''All This and Rabbit Stew'' is a 1941 ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' cartoon directed by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His mo ...

. The cartoon was released on September 13, 1941, and features

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Mer ...

. Because of the cartoon's racial stereotypes of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

decided to withhold it from

television syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

in the United States beginning in 1968. As such, the short was placed into the so-called

Censored Eleven The Censored Eleven is a group of ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons originally produced and released by Warner Bros. that were withheld from syndication in the United States by United Artists (UA) since 1968. UA owned the di ...

, a group of eleven ''Merrie Melodies'' and ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

'' shorts withheld from U.S. television distribution. It was one of 12 cartoons to be pulled from Cartoon Network's 2001 "June Bugs" marathon by order of AOL Time Warner, on grounds of the subject material's offensiveness.

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

and Darrell Payne were not credited for their voice works.

Plot

An unnamed

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

hunter (who is very similar in speech pattern and mannerism to

Stepin Fetchit Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry (May 30, 1902 – November 19, 1985), better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black ...

) walks over to a rabbit hole where Bugs is eating his carrots. Bugs is led to a trunk where he tricks the hunter into destroying the tree. Bugs distracts the hunter after introducing himself, and digs underground and when the hunter realizes that Bugs has his gun. Bugs has the hunter run far enough so he can go down the rabbit hole. Realizing that he has been fooled, the hunter uses a toilet plunger to catch Bugs. However, Bugs tickles the hunter and flees into another rabbit hole. The hunter grabs the plunger, only to find a skunk under him. Next, Bugs lures the hunter into a cave, where they encounter a black bear. All three of them run into the rabbit hole and when Bugs and the hunter realize the bear is in the hole, they run off in fright. Realizing that Bugs is on the hunter while walking, the hunter fires off a swarm of

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

birdshot bullets. In a madcap chase, the bullets chase Bugs into a series of holes, including a "fake" golf hole and the cave where the skunk is at. Bugs then lures the hunter into a log sitting on the edge of a cliff, through which the hunter runs numerous times (each time running to the other side as Bugs spins the log around so that the hunter keeps running off the cliff) until he falls to the ground. Bugs is confronted by the angered hunter and, in a desperate plea for his life, baits the hunter into playing what turns out to be a " strip"

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing ...

game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

. Bugs wins the game and walks off mocking the hunter's speech and wearing the hunter's clothes, leaving the man with a leaf covering his crotch to quip "Well call me

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

." Adding further insult to injury, Bugs grabs the leaf during the " iris out", leaving the hunter completely naked.

Analysis

The film contains a reference to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when the hunter threatens to

Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armoured warfare, armored and motorised infantry, motorized or mechanised infantry, ...

Bugs. The hunter is identified in his model sheet as "Tex's Coon".Barrier (2003), p. 439 The hunter fills the role usually associated with

Elmer Fudd Elmer J.'' Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon panth ...

; this was one of four Bugs Bunny short films of 1941 which have him facing a different hunter each time (the others were '' Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt'', in which Bugs faced an Indian; '' The Heckling Hare'', in which Bugs faces

Willoughby the Dog Willoughby is a minor animated cartoon fictional character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' series of cartoons. A lackadaisical hound dog, Willoughby is characterized by his below-average intelligence and overall gullibility. Creator Tex ...

; and '' Wabbit Twouble'', which pits Bugs against Fudd).Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 100 A later scholar, John Stausbauch, described the hunter in terms of racial stereotype: as a "shufflin', big lipped, sleepy-eyed country coon", who cannot resist a game of craps.Stausbauch (2007), unnumbered pages The

-like character has his shuffling and mumbling exaggerated for comic effect. The hunter is dressed in a hat, a short-sleeved shirt, overalls and oversized shoes. A character with the same attire and demeanor would later be used in ''

Angel Puss ''Angel Puss'' is a 1944 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on June 3, 1944. The protagonist is a " Li'l Sambo" type blackface character who exhibited common racial stereotypes in speech, intelli ...

'' (1944). He essentially plays a stereotypical

Sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , olym ...

role in the film, and was named Sambo in its publicity material,Lehman (2007), p. 58-59 as he had been in ''Rabbit Stew''. The hunter's and Bugs' reaction from the bear's unexpected appearance from the rabbit hole (horn sound included) was somewhat reused in '' Wabbit Twouble'' (1941). The giant hollow log gag was reused in ''

The Big Snooze ''The Big Snooze'' is a 1946 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon planned by Bob Clampett and was written by him, but was ultimately completed by Arthur Davis, both being uncredited as directors. Its title was inspired by the 1939 book ''The Bi ...

'' (1946), '' Foxy by Proxy'' (1952), and '' Person to Bunny'' (1960).

Reception

Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals'' Greenwood Press. p. 242. It was replaced by the ''QP Heral ...

'' (September 13, 1941): "The little colored

decides to try his hand at capturing Bugs Bunny, but meets with the same success as his predecessors. Just as he has the screwy rabbit cornered, Bugs Bunny entices him into a craps game, and little Sambo winds up a sadder and wiser hunter." '' Boxoffice'' (September 14, 1941): "One big, long hand. That's what this Technicolor cartoon is. It shows unmistakable signs of extra effort, preparation and ingenuity in all departments. The central character, a little bitty colored Sambo, is a cinch to capture fun-loving audiences. Here he decides to go gunning for some rabbits. He meets up with a nimble-witted adversary that has little Sambo in a constant dither." ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' (September 17, 1941): "Sambo, a little negro boy, goes rabbit hunting, meets cynical Bugs Bunny, the screwy rabbit... This is a very funny reel in every respect—characters, situations, and story. If the feature is heavy or not so good, this will make the customers feel good anyhow." ''

The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

'' (September 12, 1941): "A Bugs Bunny Howl: Having eluded Hiawatha and other Leon Schlesinger characters, Bugs Bunny this time is pursued by Sambo in a riotous short that will make anyone laugh, and laugh hard. Trying to describe the action would be like trying to explain a maise but the Technicolor cartoon is about as mirth provoking as anything has any right to be."

Home media

* VHS – 50 of the Greatest Cartoons (released by Starmaker Entertainment Inc.) * DVD – Cartoon Craze Presents: Bugs Bunny: Falling Hare (released by Digiview Productions)

Notes

*This cartoon is the final Avery-directed

short to be released. Although it was produced before ''The Heckling Hare'' (after the production of which Avery was suspended from the Schlesinger studio and defected to

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

), it was released afterwards. The title is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its su ...

of that of ''

All This, and Heaven Too ''All This, and Heaven Too'' is a 1940 American drama film made by Warner Bros.-First National Pictures, produced and directed by Anatole Litvak with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer. The screenplay was adapted by Casey Robinson from the 1 ...

'' (1940), a

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...

film from the same studio. Because the cartoon was released after Avery left Warner Bros, Avery's name does not appear in the credits. *This cartoon fell into the public domain in 1969 in the United States when

, the copyright owners to the Associated Artists Productions package, failed to renew the copyright in time. *Along with '' Notes to You'', the film was completed and shipped on September 2, 1941.

Citation

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:All This and Rabbit Stew 1940s English-language films 1941 short films 1941 animated films 1940s animated short films 1941 comedy films Articles containing video clips Censored Eleven Films directed by Tex Avery Films about hunters Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Bugs Bunny films Films produced by Leon Schlesinger 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films American animated short films Animated films about rabbits and hares History of racism in the cinema of the United States