Big Top Bunny

"Big Top Bunny" is an odd (in a negative way) Bugs Bunny cartoon - and I'm sure many people think the reason is because Robert McKimson directed it. Personally, I think that theory is ridiculous. All the other Looney Tunes directors have produced equally odd (in a negative way) cartoons sometime or other. Robert McKimson is a very good Looney Tunes director, but personally I think this is one of his weaker cartoons (his second weakest, in my opinion).

Despite its oddities (which I will list later), "Big Top Bunny" is still a cartoon worth watching, even if only once. Bugs Bunny is a good character here, not disappointing and as likable as ever. The animation is reasonable as well, but not something to rant on about (just a good quality). Parts of the humour are laughable, but overall, this cartoon is not the funniest Looney Tune ever.

The oddities of the cartoon are Bug's side character (who is a rather annoying, drawling circus bear), the length of the cartoon (it feels too short even though it is average Looney Tune length) and a deal of the jokes are also unfunny and odd as well.

In this cartoon, Bruno the bear, a circus bear, is complimenting his lovely circus life, when he hears that there will be a new animal in the ring - an acrobatic rabbit. Bruno is furious that he should be paired alongside a "leetle rabbit" and bears a grudge against Bugs Bunny when they first meet. Bugs Bunny is determined to earn his revenge against this annoying bear...

I recommend this cartoon to people who enjoy the repetitive, slapsticky side of Looney Tunes and to people who like annoying side characters to make things "interesting." Enjoy "Big Top Bunny"! :-)

When the circus hires Bugs Bunny as an attraction, Bruno-an Eastern European bear, gets jealous and tries to sabotage him. He succeeds the first time but the rabbit catches on. The gag where Bruno ends up in the band's kettle drum isn't funny but everything else is. I especially liked the one when Bugs, after being given a handle with bear hands by Bruno on his trapeze, uses that handle and "peddles" his way back to the bear's starting base. Robert McKimson didn't make the greatest Warner Bros. cartoons compared to Chuck Jones, Friz Freling, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, or Frank Tashlin but because of all that talent that surrounded him, he could still make good animated shorts that can be entertaining in themselves. Big Top Bunny is one of them.

Sorry if I find it a little hokey when they make Eastern Europeans the antagonists in movies; they do that in "Big Top Bunny", as Bugs Bunny ends up in the circus and gets paired with a jealous Slovak bear. Bugs plays some funny tricks on the big guy - hell, with this big doofus, it's a cinch - but I would like to see a movie or cartoon in which Eastern Europeans are not the antagonists. I know that this cartoon was produced only a few years into the Cold War, when we were supposed to view the Soviet bloc as the evilest place of all time, but it just seems dated (particularly to someone like me, a student of Russian). Otherwise, it's a pretty funny cartoon, especially the diving scene.

Bruno, a Slobokian bear (whatever that is) and a circus acrobat, does not take kindly to having Bugs Bunny join his previously solo act at Colonel Korny's World Famous Circus. Somehow, during a performance, an anvil ends up where Bugs's head should go. Fool him once, shame on the Slobokian bear. But Bugs won't be fooled twice. He's ready for Bruno's dirty tricks throughout the rest of the act and has a few tricks of his own. Somehow Bruno ends up taking several falls into a bass drum before finding himself competing with Bugs in a high diving act. Will Bugs or Bruno take the dip?

Robert McKimson, a flaccid director, does a better-than-average job here. Bruno is a funny creation, thanks in large part to Mel Blanc doing the Russian-accented voice. The character animation is particularly strong; the gags are reasonably funny; and we're made particularly eager to see Bugs triumph over this bullying jerk. This is a good cartoon: no more, no less.

This cartoon is available on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume One," Disc 1.

"Colonel Korny's World Famous Circus" is in town, featuring "Bruno, the Skobokian Acrobatic Bear." The colonel gets a phone call informing him of a talented rabbit and the boss says, okay, tell him to come down and I'll have him perform with Bruno. The big bear, overhearing this, is not happy. "Nobody shares the spotlight with Bruno The Magnificent," he tells us (the viewers), "especially a stinking little rabbit."

Anyway, the act starts that night and immediately, Bruno starts sabotaging Bugs, trying to ruin him. After Bugs takes some big-time licks, he catches on and the tables are turned. The two go at it the rest of the night and you know who will wind up the big winner. How Bugs brutalizes the beast is pretty funny with some clever ideas. The sight gags were good, too, such as Bugs "pedaling" a bicycle in midair. The movie ends with a bang, literally.

This is prime Bugs Bunny humor.