Buckaroo Bugs (1944)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

. . . BUCKEROO BUGS fully encapsulates ALL the whys and wherefores of the climactic day in the Chase for the 2016 Second American League Wildcard Slot. The opening narrator represents the always histrionic Fox Megacorp, which hates America's "Motor City" with a vengeance (since the United Auto Workers Union spawned a critically-thinking U.S. Middle Class at odds with Fox's Ultimate Goal to create a Nation of Burger Flippers dumb enough to swallow Fox's Alternate Universe programming). Knowing that the 2016 Tigers' Achilles Heels are day games, as well as Saturday contests (their record would top the Cubs IF they only played Sunday through Friday NIGHTS), Fox forces Detroit to switch the Saturday, Sept. 24 game from a 7:10 PM start to 1:05 PM (rubbing salt in the wound by depriving fans of their contracted Saturday Night Fireworks with this last minute switch). Did I happen to mention that the Tigers ALWAYS play their worse during National Broadcasts (since the gullible Mr. Burns made a thoroughly discredited pack of lies about Tiger icon Ty Cobb the centerpiece of his 139-hour BASEBALL television documentary), and this one made it clear that it's Magglio Ordonez Day, to "honor" Mr. Cartoon Hair for his place in Tiger History on the 10th Anniversary of Detroit's shocking 2006 World Series Defeat? That was the Series in which all the brainy pundits said that they had "the Tigers in THREE," St. Louis was supposedly so outmatched. With Ordonez batting about .090, it was the Cards in five.Getting back to BUCKAROO BUGS, the "Red Hot Ryder" character--representing the Tigers--enters astride the momentum of a runaway horse (symbolizing the Tigers' five-game winning streak through Sept. 23, which has allowed them to clamber over the Orioles into Wildcard Number Two). What does Red Hot do? He bludgeons his horse (remember, that's the Tigers' momentum) with a BALL BAT 2:26 into BUCKAROO BUGS! This is the always prophetic Looney Tuners' way of summing up how the Tigers would pound out 14 hits in the first eight innings Sept. 24, put 18 men on base, but ONLY eke out a measly 4 runs! Bugs Bunny emerges from his dugout in a whirl of dust 11 seconds later, at 2:37, representing Detroit's competition on National TV, the defending World Champion Kansas City Royals. Held to a paltry six hits through eight, KC is down to its VERY LAST STRIKE against Major League Baseball's current CAREER SAVES LEADER, "K-Rod." But since Francisco Rodriguez' "fast ball" has slowed over the years to about 20 MPH (mocked by Bugs when he dresses up as a gray-bearded "Western Bunions" telegraph "boy"), it's not hard to see that the Tigers' Emperor has no clothes, to anyone who cares to look.If anything, the Bugs Bunny of BUCKEROO BUGS could be classified as a voyeur, he loves to look so much. He taunts the geriatric Tigers by stripping them--in the guise of K-Rod--down to their barest undies THREE TIMES here! (The first and third times Red Hot Ryder is depicted in frilly white panties with pink polka dots; for his second denuding, K-Rod is pictured first in a white diaper, then just a fig leaf.) Proving he should have been put out to pasture years ago, like the 10-fingered (!) horse Red Ryder rode in on (BUCKAROO BUGS also uses the glue factory cliché concerning K-Rod), Rodriguez has the WORST OUTING OF HIS CAREER just when the Whole World Is Watching (thanks to Fox), and when the top-dollar-paying Tigers need him the most! K-Rod enters the Ninth with a 4-2 lead, and the Tigers are behind 7-4 when he leaves six hours (could it really have been that long?) later--AFTER ONLY GETTING TWO OUTS!! (Naturally, the shell-shocked Detroiters make their three outs in the Bottom of the Ninth as quickly as they can, despite having notched hits in each of the previous eight innings!) After enjoying this Clown Act on their clubhouse TV's, the Orioles have no problem in PERMANENTLY reclaiming their rightful lock on the Playoffs by easily winning THEIR game Sept. 24. I still can't get over how the Looney Tuners so aptly put the Tombstone on Detroit's 2016 season by having Red Hot Ryder jump his washed-up K-Rod 10-fingered nag into America's Grand Canyon!

Funny Bugs Bunny short, directed by Bob Clampett, that marked Bugs' official Looney Tunes debut. He had appeared up until this point as part of the Merrie Melodies series. It's also notable for being the final cartoon with an on-screen credit for Leon Schlesinger, who had sold his studio to Warner Bros. that year. It's a great cartoon with lots of wackiness and references to pop culture and topical events of the time, common traits of Bob Clampett's work. It's a western spoof with Bugs as a carrot thief called the Masked Marauder being pursued by "Brooklyn's famous fighting cowboy," Red Hot Ryder. Red Hot Ryder is a dimwit, of course, and Bugs outsmarts him at every turn. Many funny gags and lines, beautiful animation, and exciting music are what makes this one great. It's fun to watch Bugs in the earlier cartoons when he was more aggressive and, frankly, mean.

OMG!!!!!!!! They actually managed to stick in a nearly nude scene! Yes, it's just one scene, but it's always amazing what they sneaked into these cartoons (hell, Porky Pig walked around half naked). Bob Clampett's "Buckaroo Bugs" casts Bugs Bunny as an Old West bandit pursued by witless lawman Red Hot Ryder. Guess who always comes out on top! I have to admit that I really only know about 1940s westerns through spoofs like this one, as westerns are one of my least favorite movie genres. Heck, I usually know parodies ("Airplane!" and "Weird Al" Yankovic's songs) before knowing the original; sometimes I see the parody without evening knowing that it spoofs something (often I see something on "The Simpsons", and then find out a few years later that it spoofed something). I can't tell you how many times when I was little that I watched Warner Bros. cartoons and naively laughed at them, only to later find out that they were parodies of movies or radio shows (which made them funnier).But anyway, this is a hilarious cartoon. Another masterpiece from Bob Clampett.

In this one, "The Masked Marauder" (Bugs Bunny) robs the "hero" Red Hot Ryder with a big magnet, taking his money, his bullets, and even the fillings in his teeth!!! He also takes his belt buckle and Red Hot is left standing there naked with but a leaf to cover his...ahem!!!Clampett is one for pushing the envelope, but man, it's funny!!! If you need a great belly laugh, look to Clampett and Avery!!!