Beanstalk Bunny

The humor and timing in this cartoon is all-over fantastic, but the highlight of this cartoon is the mere 20 or so seconds of Daffy Duck yelling at Bugs inside a giant glass. Of course, Daffy making the loudest noise possible while we hear none of it outside of the glass is great (the key to comedy IS silence!) The expressions of panic and exhaustion on Daffy's face while Bugs remains calm and expressionless is worth seeing this cartoon alone. In my top five Warner classic shorts.

Chuck Jones' version of Jack and the Beanstalk is another terrific buddy comedy with Bugs and Daffy. Daffy is Jack, Elmer Fudd is the giant, and Bugs is...well, Bugs. Daffy and Bugs are hilarious together as usual. They do a fun "he's Jack" bit that reminds me of their Hunting Trilogy greatness. Love the animation. Some cool angles and designs, as well as nice action. Everything's well-drawn and the colors are rich. Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan both provide excellent voice work. Not high on my list of favorite Chuck Jones cartoons but that's only because he had so many fantastic ones. This is definitely a funny short and worth a look for all Bugs & Daffy fans.

'Beanstalk Bunny' has the distinction of pulling together several standard Looney Tunes conventions, most of these distinct to director Chuck Jones:

The unique skewering of a classic fairy tale story already done by rote dozens of times by other studios.

Casting Daffy Duck in a stock starring role, his being aware of playing the part, and failing spectacularly.

Elmer as a potentially dangerous adversary who gets easily stalled and confused by Bugs' persuasive power of speech.

Jones' having Bugs content to mind his own business until external forces prod him to action.

Jones' oft-used staging a scene behind glass, where character acting makes dialog unnecessary.

Jones' tendency to put small characters in outsize surroundings, seen throughout his career, from the maudlin 'Tom Thumb in Trouble' to the bizarre 'I Was a Teenage Thumb'

All that, and a hilarious cartoon. How does Daffy come up with 'Aloysius'?

This cartoon is one of the better ones using all three that Warner Brothers did-almost as good as the hunting trilogy. The scene where Daffy and Bugs await their fate at the hands of Elmer is priceless! Daffy is his typical insufferable self and the ending is perfect for both Bugs and Daffy. This airs fairly often on Cartoon Network. Recommended

Everyone knows that when a cartoon stars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, that it's going to be crazy. In "Beanstalk Bunny", Daffy (as Jack) trades a cow for some beans, which he promptly throws away. Immediately, the beans turn into a beanstalk and Daffy starts climbing it, only to discover that Bugs got caught in it. Obsessed with the "goodies" up above, Daffy kicks Bugs off and continues climbing, but Bugs quickly follows him up. Once they reach the sky, Elmer is the giant. When Bugs and Daffy each claim that the other is Jack, Elmer decides that he'll grind both their bones to make his bread. But Bugs manages to free himself and Daffy. Most of the rest of the cartoon is Elmer chasing the two of them through his castle.

This was probably the only time when Bugs and Daffy had to cooperate (sort of). As always, Daffy is greedy while Bugs is the rationalist, and at the end, we learn how to make a living in the giant's world. Maybe it's not the best Looney Tunes cartoon ever, but Chuck Jones, Mel Blanc and that whole creative team always were able to create something worthy. Fabulous.