Little Red Riding Rabbit

Of all the Little Red Riding Hood spoofs, this has to be my favorite. The sight gags from this short are cliche now, but they were new back then...the chase up and down the stairs and through the doors, etc.

The best part about this one was the totally obnoxious Red Riding Hood, the bobby-socked, puberty-challenged brat singing "Five O'clock Whistle". I'm sure she was modeled after someone's kid..I just wish I knew who!

This cartoon is one of my favorites for a lot of reasons, one of them being that it's a showcase for the sound F/X that were created by Robert Clampett and used throughout in the WB cartoons, even the ones that he didn't direct, such as this one. There is the "bee-whup," the singular "boit," and the most famous one, the "yada-yada-yada." There may even be a couple more I can't think of, but those three are instantly recognizable to long-time Bugs Watchers as Clampett's own.

Friz Freleng's 'Little Red Riding Rabbit' is a much admired gem of a cartoon and another strong retort to those who accuse Freleng of being a dull director. Taking liberties with the original Red Riding Hood story, 'Little Red Riding Rabbit' deletes Grandma from the story entirely and features a wolf who is actually more interested in the contents of Red's picnic basket than the girl herself. These contents turn out to be Bugs Bunny, who sets about having enormous fun with the dumb wolf in a series of beautifully orchestrated routines including a truly inspired vocal sparring match in which Bugs repeats everything the wolf says and slyly switches places so that he controls the dialogue. As great as the battle between Bugs and the wolf is, however, the cartoon is completely stolen by the loud-mouthed Red who persistently bursts in on the action to try and get the traditional version of the story back on track. By the end even Bugs has had enough of her and teams up with the wolf to deal with the little annoyance. In 'Little Red Riding Rabbit', Bugs is neither the good-hearted moral crusader or the aggressively anarchic lunatic, he's simply a mischievous manipulator having a great time with the latest dupes he's been presented with. This lends 'Little Red Riding Rabbit' an enjoyable sense of ethical ambiguity which makes the cruel finale seem entirely appropriate. It's a perfectly paced, beautifully written and hilariously executed classic.

Warner Brothers' made some of the greatest cartoons of all time and this is one of them. Absolutely hilarious and the quotes are classic like "HEY GRANDMA!..." or "...I'll do it. But I'll probably hate myself in the morning." Or the scene where Bugs gets the wolf singing "Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet". God, it's great stuff!!! Anyone who knows this cartoon doesn't need any explanation of the above. Another great one from this era is "Hold The Lion".

Little red riding hood is on her to her grandma's house with a little rabbit for her to stew. When she gets there she finds a wolf in her grandma's bed but one who is unwilling to play the usual game and is only interested in getting a bit of rabbit. Bugs is trapped in the house and has to try and outsmart the wolf.

All the Warner Brother cartoon characters have gone through changes throughout the years and Bugs is no different. Here his smart mouthed persona has an element of the sheer wacky about it, in fact all the characters do. This attitude that the characters have feeds through the whole cartoon and infects the humour to good effect. The gags are very knowing - eg the wolf gets into bed as grandma to find that four other wolves have already stolen his racket! This type of mocking humour is really good and it makes the cartoon funny in a wacky way.

It is the characters where it shows through most noticeably. Bugs is as close to a wise-ass New Yorker here as he ever is and it works well for me as I like that side of him. Riding Hood herself is nice and annoying with good voice work for her! The wolf is really funny and he suits the style of humour of the cartoon.

Overall this is a very funny Bugs cartoon if you like him in smartass mode! The humour, animation and characters all feel rough and ready and all totally suit each other and it is very easy to spend the whole short laughing, right up till the typically Bugs ending.