Bully for Bugs (1953)

Redundant and unnecessary.

i must have seen a different film!!

Absolutely Brilliant!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Fun Bugs Bunny short, directed by the great Chuck Jones and written by the also great Michael Maltese. Bugs, after failing yet again to make that left turn at Albuquerque, winds up in a bullfighting arena with a particular nasty bull named Toro. Excellent voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. Lively music from Carl Stalling. The animation is crisp and colorful. There's plenty of funny gags and lines, including the classic "Of course you know, this means war." It's a textbook Bugs cartoon from the '50s in many ways. About the only thing missing is that Bugs never dresses up as a female bull. This cartoon is part of The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner movie, which was how I first saw it as a kid. Nostalgia may be affecting my opinion a little but I think this is a great Bugs cartoon and ranks high on the list of those shorts he did without any of his usual nemeses like Elmer, Yosemite Sam, and Daffy.

. . . he'll ask for a cup of milk, and Bugs Bunny applies this Principle of Animal Psychology to the medium-horn bull upon which he's declared war in Warner Bros.' animated short, BULLY FOR BUGS. As most Americans learned in High School Civics Class, you cannot fight a war without someone having a gun. Bugs decides to bless his bovine foe with this conflict's lone firearm. Of course, if you give a bull a gun, he'll ask for bullets. Since Animal Psychology suggests that if one tiny bullet is good, two bigger bullets are better, this incautious bull quickly ingests an entire box of exploding elephant ammo to "feed" his security crutch, which is now an inseparable part of himself. As at least 72,306 sets of U.S. parents have learned in recent years, toddlers, kids, pets, and farm animals lacking expert tutoring in weaponry wind up stone-cold dead when paired with a loaded Death Projectile Spray Tube (that is, a gun). This is pretty much how the bull bullying Bugs finishes. Warner is showing us that guns are the domain of angry losers.

Bugs, arriving underground, discovers this isn't the destination he was looking for - the big Carrot Festival at "Coachella Valley." Instead, it's the inside of a bull ring. It's also where a gigantic, terrifying black bull is chasing a scared matador around the ring. Bugs figures he must have taken the wrong turn around Albuquerque. The big bully of a beast winds up belting Bugs out of the area across town. "Of course, you know this means war," the airborne Bugs informs us viewers.Moments later, another matador is ready to take on the huge bull. Of course, that matador is Bugs, who teaches the animal a few lessons, and gloats "What a nin-cow-poop!" His cockiness comes back to haunt him as the bull blasts him again. This "war" goes back and forth, back and forth, with many funny gags. Lots of laughs.

Bugs Bunny takes a wrong turn and ends up fighting a cocky bull. The kind of cartoon that Bugs Bunny is famous for as he seeks clever revenge on a vile opponent. The musical slapping gag where Bugs slaps the bull to the music is classic as is when the bull swallows a gun and starts shooting bullets out of it's horns by slamming it's tail on the ground. It is a lot more interesting to see Bugs tackle an opponent that is much larger then him. We know the bull doesn't stand a chance, but we love giving Bugs a challenge to test his strength. The music, animation, and voice work are commendable as usual. Bugs looks quite good in his matador outfit as well.*Bugs Bunny: Stop steaming up my tail! What do you want to do? Wrinkle it!*