''Southern Fried Rabbit'' is a 1953

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 ...

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

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

. The cartoon was released on May 2, 1953, 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 Yosemite Sam.

Plot

Bugs Bunny hears of a record carrot crop in Alabama, prompting him to head

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. At the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, sometimes referred to as Mason and Dixon's Line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. It was Surveying, surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason ...

, he comes under fire from Yosemite Sam, who is wearing a Confederate uniform and claims to have orders from General Lee to stop any "Yankee" who tries to cross the border. Bugs points out that the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

ended almost 90 years ago, but his protests fall on deaf ears. Bugs uses a series of disguises in order to fool Sam: first a banjo-playing slave, then

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

, then " Brickwall Jackson", then a

Southern belle "Southern belle" () is a colloquialism for a debutante or other fashionable young woman of European heritage in the planter class of the Antebellum South, particularly as a romantic counterpart to the Southern gentleman. Characteristics Th ...

, and finally an injured Confederate soldier. In the last guise, he tricks Sam into heading for Tennessee by telling him "the Yankees are in

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

". The short ends with Sam brandishing his gun at the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, who have come to Chattanooga for an exhibition game.

Publication notes

Due to later controversies about the portrayal of ethnic stereotypes in cartoons, the scene where Bugs crosses the border disguised as a slave and Abraham Lincoln was cut from the episode's television broadcastings.Jason Bailey
"White Actors’ Most Egregious Portrayals of People of Color"
Flavorwire, July 3, 2013 (retrieved June 1, 2021). The bit where Bugs pretends that Sam is about to whip him (and thus disguises himself as Abraham Lincoln to scold him) was earlier used in the 1949

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...

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 ...

short Wise Quackers.

Home media

''Southern Fried Rabbit'' was made available on a VHS tape, and its restored, uncut version on DVD in '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4''.

References

External links

''New York Times'' review
* {{Uncle Tom's Cabin 1953 films American Civil War films Looney Tunes shorts Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Films based on works by Harriet Beecher Stowe Short films directed by Friz Freleng Animated films set in the Southern United States Cultural depictions of Abraham Lincoln Bugs Bunny films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films African-American-related controversies in film Animated film controversies Race-related controversies in animation Race-related controversies in film Ethnic humour Yosemite Sam films 1950s English-language films Animated films set in the 1950s Films with screenplays by Warren Foster Films produced by Edward Selzer English-language short films 1953 animated short films

Plot

Publication notes

Home media

See also

References

External links