''Bewitched Bunny'' is a 1954

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Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' cartoon directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

and written by

Michael Maltese Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American screenwriter and storyboard artist for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director ...

. The short was released on July 24, 1954, and stars

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

. Jones created the character Witch Hazel who debuted in this cartoon. Witch Hazel later appeared in '' Broom-Stick Bunny'' (1956), '' A Witch's Tangled Hare'' (1959), and in '' A-Haunting We Will Go'' (1966). She also has a brief cameo appearance in '' Transylvania 6-5000'' (1963).

Plot

The story begins with Bugs Bunny reading the classic fairy tale ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

''. Witch Hazel plays the witch who tries to cook and eat the children (her cookbook has such recipes as "Waif Waffles", "Moppet Muffins", "Kiddie Kippers", "Children Chops", and "Smorgas Boy"). Bugs witnesses Witch Hazel coaxing the children inside. He comments that this looks like a job for the Masked Avenger, but he's not around. Bugs goes in her house, disguised as a truant officer, and saves the youths from her clutches. The children both turn to Hazel as they leave and say in a thick German accent: "Ach - your mother rides a

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!" However, once Hazel realizes that Bugs is a rabbit, she tries to cook him instead, using a carrot (hollowed out and filled with a sleeping potion) as a lure. Bugs eats the carrot and falls asleep and Witch Hazel puts him into a roasting pan to make rabbit stew. After the witch goes down into the basement to get something else, a character resembling Prince Charming enters the house and kisses Bugs' hand. Bugs wakes up and says: "You're looking for

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

. This here's the story of HAHHN-sel and Gretel", and the Prince takes his leave, confused about how Hansel is pronounced. Then Hazel emerges from the basement and Bugs races down a nearby hallway to escape, but is trapped by Hazel. As she approaches, Bugs quickly finds a grenade full of her magic powder (in a case marked with the message "In case of emergency break glass") and uses it to transform her into a gorgeous female rabbit who has a feminine voice but still has Hazel's laugh. As he gets ready to leave with the bunny beauty, Bugs looks at the audience, breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

, and comments: "Ah sure, I know. But aren't they all witches inside?".

Cast

* Mel Blanc as

, Hansel and Prince Charming * Bea Benaderet as Witch Hazel, Gretel and Female Rabbit (uncredited)

Controversy

This cartoon caused some controversy in Canada due to Bugs' ending line about Witch Hazel being turned into a rabbit being perceived as misogynistic. And Bugs' closing line, "Ah sure, I know, but aren't they all witches inside?" was edited out of commercial broadcasts in the 1980s, and was replaced in later versions with "Sure uh, I know, but after all, who wants to be alone on Halloween?", which was the re-dubbed line for the ending of ''Bewitched Bunny'' after it was repurposed in 1977's '' Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special''. This controversy was briefly mentioned by Eric Goldberg on the DVD commentary of the fifth volume of the ''Looney Tunes Golden Collection''

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set. However, the original version has been aired in Canada (as recently as 2015) on the Canadian cable channel Teletoon Retro.

Home media

''Bewitched Bunny'' is available on the second disc of '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5'', the first disc of '' Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5'', and the second disc of '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1''. On

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it appears as Season 19 Episode 20.

References

External links