''Bugs' Bonnets'' is a 1956

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

'' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by

Tedd Pierce Edward Stacey "Tedd" Pierce III (August 12, 1906 – February 19, 1972) was an American screenwriter and voice actor of animated cartoons, principally from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s. Biography Pierce was the son of a stockbroker, Samue ...

. The short was released on January 14, 1956, and stars

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

and Elmer Fudd. The film has both Bugs and Elmer constantly change

social role A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, obligations, beliefs, and norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavior and may have a given indivi ...

s and

persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...

s, based on a series of hats which land on their heads. The film ends with Bugs and Elmer marrying each other, and moving to a cottage. It is a humorous depiction of a

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

Plot

At the beginning, the narrator explains how clothes strongly affect people's behavior. For an example, a typical businessman's suit is replaced with a pirate outfit, causing him to act like one ("Batten down the keelhaul! Kill the women and children first! Blood!! Gore!! Spit 'em on the tatters!"). The narrator then adds how sometimes one piece of clothing, like a hat, can change somebody's behavior. Elmer Fudd is next seen in "boring regular old fashioned everyday clothes". He quickly has his

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

replaced with a hunter's cap, which makes him act like a hunter ("Bang! Bang! Bang! Come out of your holes, you cowardwy wabbits...and I'll bwow you to smitherweenies!!"). The scene then focuses on him chasing Bugs, wanting to see the color of Bugs' "spurting blood." To allow the audience to explore this phenomenon some more, a truck for the "Acme Theatrical Hat Co.", going uphill, allows its loose doors to fly open, which in turn, allows all the hats inside to fly out all over the valley. An army helmet lands on Bugs' head, bearing

Technical Sergeant Technical sergeant is the name of two current and two former enlisted ranks in the United States Armed Forces, as well as in the U.S. Civil Air Patrol. Outside the United States, it is used only by the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force and the ...

stripes. Bugs suddenly adopts the authoritative behavior of such, proceeds to berate Elmer for hunting rabbits instead of the enemy, and orders Elmer to "forward march" off the river bank, where many of the hats are. Upon emerging from the river, Elmer comes up wearing the hat, glasses and corncob pipe of General Douglas MacArthur, paraphrasing his famous line by saying, "I have wetuwned!" When Elmer starts menacingly approaching him, Bugs quickly digs a hole into the ground and loses his sergeant helmet, which now straddles the rabbit hole. Elmer slips under water for a second, coming up wearing his hunter's hat again. Bugs emerges from burrowing under a game warden hat. Elmer shoots at the sergeant helmet, thinking Bugs is wearing it. Bugs, now a game warden, chastises Elmer for shooting sergeants out of season. A gust of wind blows both hats away. A pilgrim hat lands on Elmer, who explains: "I was just shooting turkeys for the first Thanksgiving dinner." Meantime, an Indian headdress lands on Bugs, who adopts a stereotyped Indian war whoop, takes the gun away from Elmer, and a short-lived chase ensues. During this, the hats fall off; Elmer, returning to his original form, snatches his gun back from Bugs, and gives chase; the chase continues to a busy highway. Bugs scampers across, with Elmer stuck on other side. Suddenly, a little old lady's bonnet lands on Elmer, making him act like one. Meantime, a Boy Scout hat lands on Bugs. Bugs announces his duties as a Boy Scout and helps Elmer cross the street. A passing car spins them both around, the hats fly off, and the chase resumes. Elmer blasts away at a crevice where Bugs is hiding. When Bugs comes behind Elmer from the other side of the rock, the rabbit is wearing a "gangster" fedora in the vein of Edward G. Robinson, and starts to threaten Elmer. Right then a cop's hat lands on Elmer, who then starts to collar Bugs; the "gangster" slips him $10,000 as a

bribe Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...

. Elmer initially refuses the bribe, but before he can hand it back, Bugs' hat is replaced by a British judge's wig. In response to Elmer's "bribe", Bugs sentences Elmer to "only" 45 years and hard labor, out of consideration to his family. Shortly after Bugs walks away, he starts lamenting how he cannot abide a dishonest police officer. Elmer, now wearing a bridal veil, calls out: "Oh, Judge, wiww you mawwy me?" A top hat falls on Bugs, and he accepts the proposal. As with '' Rabbit of Seville'', the "

Wedding March Music is often played at wedding celebrations, including during the ceremony and at festivities before or after the event. The music can be performed live by instrumentalists or vocalists or may use pre-recorded songs, depending on the format o ...

" by

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

plays in the underscore, as Bugs is carrying Elmer toward a cottage. Bugs says to the audience: "Ya know, I think it always helps a picture to have a romantic ending." as the cartoon irises out.

Voice Characterizations

* Mel Blanc as

(voice) * Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd (voice, uncredited)

Reaction

Reaction to the film has been mixed. Reviews on Letterboxd were more positive than negative, in Rate Your Music they received a 3 star average rating. Film Music Central also rated it very positively. Animation

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Michael Barrier said of the film in
''Funnyworld''
magazine essay over Chuck Jones:

The preciosity that destroyed some of Jones' earliest cartoons . . . giving them a mincing, self-conscious quality . . . shows up n''Bugs' Bonnets'', a dreary exposition on the notion that the hat one wears shapes one's personality.

Home media

''Bugs' Bonnets'' is available on the four-disc

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

box set '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5'',imdb.com - DVD details for ''Bugs' Bonnets''
/ref> as well as the similar, two-disc DVD ''Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5''.

References

Sources

''Bugs' Bonnets''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

.
''Funnyworld''
No. 13 (1971).

External links

''Bugs' Bonnets''
at the

{{Elmer Fudd in animation 1956 films 1956 animated films 1956 short films 1950s LGBT-related films Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones 1950s English-language films Films scored by Milt Franklyn Cultural depictions of Douglas MacArthur Bugs Bunny films Elmer Fudd films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Films produced by Edward Selzer Films about hunters Scouting in popular culture Same-sex marriage in film