Wackiki Wabbit

This one is a cartoon classic. The two castaways are not only voiced by Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce, they are caricatures of the two writers as well. Now, you'd think the rabbit would know which side his carrots were buttered on and be nice to two of the writers putting words in his mouth, but they get the same treatment he gives Elmer. Of course, they ARE trying to cook and eat him, so I guess it is understandable that he treats them rather badly. Excellent short. Well worth watching. Most recommended.

In the beginning of this Merrie Melodies cartoon we see two castaways adrift on a small raft.Then they find land.But there, on that tropical island, is also Bugs Bunny.And what do these two men want to do, when they see a rabbit? They want to eat him.Wackiki Wabbit is a Chuck Jones direction from 1943.Mel Blanc can be heard as the voice of Bugs Bunny, as usually.Michael Maltese does the voice of Fat castaway.Tedd Pierce provides the voice for Thin castaway.He is also behind the story.The drawing used for the backgrounds is fascinating.It looks most abstract.We see a lot of wacky stuff here, like those two fools seeing each other as food.And the chicken marionette, hilarious.

Bugs Bunny lives on a tropical island paradise and meets two castaways voiced by Mike Maltese and Tedd Pierce, who are also renowned writers of Bugs' cartoons. I loved the part where Bugs is speaking some island language to them and then doing some crazy hula dance!!! These cartoons are ageless. They are far funnier today than anything new!!!

We see something unusual right off the bat in this cartoon: a quick picture of something that isn't animated. In this case, it's a giant hamburger. That's what one of two starving guys on a raft out in the ocean sees, instead of his partner. The other guy soon is hallucinating, too, seeing food where human body parts are! Thankfully, they are spared from these gruesome things as they spot an island and race there in their suddenly-speedy raft.

Bugs Bunny, probably the only living thing on the small island, spots this ravenous duo and quickly sets his brain in motion. How he does NOT become dinner is the focus of this story. Along the way are some funny bits with graphics regarding language translations. It's also interesting that the two LT writers are the guys characterized in the cartoon! Good for them! It's always good to be able to laugh at yourself, so kudos to Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce.

I agree with the reviewers here: this is a classic cartoon, full of inventive sights that are guaranteed to make you laugh. No sense describing all of them. Suffice to say all three main characters are good in here. The ending's a little sappy, but it's hard to get everything perfect.

While not my favourite Bugs Bunny or Chuck Jones cartoon, Wackiki Rabbit is still a great cartoon with lots of colour, great humour and a wonderfully odd atmosphere. One does wish that Bugs had more to do here, despite being the star he does agreed play more of a secondary character to the castaways, albeit a very memorable and funny one at that.

The cartoon does on the other hand some really colourful visuals with beautifully bold colours, impeccably detailed backgrounds, some inventive 'surreal' physical comedy and well-drawn characters (Bugs' design is in early stages but while different he's drawn well and moves easily). The music by Carl Stalling is typically outstanding, giving the cartoon so much energy while also being richly and cleverly orchestrated throughout, it's also a perfect match with the visuals, humour and action and even elevates them to a greater level. The writing is fresh, razor sharp and brilliantly funny, some of it is bizarre but in a hugely entertaining way, while the gags are oddly surreal but inventive and quite hilarious, especially when the castaways are first introduced to Bugs, with the cooked chicken and the ending.

Story-wise, it's crisply paced, has a constantly colourful atmosphere and it's not too routine or predictable because the humour is so well done. Bugs is as always great fun though as said he should have had more to do, while the castaways (caricatures of Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce, who also voice the characters) are a hilarious and an oddly-but- well-matched double act. Mel Blanc, Maltese and Pierce all give fine vocal characterisations.

Overall, colourful, hilarious and wonderfully odd. Definitely worth seeing at least once. 9/10 Bethany Cox