Monday, December 19, 2011

126 Little Red Riding Rabbit



Title: Little Red Riding Rabbit
Studio: WB
Date: 12/18/43 (see issues below)
Credits:
Supervision
I. Freleng
Animation
Manuel Perez
Story
Michael Maltese
Voice Characterization
Mel Blanc
Musical Direction
Carl W. Stalling
Series: Merrie Melodies / Bugs Bunny
Running time (of viewed version): 7:04
Commercial DVD Availability: LTGCv2d1

Synopsis: Red Riding Hood story ends up turning against an odd Red.















Comments: Why does the FBI warning on LTGCv1 look they ripped it off from from a public access channel? I've always liked the song ("The 5 o'clock whistle is on the blink, the whistle won't blow and waddya think, my papa's still in the factory, cause he don't know what time it happens to be"). Red comes from the Tina Fey/Sarah Palin phenotype. Her clothing comes from the Superman collection. Bea voice again. That's a green housecoat. Grandma appears to live in Knight's Steakhouse. Knight's Steakhouse, serving Ann Arbor since some fool time in the past. Odd thing about Red's hood; to accommodate her hairstyle, it's a separate cap in this cartoon. Grim faces carved into the woodwork. Jumpy fire like in Puss n' Booty. Bugs silhouette in wolf's frock, followed by wolf silhouette. Everyone's teeth keep sticking out in this cartoon. Wolf and Bugs dislike Red. Red's happy song belies a pretty grim forest. Bugs doesn't seem like he should have a reason to hate Red, but then again he _is_ being delivered in a food basket by her. Big ears is followed by French. A specific Frenchmen with big ears being referenced? Charles Boyer? Breaking the last straw joke for the Red interruption is good because it avoids both an obvious joke and a pun.

This was not originally on my list; it shows up in LTMM as 1/4/44. I'm erring on the side of caution by including it here with its OMAM and (at least some) BoxOffice date. This is the last WB cartoon for the year. Unless it's actually in the next year. Then it was either Puss N Booty or Rumors, and it's unclear exactly what day Rumors came out. And of course there could always be some other issue that hasn't come out to me regarding dates. But in the general count, this is the last WB cartoon I'm covering right now for '43.

edit: Yowp provided the following image of a newspaper ad from December 23, 1943 from Hamilton, Ohio (for a Xmas and following showing) on Facebook. Thanks, Yowp.

3 comments:

  1. Ted, I found a couple of ads in different cities for this cartoon in newspapers of Dec. 23, 1943. So it was out by then.

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  2. This cartoon is fondly recalled by many for a number of great moments. Bea Benederet's singing and performance are particularly memorable. But it's Red's line readings that seem to last forever in most people's minds. "Say Gramma, that's an awfully big nose for you -- TA HAVE!"

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  3. One of my all-time favorite Bugs cartoons.

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