Ali Baba Bunny

I think I've seen every Looney Tunes cartoon in my short life span. I always preferred WB to Disney, Bugs to Mickey, etc. The best ones are, obviously, the Chuck Jones shorts. But which of those are the best?

I think the answer must be "Ali Baba Bunny". It has the famous Bugs and Daffy rivalry, it has a different setting, it has a hilarious new character (Hassan), it's just cartoon perfection. Also has some of the best damn lines in any Looney Tunes cartoon.

"Open sasparilla? Open Saskatchewan?"

"I'm rich! I'm wealthy! I'm comfortably well off!"

"DUCK. YOU HAVE DESECRATED MY LAMP."

Classic. Absolutely classic. No cartoons will ever match the genius of the Looney Tunes Chuck Jones ones.

The animation is also top notch. I hate seeing a Looney Tunes cartoon with bad animation, but Jones never disappoints. The little things in the animation just make it perfect, like when Daffy first spots the treasure, and his bottom bill shifts side to side in greediness, or when Bugs is surprised by Daffy shouting for help, his toes scrunch up...

Long live Bugs Bunny.

This is a great cartoon for several reasons: 1 - Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are both in it; 2 - it's filled with classic lines (many by Daffy); 3 - the humor is both subtle and slapstick; and 4 - it looks fantastic with a restored version. The colors are magnificent. (See it on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5).

This story includes a bunch of treasure, a big guard named "Hassan" guarding the loot, and a genie. As with some other cartoons that featured both Bugs and Daffy, our rabbit friend doesn't do much, just lets the duck make a fool of himself.

This is very entertaining start to finish - tons of good gags - and one of those cartoons that always will be funny no matter how many times you see it.

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.

OK, I'll admit that I'm a big fan of animated shows, having grown up with them, they were part of my life for as far back as I can remember.

My tastes have changed a little since that time, and I have added a sizable mental library of shows that I've seen, but overall I enjoy the animated shows quite a bit.

Taking that into account, I can say that I was lucky enough to grow up with the Bugs Bunny line of cartoons, the Looney Toons cartoons if you will. While I believe that some of them are better than others, I would give all of them a higher rating than most other animated shows in existence, each having something to offer in the way of humor, animation skill, or just plain silliness.

This specific one, with Bugs and Daffy, is one of my all time favorites, one that I've quoted (much to the chagrin of my family) often, especially the Daffy lines regarding how greedy he is when encountering the vast amount of wealth in the cave.

This one isn't played often enough on television, so if you have an opportunity to see it on TV, or in some sort of DVD set, do so and I believe that from the beginning, you will laugh.

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.