Ali Baba Bunny

Personally I usually do not like episodes where Daffy Duck is annoyingly cruel, but I was very impressed with this one. In "Ali Baba Bunny" are surprises, very good gags and jokes and a theme that works well. The animation and lines from Daffy were also impressive and I did not begin to mind too much that he was, as he phrased it himself, "a greedy slob" in this episode.

The episode begins with Ali Baba closing the cave to the well-known Arabian treasure. He tells his guard, Hassan, to guard the cave well and goes off on his very small camel. What Hassan was not expecting was a black duck called Daffy and a grey bunny called Bugs to come up from underground into the cave. Bugs Bunny is beginning to become worried when he realises he is not where he wanted to be, but Daffy is perfectly happy to stay where he is and be "comfortably well off"...

I recommend this episode to anyone who likes a good laugh, for anyone who does not mind a greedy black duck and for anyone who likes Looney Tunes in general. As bobthemoo proves (he is a Looney Tunes fan, by the way people), not every Looney Tunes fan will enjoy this, but I say this episode is worth a try. Enjoy "Ali Baba Bunny"! :-)

An absolutely wonderful cartoon. But I'm biased - saw it first at the Cartoon Cinema in Sheffield England in 1958 or thereabouts aged 7 with grandmother. To me it's one of the finest and funniest Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Granted it might attract disparaging comment for the stereotypical Arabs - but it is of its time and that time was 1957. So far as I know it never has attracted criticism from the Arab world.

It is delightful for the interplay between the greedy (capitalist?) duck and his pretensions ("I'm comfortably well off...") and the world wise but decent Bugs Bunny - who rescues the duck from his folly only for Daffy to blow it at the end - with yet more greed.

A fable for our times yet again?

Oh, and Pismo Beach is in California, not Florida.

Duncan Stewart.

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are burrowing their way to a beach in South Florida they take a wrong turning and end up in a cave containing diamonds and riches. Daffy immediately reacts and greedily tries to claim all the treasure for himself. However as he carries it out of the cave he meets Hassan, the guard, who threatens to chop him in half. Daffy runs back to Bugs for help.

Any short film staring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck is going to have potential no matter what the setting or plot, however it is no guarantee that the cartoon will work necessarily. This film is a case in point as I didn't feel it was very good. The material is reasonable enough and there is enough energy to be amusing but it is never really laugh-out-loud funny.

Part of the problem for me were the characters. Bugs is OK but feels like he doesn't have enough material to really do his tricky stuff well, this is the downside of splitting the short with Daffy. As a fan of Daffy in his crazy period, his greedy side is not as funny to me but it is that that the film relies on here. As such this weakened the short a little for me but for fans of that side of the duck it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Overall this is an average cartoon despite the presence of two big stars. Neither Bugs nor Daffy are really used as well as they have been in other things on their own. However any short with these two is always going to be at least worth a look.

One fine day, the Sultan of Baghdad closes Sesame, and reminds guard Hassan: "Guard well this treasure, or may the jackal grow fat on thy carcass." Hassan affirms: "No one shall pass Hassan." However, neither man counted on two people, er, animals: Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. It just so happens that they accidentally burrow right into the cave. When they see where they've landed, Bugs tries to figure out where they took a wrong turn, while Daffy spots the treasure. His greedy side takes over, and after forcing Bugs back into the hole, Daffy proceeds to play in the treasure.

Meanwhile, Hassan has finally remembered the password. He goes after Daffy, while Bugs disguises himself as a genie and grants Hassan a wish. After they finally manage to get rid of that guard, Daffy accidentally finds the real genie, and...well, let's just say that they don't become friends. Bugs flees, of course.

Once again, Chuck Jones and company hit the comedy jackpot. This is what classic cartoons are all about. In my opinion, the Looney Tunes were always better than Disney.

This is a kind of variation on an Arabian Nights story. It's the old "Open Sesame" thing where an immerse treasure is kept in a cave. Daffy and Bugs are on their way to Pismo Beach, CA, to enjoy the beach, but a wrong turn in Albuquerque gets them lost. They end up in an Arabian desert. Because they have tunneled underground, they pop up in the treasure cave. Of course, when Daffy sees the jewels and gold, he drives Bugs into the ground and begins to take possession of all the loot. Unfortunately for him, Ali Baba or some other guy is around and he isn't happy to see someone running off with his treasure. Just like always, Daffy goes bananas, and Bugs is the unflappable one. Fun, familiar effort by Chuck Jones.