| Baton Bunny | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Directed by | Chuck Jones Abe Levitow |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Produced by | John Burton Sr. |
| Starring | Mel Blanc |
| Edited by | Treg Brown |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by | Ken Harris Richard Thompson Ben Washam |
| Layouts by | Maurice Noble |
| Backgrounds by | Tom O'Loughlin |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7 minutes |
Baton Bunny is a 1959Warner Bros.Looney Tunes cartoon, directed byChuck Jones andAbe Levitow.[1] The short was released on 10 January 1959, and starsBugs Bunny.[2]
It shows Bugs conducting anorchestra – with afly bothering him. Bugs conducts, and in part, plays the overture to "Ein Morgen, ein Mittag und Abend in Wien" (A Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna)", a composition byFranz von Suppé. AlthoughMel Blanc was credited for vocal characterizations, there is no dialogue in the short; the only vocal effect made was when an audience member is heard coughing. This is the third and lastBugs Bunny cartoon (the first two beingA Corny Concerto andRhapsody Rabbit) where Bugs is mostly silent; at one point, he 'shushes' the brass. This is also one of the last cartoons to get aMerrie Melodies Blue Ribbon reissue in 1968.
Bugs is about to conduct "The Warner Bros. Symphony Orchestra" (supposedly in concert at theHollywood Bowl). As he begins his elaborate preparation, someone in the audience starts coughing loudly. Bugs holds up a sign reading, "Throw the bum out!", which the audience does. Other problems plague Bugs' conducting, notably a bothersome fly and awkward cuffs that keep falling off; with each of these issues, his reactions act as direction to the orchestra, which responds accordingly, angering Bugs. In the middle of the performance, as a result of the music at that moment, Bugs plays dual roles as an indigenous person and the American troops chasing him. As his performance ends, the fly returns, landing on Bugs' nose. Bugs loses his sanity and attempts to kill the fly, crashing through the orchestra and into the instruments as he does so. As the music ends and the fly seems to be dead, Bugs bows to the crowd. Instead of applause, there is only silence and crickets chirping. Bugs looks around and sees that the seats are empty, then he becomes aware of faint clapping – coming from the fly. He bows to the fly, and the cartoon ends.
The short was released on DVD on theLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 in 2003.
| Preceded by | Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1959 | Succeeded by |
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