Bugs' Bonnets (1956)

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

. . . America realizes that changing one's sex (for Transgendered Folks), sexual orientation (for Bisexual Folks), or sexual special preferences (for Bestial Folks) needs to be as easy, simple, and judgment-free as changing your socks. That chief instigator of American Social Change, Warner Bros. Studio, realized all of this at least as early as the 1930s, and labored tirelessly to lobby both overtly and on a more subliminal level toward sometimes prodding but mostly dragging an often kicking-and-screaming nation down the path toward the vast smörgåsbord of sexual options that we enjoy today, particularly with its Looney Tunes animated shorts division. BUGS' BONNETS delivers this message in spades, as it closes with groom Bugs Bunny carrying his virginal white wedding-dressed bride Elmer Fudd toward some distant threshold. As the candy ad for Almond Joy and Mounds Bars states, "Sometimes you want to have nuts, sometimes you don't." BUGS' BONNETS also illustrates Warner's firm belief, depicted in many of its feature films, as well, that crook or cop, friend or foe, hero or heel is all a matter of perspective. Every American alternates between each of these roles, depending only upon which hat they're wearing at a given moment.

"Bugs' Bonnets" begins as a psychological study on the different clothes that people wear and it gives examples of how the same person can change if he or she wears different outfits (which is not the case in real life). When Elmer Fudd is chasing Bugs Bunny in the woods, a van containing various hats, driving on a bridge above the pair, has its doors broken open and the hats and outfits fall out. Throughout the episode Bugs and Elmer wear different hats and change their personalities and roles dramatically throughout the episode.I do not know if anyone else noticed (if you watched the episode) but this episode reminded me of the sort of activities one does in drama, changing your personality completely just to sort an outfit. A bit like the reviewer Lee Eisenberg with his random theories, it may have only occurred to me and not to anyone else...Anyway, here is a list of the good things about this Bugs Bunny + Elmer Fudd episode: 1. The idea is a clever and amusing one and is used well in the cartoon. 2. The "base" characters are good in this episode and the "added" characters are also very well done and amusing. 3. The cartoon opens and ends well, parts of episodes I feel can very often be patchy in a Looney Tunes cartoon. 4. The back-ground animation is very good, the character animation could be better, but it is not an issue in this episode. 5. The music was well done and often changed dramatically in this cartoon, which I liked.If there was anything I did not like so much about the episode, it was the quickness of some of the character changes, the unnecessary pauses between some of the character changes and the slightly racist point where Bugs Bunny starts shooting Elmer Fudd as soon as Bugs is wearing Native American costume (I thought Americans had gone a bit better about that by the mid 1950's, but maybe I was mistaken).I recommend this episode to any fan of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd cartoons, to people who enjoy Looney Tunes in general and to people who love quick-changing personalities in a cartoon.

"Bugs' Bonnets" is a very silly, yet quite effective, Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. Under the impression that one's behavior can be affected by his or her attire, the wascawwy wabbit and the dopey hunter conduct themselves in accordance with various kinds of chapeaus that accidentally land on their heads! My favorite moments from this film: With a wry facial expression, wearing a fedora, chomping a cigar, and flipping a coin, Bugs does a fine impression of movie gangster Edward G. Robinson. His Indian stereotype is also quite funny, and the musical accompaniment by Milt Franklyn makes it even funnier. Donning an army sergeant's helmet, Bugs realizes he's got Elmer right where he wants him! One thing about "Bugs' Bonnets" that stands out, aside from the unique plot, is Elmer Fudd's personality, which seems to be a bit more childish in this film than in others. Speaking of bonnets, the song we hear during the opening credits is "Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet", a song Bugs Bunny put to good use in an earlier cartoon titled "Little Red Riding Rabbit" (1944).

This cartoon is fantastic, to say the least. It had me laughing constantly through its seven minutes of pure entertainment. The animation is brilliant, and the expressions are unbelievable. Shame that it's really very obscure. The ending and Bugs's transformation into a gangster are stupendous, and an interesting plot only makes it better. Surprising that it was written by Tedd Pierce and not Michael Maltese, who seems to have written all of Jones's best cartoons. Fantastic stuff! Very highly recommended.