''Bonanza Bunny'' is a 1959

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...

'' cartoon directed by

Robert McKimson Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePa ...

. The short was released on September 5, 1959, 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 ' ...

. In the cartoon, Bugs faces off with the French-Canadian claim jumper

Blacque Jacque Shellacque 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 Fud ...

during a fictionalized version of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Plot

In 1896,

walks into a

Dawson City Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

saloon with a bag full of gold nuggets. Bugs has no use for them and claims he confused "karats" with

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

s. The men in the saloon look suspiciously at Bugs when he requests a glass of

carrot juice Carrot juice is juice produced from carrots. The amount of juice from carrots is a low yield compared to fruits like apples and oranges. However, because carrot pulp is tough, the main difficulty in juicing carrots is in separating the pulp f ...

, and the eager bartender compliments Bugs' stones, one of which Bugs uses to pay him. Bugs is almost shot by Blacque Jacque Shellacque—a villain wanted for "crimes" including claim-jumping, pogo-sticking and square dance calling. Jacque demands Bugs hand over the gold. When Bugs refuses, Jacque engages Bugs in a game of

blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

; Bugs stands on one card, which turns out to be the "21 of hearts". Having won the hand, Bugs recovers his gold and begins to leave, but is stopped by an enraged Jacque, who claims it is dangerous to cross him. Bugs convinces Jacque there is someone in another room who claims to be twice as dangerous. As Jacque confronts the stranger (Bugs in disguise), the stranger aims a pop gun. Jacque pulls the cork and the gun blasts him in the face. Bugs then pretends to have a phone call for Jacque and says the caller is "Fifi from Montreal." The receiver is a lit stick of dynamite, and when Jacque attempts to answer the dynamite explodes. A dazed Jacque remarks that "Fifi was always a "blast"." Jacque corners Bugs in a storeroom, holds a pistol to his head and demands the gold. Bugs pretends to cower and "surrenders" the gold. The bag is actually

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

that begins to leak out as Jacque makes his getaway while shouting "I'm rich, I'm rich! 90%

bracket A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

!" Bugs lights the gunpowder trail, which sets off a large and colorful explosion in the distance. Bugs remarks, "Gee, those Northern Lights are pretty this time of year." He then reveals that his 'gold' was merely rocks painted yellow, and he departs on his

husky Husky is a general term for a type of dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies ...

Production

This short marks the first appearance of Blacque Jacque Shellacque. Gags from '' Bunker Hill Bunny'' (1950) and ''

Bugs Bunny Rides Again ''Bugs Bunny Rides Again'' is a 1948 Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on June 12, 1948, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The animated short is both a Western and a parody of the genre's conve ...

'' (1948) are re-used. Animation of the gamblers fleeing when Blacque Jacque Shellacque arrives at the saloon was first used in ''

Drip-Along Daffy ''Drip-Along Daffy'' is a 1951 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' theatrical cartoon short, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The cartoon was released on November 17, 1951, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. This cartoon wa ...

'' (1951). This was the final cartoon narrated by actor Robert C. Bruce before his retirement.

References

External links

* {{Robert McKimson 1959 films 1959 animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Films directed by Robert McKimson Films set in 1896 Films set in Yukon Films scored by Milt Franklyn Bugs Bunny films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films 1950s English-language films English-language short films

Plot

Production

See also

References

External links