Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears

I started re-watching this for the first time in a long time, and realized about 30 seconds in how unique this short is. I had to rewind it 2 minutes in and time the first shot - EIGHTY SECONDS. The first three shots are almost 4 full minutes long. In all, there are only 10 shots in this entire cartoon - brilliantly paced, inspirational for anyone who wants to learn how to better tell a story.

Bugs Bunny is one of animation's funniest, most interesting and most iconic characters, and while their series of cartoons was short-lived The Three Bears were every bit as entertaining and their cartoons are very good to great.

While not one of the best of The Three Bears cartoons, 'Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears' having a still-finding-its-feet feel, 'Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears' is a very good and funny start.

The Three Bears are incredibly well realised on the whole, with very distinct and interesting personalities but Mama Bear is a little bland and has the least funny material of the three of them. While much of the animation quality is fine, there are cartoons out there that contain more energy in the movement and the bears are a bit scrappy and less refined in look, especially Mama Bear.

However, as said much of the animation is fine. It is bright, colourful and vibrant, the background art is filled with rich detail and Bugs is very well drawn. Carl Stalling's music is outstanding as always, the orchestration is lush and lively, the rhythms are high in energy and it just adds so much to what's going on on top of fitting brilliantly.

'Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears' is very funny, often hilarious stuff, with the dialogue of Papa Bear and Junyor evoking some very hearty chuckles and the gags being just as witty and fresh, like with Bugs tricking Junyor into giving him the ketchup bottle. Bugs is typically likable and smart, and shares great chemistry with the bears, but Papa Bear and especially Junyor steal the show from under him with both bringing so much personality to the cartoon.

Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet and Kent Rogers do very good jobs with the voices, though there is a preference to Billy Bletcher over Blanc as Papa Bear (though Blanc is excellent as the character, but he doesn't own the role like Bletcher did) and Stan Freberg over Rogers. The story is not surprising, but is a very clever twist on the famous story and is always paced in a way that ensures that there is not a dull moment.

In conclusion, a good start to The Three Bears series but better followed. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Without any porridge left the cupboard, the three bears realise they won't be able to attract Goldilocks to their home. With only the old carrots available to eat, they make soup and lure Bugs Bunny into their house. However Bugs proves to be much harder to catch than Goldilocks and the 3 Bears are not getting their fairytale ending.

Bugs Bunny cartoons will always do roughly the same thing every time – Bugs will evade and trick and mock who/what ever is trying to catch him. In this case he is drawn into the fairytale world of the 3 Bears. Cue his usual trademark humour which I found as funny as always here.

Bugs' support characters usually make or break a film and here his foils are mostly pretty funny. The papa bear is a hoot with his impatience and quick temper, the baby bear is slow and dumb and combines well with the father. Only the mother fails to really establish herself, even though she is used in the punchline of the film she is not as strong as the others.

Overall though this is a funny film and the support characters do what they are supposed to do and carry a certain amount of the weight of the comedy and give a foil for Bugs to play off well.

This is one of my favorites. Every Character is absolutely hilarious. The Baby Bear being huge while the father is half his size is pure genius. Every time (and I am not promoting child abuse here) he Papa bear whacks Junyer I laugh out loud. Bea Benaderet is great as the ma bear. Stan Freberg was just as funny as Junyer.

These Three Bears cartoons, of which "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears" is the first, barely squeak past modern-day TV censors, and couldn't get made today. They feature a domineering patriarch who beats his child and browbeats his wife. Never mind that the cartoon hardly approves of his behavior. These are deadly serious subjects that must ... not ... be ... mocked!

This point of view has two errors. One, deadly serious subjects are the meat of comedy; certainly in Warner Brothers cartoons where the barely hidden themes are death, dismemberment, mayhem, sexual perversion, greed, humiliation, lust, abuse of power and so forth. As Steve Allen often said, comedy is tragedy plus time. Two, Papa Bear is not beating a helpless child or berating a gentle-spirited lady. Baby Bear is enormous, and he's stupid enough to blunt our sympathy. Mama Bear is a drip - and not even a nice drip. She's happy to go along with Papa Bear's cruel scheme to pulverize Bugs Bunny.

That scheme is odd, by the way. Baby Bear assumes they're doing it for food. But there's a strong suggestion that Papa Bear is just looking for some cruel fun. After all, they're not after a rabbit. They re-enact the "Three Bears" story to attract Goldilocks!

They get Bugs Bunny, who handily outwits them. But is Bugs a sexist, as modern scolds would have it? Bugs compliments the alleged beauty of Mama Bear in order to distract her from killing him. Later, when she lustily pursues him, he backs off in terror.

First, Bugs had every right to do what he could to save his life. He certainly didn't owe his would-be murderess an honest appraisal, i.e. that she's repulsive. Second, despite modern-day cant about inner beauty and unconventional beauty, Mama Bear has nothing to offer anyone. She's a homicidal drip.

Then again, audiences never hate her. You have to admire the spirit of a woman who gets one compliment, then immediately blocks every doorway against her admirer, while she wears various would-be attractive garments, or even wears nothing (!), and then shows up at his home to smother the unwilling suitor with kisses. Mama Bear, you're a multifaceted woman.

The animation in this cartoon is oddly crude for Warner Brothers and its director Chuck Jones. Otherwise, this is a top-notch, very funny short and highly recommended to all but prudes, scolds and P.C.-thinkers of all varieties.

This short is available on DVD on "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three," Disc 3.