everything as the full cartoon plays, but that would ruin this one so I’ve put part one of three down below, leaving it up to the interested yet so far nonexistent reader to track down the other two segments. It’s because of the money hoarders again. They sure do love some copyright law! And why wouldn’t they? They paid to have most of it written, to their perpetual benefit of course! That’s OUR money being tossed around frivolously on ridiculous shit like this! Wake the fuck up and start making these assholes’ lives miserable. I don’t advocate violence as a rule, but be creative! Surely that cork screw in the junk drawer could do some damage! They all have compromised skin because of all the botox and whatnot, so get the fleshy parts first before their security drones become enraged and begin mauling you! Give ’em a reason to fear something, anything! Hook up their sewer line to their fresh water and watch the fun develop! The possibilities are endless! Please no harm to animals or the morbidly dumb, who can’t grasp any of it anyway. Blissful ignorance is a valid excuse not to be tazed by a party balloon animal! Obey the law, but use some ethics and morality too! They’ll never see THAT coming!
Anyway, here’s part one, embedded for your potential enlightenment, even joy! Remember joy? Rudolph’s valet? The nose-keeper? Maybe I dreamt that… And fuck you red squiggly! “Dreamt” is a word! Look it up! Here’s part one of today’s featured ‘toon, “Bully for Bugs”.
One last thought… I’m just now realizing the dual meaning of the title, after over 60 years of familiarity. Don’t taze me, sis! Hands off the rocket launcher, bro! Obviously the bully is the bull! I always read “Bully for” as meaning the old fashioned usage, like “well bully for Nigel! He’ll make a fine chartered accountant!” We all have our blind spots… Advertising and its effects are pernicious!
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