These Three Bears cartoons, of which "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears" is the first, barely squeak past modern-day TV censors, and couldn't get made today. They feature a domineering patriarch who beats his child and browbeats his wife. Never mind that the cartoon hardly approves of his behavior. These are deadly serious subjects that must ... not ... be ... mocked!
This point of view has two errors. One, deadly serious subjects are the meat of comedy; certainly in Warner Brothers cartoons where the barely hidden themes are death, dismemberment, mayhem, sexual perversion, greed, humiliation, lust, abuse of power and so forth. As Steve Allen often said, comedy is tragedy plus time. Two, Papa Bear is not beating a helpless child or berating a gentle-spirited lady. Baby Bear is enormous, and he's stupid enough to blunt our sympathy. Mama Bear is a drip - and not even a nice drip. She's happy to go along with Papa Bear's cruel scheme to pulverize Bugs Bunny.
That scheme is odd, by the way. Baby Bear assumes they're doing it for food. But there's a strong suggestion that Papa Bear is just looking for some cruel fun. After all, they're not after a rabbit. They re-enact the "Three Bears" story to attract Goldilocks!
They get Bugs Bunny, who handily outwits them. But is Bugs a sexist, as modern scolds would have it? Bugs compliments the alleged beauty of Mama Bear in order to distract her from killing him. Later, when she lustily pursues him, he backs off in terror.
First, Bugs had every right to do what he could to save his life. He certainly didn't owe his would-be murderess an honest appraisal, i.e. that she's repulsive. Second, despite modern-day cant about inner beauty and unconventional beauty, Mama Bear has nothing to offer anyone. She's a homicidal drip.
Then again, audiences never hate her. You have to admire the spirit of a woman who gets one compliment, then immediately blocks every doorway against her admirer, while she wears various would-be attractive garments, or even wears nothing (!), and then shows up at his home to smother the unwilling suitor with kisses. Mama Bear, you're a multifaceted woman.
The animation in this cartoon is oddly crude for Warner Brothers and its director Chuck Jones. Otherwise, this is a top-notch, very funny short and highly recommended to all but prudes, scolds and P.C.-thinkers of all varieties.
This short is available on DVD on "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three," Disc 3.
