French Rarebit

French Rarebit (1951)

** (out of 4)

Bugs Bunny finds himself in Paris, walking down a street when rival chefs start fighting over which one will have Bugs on their menu that night. Soon Bugs joins the fighting in order to make both of them look like fools. This was never one of my favorite Bugs shorts and I'd probably say this is one of the least entertaining over all. There's some nice imagination and good animation but outside of that this thing is pretty lifeless. You expect a lot more in terms of laughs but there's not a single one here, which is rather shocking. Another problem are the two chefs and how bland and boring they are. Not once did they make me laugh and they even manage to bring Bugs down to their unfunny level.

For whatever reason, (probably that I saw this cartoon 6 billion times on TV when I was a kid) this one has always stuck with me. The music stand out for me too.

When Bugs is 'kneading" the two Chefs—that "urmf! oof! arf!" sound Bugs makes has cracked me up for almost fifty years!

I also love the characterizations of the two chefs: their outrageous, over-the-top accents of the Chefs and just their whole look—particularly with rabbit teeth.

I admit, there's not much to the script. Perhaps it stands out for the never-before-seen characters...

Bugs Bunny is in a crate of carrots from the USA. It falls off the back of the truck and Bugs finds himself in Paris. Two rival French chefs from restaurants on opposite sides of the street are excited to see a rabbit walking towards them. They are eager to put him on their menus.

This is yet another classic memorable Bugs Bunny cartoon. I remember everything after the arrival of Louie and Francois. I like their designs although I may like them more if they're opposites instead of the same. Maybe they could be one fat and one skinny. Bugs Bunny keeps hitting home run after home run and this is no exception.

This is the epitome of great comic satire. No one is safe when they try to conquer Bugs, not even the French.

Ever the victim of species-ism, Bugs is caught between two rival French chefs. But the tables are turned in the end when Bugs turns them both into rabbits and serves up a tasty dish of revenge.

Bugs arrives in Paris via a delivery truck carrying carrots from the US. As he's walking down the street, he catches the attention of not one but two French chefs who want to cook him for dinner. The rest of the cartoon has the two rival chefs trying to see who gets Bugs, all the while Bugs is easily outsmarting them both. It's a perfectly enjoyable cartoon but, as others have said, not one of Bugs' best. The gags are amusing but nothing really hilarious. The voice work from Mel Blanc and Tedd Pierce (who also wrote the story) is great. The music is energetic and fun. I love the animation in this one. The colors are lush and bright. The characters are well-drawn and the backgrounds are quite detailed, which wasn't always the case for a Looney Tunes short.