Buckaroo Bugs

"Buckaroo Bugs" is a Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" theatrical cartoon short released in 1944, starring Bugs Bunny and directed by Robert Clampett. It runs for about nine minutes, and is in color with a mono sound mix.

Cast

Mel Blanc provided the voices for Bugs Bunny, Red Hot Ryder, and some of the villagers. Lou Lilly wrote the story, and Leon Schlesinger served as producer. While only Manny Gould was credited as an animator, Robert McKimson and Rod Scribner also aided in the process. Other uncredited 'staff' includes the composers of several uncredited bits of non-original music--Sanford Faulkner ('Arkansas Traveller'), M.K. Jerome ('My Little Buckaroo', where the title ostensibly takes its name), Gioacchino Rossini ('William Tell Overture'), Franz Schubert ('Der Erlkonig'), and J.S. Zamecnik ('In the Stirrups'). All original music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.

ummary

Oddly enough, Bugs Bunny serves as antagonist: in the cartoon, he plays a carrot thief called the Masked Marauder, whom Brooklyn's "Red Hot Ryder" (a parody of Red Ryder) must bring to justice. The cartoon portrays Red Hot Ryder as a dimwit who cannot distinguish Bugs Bunny from the Masked Marauder, and his good-natured slowness is consistently mocked: When Bugs Bunny as the Masked Marauder threatens to shoot Red Hot Ryder, saying, "Stick 'em up, or I'll blow your brains out," the latter treats it like a choice, replying, "Well, now, that's mighty neighborly of you." In the end, Red Hot Ryder catches on, but is unable to catch the Masked Marauder.

Availability

The cartoon has been released on VHS in anonymous 'Bugs Bunny' collections, and is also featured on the of the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection" DVD set, released on October 30, 2007. Red Hot Ryder serves as a spoof of Red Ryder, borrowing the image of the popular Western serial's cowboy hero, Don 'Red' Barry.

Production details

*This was Bugs Bunny's second appearance in the "Looney Tunes" series. His first was a short cameo in "Porky Pig's Feat", but was not a starring role, therefore making "Buckaroo Bugs" Bugs' first starring role in a "Looney Tunes" short.

*This was the last cartoon to be produced by Leon Schlesinger, as he sold his cartoon studio to Warner Bros. around the time of its release. [ [http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/1944.html Warner Bros. Cartoon Releases - 1944 ] ]

Censorship

*Some syndicated versions of this cartoon (particularly one version shown on a TBS station in Illinois) omit the part in which Red Hot Ryder's groin being covered by a fig leaf after the Masked Marauder takes off his belt and diaper pin with a magnet.

References