''Racketeer Rabbit'' is a 1946

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 ...

'' Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on September 14, 1946, and features

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 ...

. In the cartoon, Bugs duels with a pair of racketeers or gangsters, Rocky and Hugo, forerunners of Rocky and Mugsy who resemble Edward G. Robinson (Rocky, not to be confused with the aforementioned Rocky) and

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

(Hugo).

Plot

Bugs Bunny, looking for a place to spend the night, happens in an abandoned gothic farmhouse, which, unbeknownst to Bugs, is the hideout of two gangsters, Rocky and Hugo. Shortly thereafter, Rocky and Hugo return pursued by rival gangsters. The running gunfight continues as they take cover inside the farmhouse; Bugs comically gets up in the middle of the gunfight to use the bathroom and get a glass of water before returning to bed just as the shooting ends. Later while Rocky is doling out his and Hugo's shares of the money from the heist they just pulled, Bugs slyly cuts in after noticing Rocky is not paying attention. He poses as several gang members until he gets all of the money. Rocky then wises up, and demands the money back. When Bugs refuses, Rocky has Hugo take Bugs for a ride. Bugs returns to the house without Hugo (who is absent from the rest of the cartoon, his fate unknown), and Rocky at first does not notice. When he does, he demands to know where the "dough" is, and after promising not to look (since Bugs does not want him to know where he hid it) gets a bowl of pie-dough in the face. Bugs then poses as Mugsy, another gangster, who threatens that "It's

curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fa ...

s for you, Rocky", and then pulls an actual set of curtains from inside his jacket and hangs them over Rocky's head. Bugs then pretends to be a policeman and has Rocky hide inside a chest while he "deals with" the police. Bugs acts out the officer breaking in, ensuing in a fight over the chest which he is in, and play-acts a fight in which he eventually throws the imaginary cop out of a window. Before the phony fight, Bugs opens the chest and hands Rocky a time bomb, which soon detonates and leaves Rocky's clothes in shreds. Rocky flees the house, screaming for the Police and not wanting to be left "with that crazy rabbit". Bugs sighs, "Some guys just can't take it, see? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!".

Analysis

When entering the house, Bugs remarks "Huh? Sounds like Inner Sanctum!", a reference to the popular mystery

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

that aired from January 7, 1941, to October 5, 1952. Bugs impersonates

Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish Mob, but along with his childhood fri ...

and flips a coin like George Raft in '' Scarface'' (1932). His Brooklynite accent serves to complete the image of a tough crook.

References

External links

* * {{Friz Freleng , state=collapsed 1946 films 1946 short films 1946 animated films 1940s American animated films 1940s animated short films Looney Tunes shorts Short films directed by Friz Freleng Films set in abandoned houses American gangster films Films scored by Carl Stalling Cultural depictions of Edward G. Robinson Cultural depictions of Peter Lorre Bugs Bunny films Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese

Plot

Analysis

See also

References

External links