What's Cookin' Doc?

What's Cookin' Doc? (1944)

*** (out of 4)

Entertaining short has Warner Brothers spoofing the Oscars as Bugs Bunny shows up to the award ceremony to pick up a trophy but instead he's beaten by James Cagney. After losing he demands a re-count and shows a clip from his film HIAWATHA'S RABBIT HUNT. Overall this is a nice little film, although there's no doubt that it's far from a classic and doesn't rank as one of the best Bugs shorts. I say that because the film shown within this film is actually so much better and we only get one brief clip from it. With that said, Bugs does give a good impersonation of a few legends like Edward G. Robinson and that alone makes this worth watching.

Bugs Bunny thinks he's gonna win the 'best actor' oscar but is snubbed in favor of James Cagney. He tries to convince the audience of his point while doing some impressions and showing a clip from Haiwatha's Rabbit Hunt.

Self-indulgent to the extend and not a funny moment in this 8 minute short. It may try to make some points on Hollywood and the Oscars, as a previous reviewer stated, but what it really tries to say is unclear.

The movie is banned from tv nowadays because of some racist-related links and impressions, but nothing to get too excited about.

Dull. 3/10.

"What's Cookin' Doc?" probably looked a lot funnier when they first created it, but the racist portrayal of Indians will probably make most people cringe in the 21st century. Aside from that, there's some pretty funny stuff, as Bugs Bunny hopes to win an Oscar but loses to James Cagney, and tries to make the audience change their mind by showing a short movie starring himself.

Watching this cartoon nowadays, I realize that they mentioned people like Edward G. Robinson. I don't know whether or not any six-year-old children would have recognized that name in 1944, but I can guarantee that as a six-year-old I wouldn't have recognized that name.

Anyway, pretty interesting, but just be sure that you understand the racist portrayal of Indians.

'What's Cookin' Doc' is partly cartoon, partly live action. First we get a live action introduction to the Academy Awards. Then we go inside and meet Bugs Bunny who thinks he is up for the Best Actor award. When the winner is revealed it is not Bugs but James Cagney who takes the honors. Then we see Bugs explaining why he should have win the award. To make his point he shows a piece from a cartoon he starred in.

I liked this short film, although there were no real laughs. A lot of smiles and chuckles, especially in how Bugs is mocking the Academy. There is quite some truth in what is said. The cartoon is one of the censored (which basically means banned) cartoons since it depicts Native Americans in an offensive way. I understand why that is, but on the other hand it is quite innocent. Judge for yourself.

Bob Clampett's 'What's Cookin', Doc?' is a brilliant cartoon with one major flaw. The premise here is that Bugs Bunny is attending the Oscars, confident that he will win a statuette for best performance. When the honour is instead bestowed upon James Cagney, Bugs blows his top and attempts to convince the voters to change their mind by showing a clip of one of his previous performances. This is where the problem comes in. Up to this point, 'What's Cookin', Doc?' has been a cartoon bursting with Clampett's trademark energy. The clip Bugs shows to the audience, however, is a poorly chosen extract from Friz Freleng's 'Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt' in which very little happens. While this perverse choice was likely an in-joke of some kind, the segment from Freleng's cartoon severely slows 'What's Cookin', Doc?' down.

This little niggle aside, 'What's Cookin', Doc?' is a marvellous short. After the success of Chuck Jones's one character Daffy Duck cartoon 'Duck Amuck', a few attempts were made to create a solo vehicle for Bugs, resulting in the lacklustre 'Rabbit Rampage' and 'Baton Bunny'. This was entirely unnecessary since Clampett had already made the great one-bunny show with 'What's Cookin', Doc?'. While other characters are seen in silhouette or heard off screen, Bugs carries the bulk of 'What's Cookin', Doc?' entirely by himself with a remarkably energetic, shape-shifting performance. He impersonates Hollywood stars and pantomimes various acting styles, he shifts from smug, laidback nonchalance to disbelieving, ego-driven frenzy. Clampett makes this all characteristically beautiful. Bugs looks amazing here and snaps from one pose to another with breathtaking smoothness. Clampett tosses in a few of his trademark dirty gags too, one of which is the closing joke of the cartoon. 'What's Cookin', Doc?' is, in part, a masterpiece but its partial brilliance makes the unfortunate interruption from Freleng's uneventful excerpt positively infuriating.