Barbary-Coast Bunny (1956)

Please don't spend money on this.

People are voting emotionally.

Captivating movie !

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

. . . and that both institutions are run by the Criminal Class in this animated short released more than five decades before the Derivatives Crisis. As a banker, Nasty Canasta flattens Bugs Bunny's fortune with confiscatory 100% account fees. Nasty uses this ill-gotten loot to open a swank gambling palace. Bugs approaches this Den of Iniquity feigning ignorance, to put Nasty off his guard. In reality, the savvy hare is a magnet for gold coins, eliciting them like a Diviner flushes water out of deserts. From the slots to the roulette wheel to the poker table, the wily bunny attracts the jingling yellow coins like fleas accumulate dogs. Even Russian Roulette pays off for Bugs, after which Nasty blows his brains out. Of course, Warner always maintains that if there's anything nastier than a banker, it must be a million- or, a billionaire. At least 127 of the 1,090 official Looney Tunes warn us that if Scrooge McDuck ever takes up residence in the White House, we're all doomed. Premier Trudeau will be sure to build the Great Wall of Canada--at his country's expense--to keep out all the fleeing American Refugees. Will Bugs come out of semi-retirement to play another Trump card?

Bugs Bunny is tunneling to see his cousin in San Francisco when he hits his head on a large gold nugget. Bugs doesn't enjoy his gold for long as he's soon swindled out of it by a crook called Nasty Canasta (love that name!). Six months later, Canasta has used the gold to build himself a profitable casino. Bugs shows up and decides to get even with the swindler by taking him for all he's worth. A funny and nicely-animated short from director Chuck Jones. I liked how the action starts during the opening credits, something Jones did quite a bit. Since the cartoon's only 7 minutes or so I appreciate how he tried to get in as much as he could. I liked the villain Nasty Canasta a lot. Aside from having a cool name, he's voiced by the great Daws Butler. Bugs is in top form here, especially when in disguise at the casino. Some hilarious gags like 'draw poker' and 'bigger hand.' Just a fun short.

Written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Chuck Jones, featuring a great music score by Carl W. Stalling, "Barbary-Coast Bunny" is an enjoyable Bugs Bunny cartoon that takes place in 19th-Century San Francisco! When Bugs (voiced by Mel Blanc) discovers a mound of gold, a slick cigar-chomping gambler (voiced by Daws Butler) cheats him out of it and flees. Will this be the end of Bugs Bunny's fortune? My favorite moments from this cartoon: Watch Bugs' eyes - and his animated reaction - when he first discovers the gold. Likewise, look at Bugs' wry facial expression as he starts to leave the saloon (with a wheelbarrow full of gold) and then tells the gambler that it isn't any fun to play with him when he overreacts. Plus, I like how Bugs plays roulette with the bullet chamber of the gambler's pistol."Barbary-Coast Bunny" can be found on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 Disc 1. As I've pointed out in other written commentaries, director Chuck Jones can evoke laughter from the simplest facial expressions. In addition to Bugs Bunny's expressions that I've described above, watch the various expressions on the gambler's face each time that Bugs outsmarts him in a game.

During the credits we are treated to some nice landscape shots of Bugs tunneling away to visit his cousin Herman in San Francisco. His travels are cut short when he bumps into a big lump of gold. That was the most enjoyable part of "Barbary Coast Bunny". Almost immediately after this Bugs gets coined out of this fortune by a suitable loathsome villain named Nasty Canasta. Next we cut to San Francisco, six months later, where Nasty is about to open a saloon on Barbary coast road. Apparently it has taken Bugs all this time to catch up with Canasca and to set up his revenge. Naturally Nasty fails to recognize the Bugster because of his brilliant disguise: a suit and tie and a bowler hatBugs spends the rest of this cartoon winning back his money at Nasty's slot machine, and all subsequent card games Canasta throws at him. But since he simply wins every single time, the games soon become tiresome and the victories hollow. There are no obstacles for Bugs to overcome at all, his disguise is never even blown. This cartoon has only two characters, two locations and two jokes. After the opening, not much effort seems to have been spent on backgrounds and animation, as if they ran out of money after the first minute or so.3 out of 10