Rabbit's Kin
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''Rabbit's Kin'' is a 1952
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'' animated short directed by Robert McKimson 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 cartoon was released on November 15, 1952, 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 ...
. The cartoon was animated by Charles McKimson, Herman Cohen, Rod Scribner, Phil DeLara and Keith Darling. The music was scored by Carl Stalling while the layouts and backgrounds were done by Robert Givens and Richard H. Thomas, respectively. Mel Blanc performs the voice of Bugs Bunny and Shorty Rabbit, while Stan Freberg voiced Bugs' new enemy
Pete Puma The ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated shorts released by Warner Bros. feature a range of characters which are listed and briefly detailed here. Major characters from the franchise include Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fu ...
, doing an imitation of the character
Frank Fontaine Frank Fontaine (April 19, 1920 – August 4, 1978) was an American stage, radio, film and television comedian, singer and actor. Early years and personal life Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fontaine came from a family of entertai ...
introduced on
The Jack Benny Show ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...
named John L. C. Silvoney, and later performed on
The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...
as Crazy Guggenheim. The title is a play on "rabbit skin", but is also a literal term in that Bugs is caring for a "kin", here, another rabbit. Blanc used a slightly higher register of Sylvester the Cat for the voice of Shorty, before it was sped up.


Plot

A rabbit named Shorty with a fast high pitched voice is running from a cougar named
Pete Puma The ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated shorts released by Warner Bros. feature a range of characters which are listed and briefly detailed here. Major characters from the franchise include Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fu ...
, until he stumbles down Bugs Bunny's rabbit hole. Shorty tells Bugs his problem ("My heart pounded, my legs trembled, I was frozen with fear"), and Bugs agrees to help him out. Bugs then proceeds to play various tricks on Pete who is now outside of Bugs' hole feeling around inside for the little rabbit. Bugs leaves a fake rabbit dynamite decoy which Pete grabs and pulls out of the hole, then BOOM! Bugs goes outside and engages in some small talk with Pete who offers him a cigar ("El Explodo"). After Bugs accepts it (and wisely puts it away before Pete can light it), he asks Pete to stay for tea. He pours tea into two cups, holds up the sugar bowl and asks Pete how many lumps he wants, to which Pete replies "Oh, three or four". Bugs repeatedly hits Pete Puma on the head with a wooden mallet, producing five lumps on his head which is "one too many". Bugs flattens the extra lump with a reflex hammer, then shoves the explosive cigar into Pete's mouth, lights it and runs off before the explosion. Later that day, Pete tries to disguise himself as the little rabbit's mother, prompting Bugs to start the "cup of tea" trick again. "But I don't want no TEA!", Pete insists. "It gives me a ''headache''!" Here, Pete tries to outsmart Bugs twice but fails both times, by first suggesting they have coffee instead of tea (the "lumps" gag is predictably repeated), then by showing Bugs he has protected his head with an "Acme Stovelid"; Bugs removes it with his "Acme Stovelid Lifter", revealing the lumps on Pete's head. Shorty enjoys the shenanigans so much that he wants to get involved. As he hops down the road alone, Pete grabs him and runs home to his cave, intending to cook him. Bugs shows up in a costume disguised as Pete's second cousin, Paul Puma. He insists on helping his "cuz" get the fricasseeing off to a good start and asks how many lumps of coal Pete wants for the stove. After Pete decides that he needs a lot of lumps ("A whoooooooole lotta lumps"), he gets "wise" right away, grabs the mallet from Bugs and insists: "I'll help ''myself''". As Pete repeatedly conks himself over the head with the mallet, Bugs & Shorty sneak out of the cave. As they leave, Bugs comments that "he's much too smart for us" and imitates Pete's laugh.


Home media

''Rabbit's Kin'' is available on the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1''.


References


External links


Rabbit's Kin
at
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Entry at dcbd.com
{{Robert McKimson 1952 films 1952 animated films 1952 short films Merrie Melodies short films Films directed by Robert McKimson Films scored by Carl Stalling Animated films about rabbits and hares Animated films about cats Bugs Bunny films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films 1950s English-language films Films about cougars