Stage Door Cartoon

Just rewatched this Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon on the Hollywood Canteen DVD 25 years after first seeing this on cable station WTBS back in the early '80s. In this one, the wabbit keeps trying to escape from Elmer's shotgun by going to a theater backstage and performing skits with the hunter an unwilling assistant. This was a highly amusing, if not completely hilarious, cartoon that brought a constant smile on my face especially when the familiar gags and music were being played. Also later on, Bugs disguises himself in costume and a voice that would later be used on another nemesis named Yosemite Sam. The title above might be a bit misleading for anyone expecting soldiers dancing with pretty women but otherwise, I heartily recommend Stage Door Cartoon.

Watching the classic Looney Tunes cartoons, one can see a definite vaudeville influence (which eventually meant old-school). So it's no surprise that "Stage Door Cartoon" portrays an actual vaudeville performance. Specifically, Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny are doing their usual stuff (Elmer hunts Bugs but Bugs makes a fool out of him at every turn), when they run into a theater where there's a vaudeville-style performance taking place. Bugs subsequently puts on a series of acts to avoid getting shot...but what happens at the end really blows everything out of the water! OK, so maybe this cartoon was a place holder in between the really famous cartoons, and people today probably don't know "Stage Door Canteen". But seriously, how can you not like Bugs's gags and Elmer's embarrassment? As far as I'm concerned, as long as these cartoons entertain us, they're doing their job. Worth seeing.

Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny into a theater were both of them are forced to act. This isn't my favorite Looney Tunes short by far. It all seems a little off to me somehow and there's no doubt it could have been funnier then it was. More over the ending is a tad on the weak side and I really didn't like Fudd that much in this one, which is a shame as I usually do like him (well more so than I did here). Bugs Bunny isn't really up to par in this short either, for that matter. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.

My Grade: C

Elmer Fudd is out hunting rabbits - Bugs Bunny in particular. When Bugs runs for cover, the two of them end up going in the stage door of a local theatre. With Fudd training the shotgun on him at all times, Bugs is forced to perform to avoid being shot.

With a title that sounds like it was a working title rather than a title meant to be used as the real title; certainly it isn't anywhere near the usual puns and such - and if you are able to remember the film Stagedoor Canteen, then you likely won't be watching this! The film starts out appearing to be an early Bugs in the way that he is quite slimly drawn and smart mouthed without too much of the later stuff. As an early Bugs (I assume!) this is OK but it is hardly the best example of Bugs' talents.

The material is a little weak and isn't really as funny as it should have been - certainly we have seen much better cartoons that involve Bugs and Elmer on a stage of some sort. The conclusion to the film is daft and not very funny - although the sheriff appears to be a first draft of Yosemite Sam.

Overall, this has the basic elements of Bugs that we all love but there are plenty of shorts of his that use the basic premise much better than this one.

As a Looney Tunes cartoon, Stage Door Cartoon is a very enjoyable if not entirely exceptional one. The title I did find somewhat misleading, and the transition from the traditional hunting-season opening to the stage antics with Bugs humiliating Elmer was a little rushed. However, the animation is colourful and lively enough, and there is a nice music score as well. The dialogue is sharp and witty, but even better were the often hilarious sight gags. Not to mention the surprise ending, which was so clever and unexpected. Bugs is still his cool, arrogant and witty self, while Elmer shows a sense of naivety and I kind of felt sorry for him as he was humiliated. Watching him change colour was not a pretty sight really. The voice work from Mel Blanc and Arthur Q.Bryan is superb as per usual, and I see I am not the only person who thought the Southern Sheriff sounded a lot like Yosemite Sam. Overall, unexceptional but amusing. 8/10 Bethany Cox