Bully for Bugs

Bugs, arriving underground, discovers this isn't the destination he was looking for - the big Carrot Festival at "Coachella Valley." Instead, it's the inside of a bull ring. It's also where a gigantic, terrifying black bull is chasing a scared matador around the ring. Bugs figures he must have taken the wrong turn around Albuquerque. The big bully of a beast winds up belting Bugs out of the area across town. "Of course, you know this means war," the airborne Bugs informs us viewers.

Moments later, another matador is ready to take on the huge bull. Of course, that matador is Bugs, who teaches the animal a few lessons, and gloats "What a nin-cow-poop!" His cockiness comes back to haunt him as the bull blasts him again.

This "war" goes back and forth, back and forth, with many funny gags. Lots of laughs.

Fun Bugs Bunny short, directed by the great Chuck Jones and written by the also great Michael Maltese. Bugs, after failing yet again to make that left turn at Albuquerque, winds up in a bullfighting arena with a particular nasty bull named Toro. Excellent voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. Lively music from Carl Stalling. The animation is crisp and colorful. There's plenty of funny gags and lines, including the classic "Of course you know, this means war." It's a textbook Bugs cartoon from the '50s in many ways. About the only thing missing is that Bugs never dresses up as a female bull. This cartoon is part of The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner movie, which was how I first saw it as a kid. Nostalgia may be affecting my opinion a little but I think this is a great Bugs cartoon and ranks high on the list of those shorts he did without any of his usual nemeses like Elmer, Yosemite Sam, and Daffy.

This is a masterpiece, a veritable classic! Bugs is cast in the perfect situation with the bull as a perfect foil. Sight gags galore, including a bit with a rifle that is absolutely priceless! The ending is gloriously funny! Catch the look on the bulls' face in the last part of the closing bit, it's wonderful! Good to see it's available. You have to see this. Most highly recommended!

A brilliant Chuck Jones Bugs Bunny short that finds Bugs accidentily becoming a bull fighter and having to fight El Toro after he takes a wrong turn at the same place he always does. This is a hilarious Loony Tunes short and Even though this is El Toro's one & only appearence, He is still a fondly remembered character in the Looney Tunes stable. And rightly so.This cartoon is uncut on Disk 1 of the 'Loony Tunes Golden Collection' and also has a commentary track . On a side note as a kid, I enjoyed playing the one level of a Loony Tunes videogame for the PS2 that was based on this short as it was fun.

My Grade: A+

Famed cartoon director Chuck Jones has said that this cartoon came about because his then-producer, Edward Selzer, caught him doodling a drawing of a bull one day and told Jones that he was *not* to make cartoon about bullfighting. Of such defiant acts are great cartoons made. This is one of the all-time great Looney Tunes, with great camera angles (note the ant's-eye view of a confident Bugs as the bull gains ground on him), hilarious give-and-take between Bugs and his adversary, and a gut-busting ending (beautifully scored by Carl Stalling). For years, CBS was stupid enough to broadcast this cartoon with its fantastic climax cruelly edited. You can now find the whole thing intact in Jones' The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie and on the Jones compilation videocassette From Hare to Eternity, as well as in intermittent broadcasts on Cartoon Network