Wackiki Wabbit

One of the most surreal and abstract Bugs Bunny cartoons: the scenes jump in vibrant and bold colors, swirling and changing in a mad scramble on a lush,tropical island. At one point Bugs breaks into fluent Hawaiian and says "humuhumunukunukuapua'a"! This is the name of the former state fish of Hawai'i (pending reinstatement as of April 2006). This little fish was a favorite at the Waikiki Aquarium hence, presumably, the title of the cartoon "Wackiki Wabbit". It's always refreshing when modern art, hallucinations, and ethno-linguistics join in a comic romp! Another interesting development is the characterizations of the castaways. Visually they play off each other in a Laurel and Hardy way, with a thin, tall man vs. fat, short man. As noted, they are the likenesses of the writers Pierce and Maltese, who also do the voices. This was a hallmark of the many Bugs cartoons that show real-life people on the cartoon "stage" via wonderful caricature---think Peter Lorre, Edward G. Robinson and Lauren Bacall, to name a few. This is one of my very favorites, and, I like to say "humuhumunukunukuapua'a"!

Two castaways (based on Warner Brother's writers Micheal Maltese and Tedd Pierces, who also voice themselves) find themselves on a tropical island inhabited by one Bugs Bunny. Seeing as not too long ago these two guys were eyeing each other like they were both food, they naturally start salivating when they see Bugs and proceed to chase him down in order to make some much needed stew. This is another classic from the early years of Bugs and still remains as fresh and funny as it undoubtedly was when it was first released. This one is totally timeless. This animated short can be found on Disk 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 and includes an optional commentary by John Kricfalusi and Eddie Fitzgerald.

My Grade: A+

Two shipwrecked shipmates are aimlessly floating about at the mercy of the waves before being washed up on a tropical island, where they find Bugs Bunny. They think they'll have roast rabbit, but Bugs objects (what would you do?).

The two shipwrecked sailors are voiced by Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce, and they look like them, too. In case you didn't know, they're two of the three chief Bugs Bunny writers. Imagine humiliating them so blatantly in theaters! I'm not surprised they ended up wanting to get away from the rabbit.

I saw this cartoon yesterday on the Looney Tunes marathon on Cartoon Network, and it refreshed my memory. Mel Blanc, of course, is excellent as the rabbit, but the bunny is quite basic. He'd only been around for three years, you know. The layouts are detailed and interesting, including a panoramic view of the tropical island, and the detailed jungle environment. Some sequences are truly hilarious, but it doesn't really stick in the memory. The concept is original, and the jokes are fresh and new. Bugs was never seen as a puppeteer before was he?

WACKIKI WABBIT (1943) is a great second or third cartoon to show in a Bugs Bunny history, since it's the first cartoon in my memory to show the rabbit at his best in an under-developed form.

If you're a stranded castaway on a desert island and you find your nearest neighbor is Bugs Bunny...maybe it's time to build a getaway boat.

The two seagoing saps in "Wackiki Wabbit" don't take the hint, though, and make the mistake of trying to make Bugs part of their regularly balanced diet after days of starvation and considering each other as main courses ("...and hold the onions", one mutters).

Bugs holds his own well as if there were a doubt, and the big and little castaways make like a disheveled version of Abbott and Costello (even looking the part) and are voiced by Bugs' regular writers Maltese and Pierce (hey, at least they didn't have to hire out for new voices!) with a penchant for sing-songy tunes of joy ("We're gonna have roast rabbit!" and "We're going on a boo-ooat!" are their favorites).

Chuck Jones again proves why he is such a pro at this kind of thing with the breath-taking island vistas and Mel Blanc makes smart-aleck repartee a work of art. And creating a marionette out of a roast chicken never looked so easy before.

Ten stars and an authentic hula dance from Bugs for "Wackiki Wabbit". You can't get more "Wackiki" than this.

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!!!