Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid

Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid
Directed byRobert Clampett
Story byWarren Foster
Produced byLeon Schlesinger
StarringMel Blanc
Sara Berner
Kent Rogers
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Animation byRod Scribner
Robert McKimson
Sid Sutherland
Virgil Ross
Rev Chaney
Layouts byThomas McKimson
Backgrounds byRichard H. Thomas
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • July 4, 1942 (1942-07-04)
Running time
7:26
LanguageEnglish

Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Bob Clampett, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and released to theatres by Warner Bros. Pictures.[1] It marks the first appearance of Beaky Buzzard (named "Killer" in this story) in a Warner Bros. short.[2]

The title is a Brooklyn-accented way of saying "gets the bird", which can refer to an obscene gesture, or as simply the "Bronx cheer"; in this case, it is also used metaphorically, as Bugs "gets" the bird (Beaky) by playing a trick.

Plot

A shy and slow buzzard named Killer (Kent Rogers impersonating Edgar Bergen as Mortimer Snerd) is tasked by his mother to catch dinner, specifically a rabbit. Killer spots Bugs Bunny and attempts to catch him, but Bugs outsmarts him, causing Killer to crash and become unable to move or speak. Bugs, emerging from his rabbit hole, engages in playful banter with Killer, who eventually reveals his intention to have Bugs for dinner. Bugs, in a playful disguise, teases and embarrasses Killer, leading to a chase.

During the chase, Killer briefly captures Bugs but is tricked into releasing him. Bugs, using clever tactics, makes it appear as though he has died, leading Killer to believe he has killed Bugs. Bugs plays along, pretending to sob and then revealing himself unharmed. The two characters engage in a playful dance, jitterbugging together. After a spin, Beaky ends up in the same predicament Bugs initially feigned, buried in the ground. Killer's mother arrives, initially thinking Bugs harmed her son, but Bugs reassures her and pulls Killer out, revealing he is unharmed.

Relieved and grateful, Beaky's mother abandons her plan to eat Bugs and instead declares him a hero, kissing him. Bugs, mimicking Beaky's shyness and embarrassment, blushes in response.

Voice cast

Reception

Charles Carney, former Warner Bros. writer and editor, writes, "Clampett, one of the midwives of Bugs's deepening character, proceeds at his trademark breakneck speed... Bugs would go on to outwit a catalog of adversaries throughout the years, from the merely dumb to the diabolical. But his struggles with Killer... remain a classic of two memorable young characters in a comic battle for survival."[3]

A contemporary review in The Film Daily said, "More hilarious adventures of Bugs Bunny are recorded herein to the complete satisfaction of young and old... This Technicolor cartoon is loaded with solid laughs."[4]

Home media

Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid was released on DVD in 2003 as part of Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, the first Spotlight Collection and Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2.

Having been theatrically released alongside the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy, it has been also included on that DVD.

References

  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 131. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 54. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. ^ Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.
  4. ^ "Reviews of Short Subjects". The Film Daily. 82 (56): 6. September 17, 1942. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
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