The classic cartoons from America's Golden Age of Animation are known by a few names. Looney Tunes, Merry Melodies, or just good old Bugs Bunny cartoons are examples. The positive reaction to the recent release of the animated collection on HBO Max was a pleasant surprise, and it goes to show the vintage humor of Termite Terrace has staying power in the 21st century despite more than a few archaic elements that have carried over from the 1950s.
There are whole libraries of Bugs Bunny-related cartoons to choose from, and these are just a few of the most popular starring everyone's favorite wisecracking rabbit. The titular character lives by his wits, getting mixed up in awkward situations that he usually walks into by accident, defeating enemies that should be able to crush him. It's easy to understand the universal and timeless appeal of Bugs Bunny.
Bully for Bugs, 1953
Some things never seem to change. Bugs takes a wrong turn on his way to a festival in Coachella Valley. When he stops to try and get some directions, he surfaces in a bullfighting ring and confronts am actual "bully." This is where famous insults like "in-cow-poop" and "um-bess-cile" originated, which are just a few of the creative nicknames that Bugs comes up with for his adversary.
In his biography, Chuck Amuck, Chuck Jones claims the episode was inspired by a sudden declaration on the part of producer Eddie Selzer that bullfighting wasn't funny and no cartoons were to be made about it, ever.
8 Ball Bunny, 1950
Bugs finally ends up "behind the eightball" and meets an enemy that he can't defeat: the sweet and adorable Playboy Penguin. The title is a reference not only to the color scheme of his deadly foe but also to the bad luck that seems to follow the two of them around.
Bugs Bunny literally travels across the globe trying to get the lost penguin home, only to find out at the end that he only had to go a few blocks away. There's also a funny recurring Humphrey Bogart joke for those into vintage Hollywood films.
Haredevil Hare, 1948
There are several Bugs in Space episodes but this is one of the best, in part because it introduces a favorite secondary character, Marvin the Martian. The opening scene starts with a joke about a heroic volunteer who turns out to be a very reticent Bugs Bunny. Funny as a kid, but as an adult, a viewer might recognize a reference to the unwitting animals that participated in the Space Race or the propaganda of the Cold War.
Another social comment a viewer would miss as a kid is an environmental message. Marvin, who is unnamed in this short, is planning to destroy the planet Earth because it blocks his view of Venus. A petty reason to destroy a thriving ecosystem with billions of living inhabitants, but it never stops humans.
A Witch's Tangled Hare, 1959
Witch Hazel appears in a few Bugs Bunny shorts and even has cameos in modern movies. She's the main supporting character in this string of Shakespeare parodies and metadrama that might have inspired writers like Tom Stoppard.
It helps if the viewer is into Shakespeare and is at least partly familiar with a few of the more notable plays. The writing is brilliant, mimicking Shakespeare's use of parody, insults, and puns to land the jokes.
Rabbit Hood, 1949
The animated short starring Daffy Duck as the iconic hero is also famous, but it's important to remember Bugs also got mixed up with the Sheriff of Nottingham. The romantic version of Robin Hood is subverted in this version of the story.
Little John is a big, dense oaf and Robin Hood only appears at the end, when the story is essentially over. This "cameo" is a short clip of the live-action Errol Flynn, who made the role famous.
Apes Of Wrath, 1959
This is one of those cartoons that you enjoy as a kid, and then watch as an adult and understand all the jokes that you missed. It's also a remake of a black and white short from 1948 entitled Gorilla My Dreams. The hijinks begin with an inebriated stork loses a baby gorilla and replaces it with an unconscious Bugs Bunny. Dad is suspicious but Mom falls hard for the con and hilarity ensues.
Bugs gets used to life as a spoiled child quickly and spends the day torturing Dad and running to Mom when the male gorilla gets angry. At the end of the day, however, a hungover stork delivers the real gorilla baby. Dad's revenge is swift and hysterical.
Broom-Stick Bunny, 1956
This time it's Hallowe'en, a special time of the year for witches, and Hazel is obsessed with being the ugliest of all. Even a kid gets the satire and the clever subversion of a popular folktale and Disney cartoon that makes up this short.
Her magic mirror tells her that Bugs is even uglier than she, even though it's really just his costume, but that doesn't stop Hazel from trying to destroy the competition.
Rabbit of Seville, 1950
Cartoonists like those at Termite Terrace liked to throw shade at so-called "high art," hence the several Bugs Bunny shorts that poke fun at musicals, epic movies, or opera. The Rabbit of Seville might be the best known Bigs Bunny cartoon there is.
It mocks everything about opera from the plot, which always seems to end with either a duel, a death, a wedding, or all of the above, to the constant singing about even the most mundane things, like getting a haircut.
Long-Haired Hare, 1949
Here's Termite Terrace throwing shade at upscale art one more time, but they're aiming high. Not only was this a shot at opera but also a hack at Disney. The whole thing starts when Bugs inadvertently interrupts his neighbor, an opera singer, in the middle of a rehearsal. What ensues is a war that only Bugs can win.
As usual, Bugs tortures his opponents before striking the final blow, and in this case, he does so disguised as the conductor, who the other musicians refer to in awe as "Leopold." This is a reference to Leopold Stokowski, who conducted the orchestral music that went along with Disney's Fantasia.
What's Opera, Doc? 1957
This episode starts with the usual template, the hunter Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny down with his shotgun, but takes a strange turn when the predator and prey end up on the set of an opera.
This isn't one of the modern Mozart ones either, but a classic old-school piece from Wagner that recalls ancient Germanic mythology. Decades before Quentin Tarantino did it, Bugs was dressing up like Brunhilda, and killing it, too.