Rabbit Romeo (1957)

You won't be disappointed!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The first must-see film of the year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

. . . in Warner Bros.' animated short, RABBIT ROMEO. Warner's Looney Tunes Futurists had a single night in mind as they labored over ROMEO. Strangely enough, it turned out to be the evening I watched this piece for the first time: May 3, 2016. That's the night Donald Trump--played by Elmer Fudd here--became the presumptive U.S. President-Elect. ROMEO begins with Elmer\Trump nuzzling up to a Frankenrabbit, Millicent (a.k.a., Trump's Long-Time Partner in Bromance, Vladimir "Mad Dog" Putin), despite the temperamental Slavic Goon's tendency to destroy everything and terrorize everyone within reach, whether in this cartoon (Millicent) or Real Life (Putin). Elmer forces Bugs Bunny to court Millicent at gunpoint, just as Trump's thugs have used their fists to force much of America to dance with Putin's Devil, Trump. But Bugs turns the tables on Fudd, forcing him to run for his life as Millicent chases him down. Obviously, Warner is reminding us that Hitler and Stalin were bosom buddies at the beginning of World War Two, before fighting to the Death, destroying most of Germany and Russia in the break-up. Warner is pleading here for America to annul Trump's attempt at a shotgun wedding with Putin.

Rabbit Romeo may drag in spots and Elmer does look rather odd, but it is still enormous fun. The animation is colourful and bouncy with a lot of evidence of fluidity and vibrancy. Bugs and Millicent are very well and deliberately drawn. Milt Franklyn's music is dynamic and characterful with appealing orchestration that blends with the gags adeptly. The dialogue is witty with delicious and really quite hilarious interplay between Bugs and Millicent, the line in the review summary is a scream and you can't have a Bugs Bunny cartoon without his great final lines, "Ain't I the little matchmaker though?" is not one of his best but it's still a good one. The visual gags are really imaginative and just as funny as the dialogue, the one with the electric fan and Bugs turning blue when being hugged are the standouts. The story may be a little thin, but the quality of the humour and the character of Millicent keeps things afloat and it doesn't matter as a result. Elmer has some nice moments like his "Well wooks aren't evewything you know" line when Millicent steps out the crate but he is in the shadow of Bugs, still as arrogant and likable as ever(always was the funnier character too) and especially Millicent, while one of Bugs' uglier foils she is also one of the best and most memorable ones of the late 50s. The voice acting is stellar, Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan do not disappoint but June Foray steals the show, if talking about the best thing about Rabbit Romeo a contender would be Foray's voice-over. Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A good goofy romance is the subject of "Rabbit Romeo", starring the voices of Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny and Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd. But the voice artist who really steals the show in this picture is June Foray with her rich, oily portrayal of Millicent, an overstuffed Slobovian rabbit who only wishes for a mate.My favorite moments from "Rabbit Romeo": After Elmer catches Bugs in a net, Bugs slyly asks Elmer for some salt for his carrot, and then a napkin. When Millicent kisses a goldfish, the fish shoots himself in the head. And Millicent's little Russian kick dance is hilarious.Catch "Rabbit Romeo", or shall I say "Wabbit Womeo", on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 Disc 1.

One might assume that Bugs Bunny's resistance to Slavic rabbit Millicent is based on a previous negative experience that he had with a Slav (the Eastern European bear in "Big Top Bunny"). Anyway, the plot of Robert McKimson's "Rabbit Romeo" has Elmer Fudd receiving from his uncle Judd a an overweight Slobovian rabbit who gets violent when lonely. So, he captures Bugs and tries to give him to Millicent.If I may interject something. Clearly this Slavic character didn't please Bugs. However, if Uncle Judd had sent a Russian female rabbit, then Bugs's hormones would have gone through the roof! I know this, because while I was staying with a family in St. Petersburg, Russia - I spent the Fall 2005 college semester there - I developed a total crush on my host sister Marina (OK, I'll be totally candid: I still fantasize about her; it arouses me just to think about her as I write this). I like to describe her physically as a cross between Barbara Eden and Julie Christie. My point is that any female Russian rabbit/hare/bunny would have sent Bugs's sex drive into full throttle! Anyway, worth seeing. June Foray does a pretty good Eastern European accent, and the Slobovian clothes actually looked Greek.