Rabbit Rampage

I think this cartoon was released to enhance the success that Daffy Duck's Duck Amuck (1953) achieved by using an even more famous and loved character in Bugs Bunny (better-loved for an unknown reason). It did not work. Though it's funny and I like it, Daffy is the kind of character that is supposed to do this kind of thing. Bugs just isn't himself when at the recieving end of torment. But I guess it shows his other side. But as always, you still get some Jones hallmarks, like the vivid use of colour, good verbal comedy and great animation and expression. The score complements all of that, but as Bugs takes on several forms through the animator's whim, he doesn't feel like Bugs except he continues to crunch his carrot even when he has been drastically modified. Duck Amuck was a better cartoon, much, much better. But this is entertainment, and a funny cartoon is a funny cartoon, I'll admit. So if you look for nothing but seven minutes of a good cartoon, I recommend this one. Good to see it's in print.

The new Bugs Bunny script is in production, but Bugs finds that the animator on the picture is a difficult sort; he threatens to walk off the picture. However, as the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword and Bugs find himself at the mercy of the animator's imagination.

Ironically enough for a cartoon where the animator is (literally) the star, the actual animation here is only average. The plot is quite a good idea but it doesn't really work. The various little tricks that the animator pull just get a little dull after a while and, while it is different, it simply isn't very funny.

Worse still is the fact that Bugs isn't really himself – his personality isn't really Bugs as we have come to know him and he could easily be any character at all. In fact, given that much of the action involves redrawing Bugs (or bits of Bugs) as something else, it never really feels like him. The animator may be given a face at the end but really he is a meaningless paintbrush for the most part and fails to be a part of the cartoon.

Overall this is a good idea but nothing is done with it that works. The gags tire after a while, the animation is average at best and there is a shocking lack of character in Bugs and the cartoon as a whole. Not really worth a look.

Trying to replicate his success with Duck Amuck, Chuck Jones returns to the "breaking the fourth wall" routine with this short. Here Bugs Bunny fights with his unseen (until the end) animator, who has a grudge against him. It's not a bad cartoon and I don't really fault Chuck Jones or writer Michael Maltese for ripping off their own idea. After all, ideas were (and still are) recycled all the time in cartoons. But this one does suffer by comparison, as well as the fact that, as other reviewers have mentioned, the plot is more suited to Daffy than Bugs. No one watches a Bugs short to see him frustrated and one-upped at every turn. We like to see him get the upper hand and outsmart his foes. At one point Bugs even mimics Yosemite Sam by using the word "idjit." Still, there are some amusing bits here and there. The animation, music, and voice work are all top notch. On a related note, there was a video game for the Super Nintendo called Bugs Bunny Rabbit Rampage that was released in the 1990s. It was obviously inspired by this short, both in title and plot. I haven't played it since I was a kid but I recall liking it.

If you have seen both this and "Duck Amuck," you'll probably say that they are basically cousins. At that point you're correct.

I'll start off by telling you that this is _NOT_ superior or equal to "Duck Amuck" in any way or form, but still manages to hit the nail on the head pretty well despite a few flaws. Although the jokes aren't the same, their theme is identical in some ways. For example: in "Duck Amuck," Daffy Duck is crudely painted by his animator, and later on is redrawn to wearing a baby's garnet, having a flag for a tail that shows a screw and a ball, and walks on his arms and legs; while in "Rabbit Rampage," Bugs Bunny has his ears redrawn into a humans and later on the ears are redrawn into very long, dragging ears. What I mean is: character doctoring, but here, it still manages to give some laughs.

Overall, despite over-copying themes to jokes from its superior cousin, "Rabbit Rampage" still holds up as a good package.

8/10

Even before reading the reviews on here, I could see a number of similarities to Duck Amuck. Duck Amuck is definitely superior to Rabbit Rampage; I consider Duck Amuck not only one of the Daffy's best cartoons but also one of the best Looney Tunes cartoons in general, while for Bugs I would put What's Opera Doc?, Broom-Stick Bunny, Rabbit Seasoning, Rabbit Fire, Rhapsody Rabbit and Water Water Every Hare over this.

In general, the animation was not too bad, Bugs himself looks somewhat odd, but the colours, backgrounds and visual tricks are very nice. In fact, like Duck Amuck what actually made Rabbit Rampage were the visual gags, they were clever and funny. That and Elmer's last line at the end, which I was not expecting. The music is also a nice touch, the dialogue is amusing, Mel Blanc is superb and the pacing is secure enough. Overall, not Bug's best by all means, but worth watching. 9/10 Bethany Cox