El Demonio y la Liebre

Just as Coyote was introduced opposing Bugs, we get to meet Taz opposing Bugs. Just like in the Coyote meeting, Taz talks too. I am not personally aware of any other Looney Tunes where either Coyote nor Taz talks. Sure, here and elsewhere we get a lot of "OOH EH AH UH UH!" But if you listen, Taz actually says some words. The one where the savage beast is soothed by music and Bugs has to use this to get the Taz back to the zoo...watch that one and listen for any lines by Taz. But here, he has the classic line, "And rabbits." Bottom line, they rarely get as good as this. A Looney Tune keeper all the way.

In the Tasmanian Devil's first appearance, he goes after Bugs Bunny, but Bugs is ahead of him, armed with various things (how many people can actually explain what sodium bicarbonate is?). In the pantheon of Bugs's foils, Taz seems like more of a cowboy than Yosemite Sam (he's louder, angrier, less comprehensible, and apparently is the world's biggest glutton). I've always thought that Taz was funny mainly because of what Bugs does to him; if it was just him, his slobbering and growling might get old pretty quickly.

So, this isn't the best cartoon, but still worth seeing. I wonder how many people in real life have seen a Tasmanian Devil.

The Tasmanian Devil makes his first appearance in this funny Bugs Bunny short directed by Robert McKimson. In the cartoon, Bugs is cleaning his rabbit hole when he's overrun by a stampede of animals of all kinds running for their lives from the Tasmanian Devil. Bugs has to look Taz up in an encyclopedia because he has no clue what it is. He finds out, though, when Taz shows up and tries to eat him.

Taz is pretty low on my list of favorite Looney Tunes characters but I do enjoy his earliest appearances with Bugs. This is a very funny short that works because its 'brains vs. brawn' premise is right in Bugs' wheelhouse. There are several great gags and lines in this. Mel Blanc does wonderful work as Bugs and Taz. The animation is fluid with some lovely colors and backgrounds. The music is energetic and fun. It's probably the best use of Taz in any of the shorts he appeared in during the classic era, which wasn't many.

Definitely not the best of the Looney Tunes canon, but an entertaining one at that. The animation is beautiful and colourful, and the vocal performances as usual are stellar. Also the music is wonderful, and the gags come by thick and fast and are funny. Bugs is still his funny and somewhat arrogant self, and Taz in his debut despite his ravenous appetite is immensely huggable. I did think though that the story was a little on the predictable side, the gags were well done on the whole, but knowing the plot line before watching the cartoon I kind of knew what I had in store. That said, it was a very entertaining short, and works on repeated viewings.

8/10 Bethany Cox

Bugs Bunny is doing some housekeeping, vacuuming carrot roots out of his rabbit hole when he peeps his head out and sees a stampede racing by. He finally stops a turtle and asks (after some "What's up doc? queries go unanswered), "What's cookin'?"

The turtle tells him, "The Tasmanian Devil" is on the loose. Who? Bugs looks it up in his dictionary and finds out it is "a strong murderous beast, jaws as powerful as a steel trap - has ravenous appetite," etc etc. (Obviously, this was the first time The Tasmanian Devil appeared in a Bugs Bunny animated short.

Main, the "Devil" wants to devour everything in sight. He's got an appetite like "Baby Huey," but Bugs tricks him every time. In fact, Bugs in kind of sadistic to the newcomer.

Overall, okay but nothing hilarious. Hey, nobody ever said "the Devil" was ever funny.