Beanstalk Bunny

'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'?

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.

When he feels robbed by a `cow for beans' deal, Daffy discards his beans only to find they create a giant beanstalk. Daffy climbs it to find that Bugs is already halfway up it (his bed got caught as it grew) but he is damned if he will share the gold that surely awaits him. However when Daffy finds a giant Elmer Fudd he is all too keen for Bugs to be involved (especially in the crushing of the bones to make the bread!).

Despite his claims that there has never been a rabbit in the story of Jack & The Beanstalk (clearly forgetting his own cartoon version) Bugs gets involved here after Daffy drops his bed down the stalk. The film is pretty amusing as Bugs and Daffy semi-work together to try and evade the giant Fudd. Some of the gags don't work but the majority of them are pretty slick and amusing.

The characters are not as good as they should be though and they are lucky that the energy in the material covers it. Bugs is not as tricky as he should be and his comedy here is more physical than anything else. Daffy is OK if you like the greedy, more recent personae - however I much prefer the crazy little black duck. Fudd is the least like himself - his giant size somewhat taking away from his usual bumbling character.

Overall this is an OK short that is enjoyable due to the energetic script and the presence of three of Warner Brother's biggest characters (literally in the case of Fudd here!). It isn't as sharp as it could have been but it is still worth seeing.

This episode seems to be the story of Jack and the Beanstalk - but instead there's a duck a lot like Daffy Duck (and at the moment we're presuming he's Jack). He throws away some beans, a beanstalk grows blah blah blah... Well, Daffy Duck climbs up, meets a rabbit in bed, thinks about the gold he's going to find, meets a giant and when the rabbit says he is Jack, Daffy Duck insists that he is called Aloysius. How confusing...

A witty Daffy Duck short, also featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd as the evil giant, in the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" - but of course it HAS to be different!

Good for people who are not totally obsessed with Looney Tune episodes having every other joke a slapstick one and good for Daffy Duck fans in general. Unlike the title suggests, this short is mainly about the little black duck!

Enjoy "Beanstalk Bunny", whether you think there is a character called Aloysius featured or not! :-)

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.