070 Wackiki Wabbit

Title: Wackiki Wabbit
Studio: WB
Date: 07/03/43
Credits:
supervision
Charles M. Jones
animation Ken Harris
story Tedd Pierce
musical direction
Carl W. Stalling
Series: Merrie Melodies / Bugs Bunny
Running time (of viewed version): 6:41
Commercial DVD Availability: LTGCv3d1

Synopsis: Castaways encounter Bugs Bunny on a desert isle.















Comments: Hawaiian guitar added to the musical mix. Damn you Tedd Pierce and the way you make people sometimes think I should have two 'd's in my name. (Supposedly Tedd Pierce is the voice of tall, and looked kinda like that, while Michael Maltese was supposedly the voice of fat, and looked kinda like him; the thing is, images of Michael Maltese online don't make him look fat, so...) The burger looks a lot like a photo. Defined blue eye bags. SOunds like a cut in the audio as they approach the island. Extremely designy backgrounds (which this is noted for; I'm not sure it's the most designy of the cartoons so far this year tho. Was Bugs's fashion style really worn that high on the chest? Or is it just the way the people of the age wore their clothing (and thus why old people are known to wear their pants to their nipples). The fire is part of the pot, like a digital object that has been grouped. "We're gonna have roast rabbit, we're gonna have roast rabbit." Chicken carcass puppetry. The ship cuts quite a figure. The abstractions lead to more contrast between the characters and the backgrounds. Tall hits short, but it doesn't sound like it's very hard, and it's off screen. Eddie Fitzgerald has a commentary mentioning that this was available on many videotapes, so he watched it many times. This availability could explain the prominence of the cartoon in discussions about its abstract backgrounds. No belly buttons; they must be clones. The bits with in cartoon subtitles are windowboxed on the dvd like the title is. Bugs looks weird in profile; snoutless at times. I always thought this was an interesting looking cartoon, but now it feels mild to me. Not much happens in it. The Columbia cartoons are more abstract, Aristo Cat feels more bold in its designs (although that may just be because of my increased exposure to this cartoon; in addition to be ing on public domain compilations, it's a Bugs cartoon, and had lots of play on tv).

You can see side by side images of Maltese and Pierce at:
http://suspended.tv/blog/2010/11/04/the-woozyfly-music-video-collection-strangers-on-footpath/
I don't think the characters really look like them, myself...