''Bugs' Bonnets'' is a 1956

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 A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

, 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 Tedd Pierce. The short was released on January 14, 1956, 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 ' ...

and

Elmer Fudd Elmer J. Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. Elmer Fudd's aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring himself and other antag ...

. 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, moral obligation, obligations, beliefs, and social norm, norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behav ...

s and

persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

s, accompanying each change of hat on their heads.

Plot

The narrative begins with an exploration of the impact of clothing on human behavior. Illustrated through a businessman's metamorphosis into a pirate persona and Elmer Fudd's transition from mundane attire to hunting garb, the narrative underscores how attire can evoke distinct behavioral responses. To further illustrate this phenomenon, an event occurs when a truck from the Acme Theatrical Hat Co. accidentally scatters hats across the landscape. This event leads to a series of exchanges as Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd don various hats, each triggering a corresponding shift in behavior. Amidst a chase replete with hat exchanges, Bugs adopts roles ranging from a military sergeant to a game warden, while Elmer transforms into General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

and a pilgrim, among others. Each hat exchange catalyzes a temporary alteration in behavior, leading to confrontations and exchanges between the characters. Ultimately, the narrative culminates in a whimsical mock wedding ceremony. The scene is set to

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

's " Wedding March" as Bugs (in a top hat) carries Elmer (in a bride's veil) to a cottage.

Voice characterizations

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

* Arthur Q. Bryan as

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 Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

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 species; as well as the ...

Michael Barrier said of the film in
''Funnyworld''

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

essay about

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 ki ...

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, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

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

External links

''Bugs' Bonnets''
at the

{{Elmer Fudd in animation 1956 films 1950s LGBTQ-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 hunting Scouting in popular culture Films about same-sex marriage English-language short films 1956 animated short films