| Bewitched Bunny | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Charles M. Jones |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Bea Benaderet (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Lloyd Vaughan Ken Harris Ben Washam Abe Levitow (uncredited)[1] |
| Layouts by | Maurice Noble |
| Backgrounds by | Philip DeGuard |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 6:56 |
| Language | English |
Bewitched Bunny is a 1954Warner Bros.Looney Tunes cartoon directed byChuck Jones and written byMichael Maltese.[2] The short was released on July 24, 1954, and starsBugs Bunny.[3] Jones created the characterWitch Hazel who debuted in this cartoon.
Witch Hazel later appeared inBroom-Stick Bunny (1956),A Witch's Tangled Hare (1959), and inA-Haunting We Will Go (1966). She also has a brief cameo appearance inTransylvania 6-5000 (1963).
The cartoon begins withBugs Bunny reading the classic fairy taleHansel and Gretel while walking through a forest.Witch Hazel plays the witch who tries to cook and eat the titular children (her cookbook has such recipes as "Waif Waffles", "Moppet Muffins", "Kiddie Kippers", "Children Chops", and "Smorgas Boy"). Bugs witnesses Hazel coaxing the children inside, and comments that "this looks like a job for the Masked Avenger", but since he is not around, Bugs enters her house, disguised as atruant officer, under the pretense of inspection. He is perplexed by Hansel's name but saves the children from Hazel's clutches. Hansel and Gretel both turn to Hazel as they leave and say in a thickGerman accent: "Ach –your mother rides avacuum cleaner!" Once Hazel realizes that Bugs is a rabbit, she tries to cook him instead, using a carrot (hollowed out and filled with a sleeping potion) as a lure. Bugs eats the carrot and falls asleep and Hazel puts him into a roasting pan to makerabbit stew.
After the witch goes down into the basement to get something, a man resemblingPrince Charming enters the house and kisses Bugs's hand, causing the rabbit to wake up and say: "You're looking forSnow White. This here's the story of HAHHN-sel and Gretel", and the Prince leaves, also perplexed by Hansel's name. Hazel then emerges from the basement and Bugs races down a nearby hallway to escape, but is cornered by her. As she approaches, Bugs discovers a grenade filled with Hazel's magic powder (in a case marked with the message "In case of emergency break glass") and uses it to transform her into a gorgeous blonde-furred, blue-eyed rabbit who still has Hazel's laugh. As he leaves with her, Bugs looks at the audience, breaking thefourth wall, and comments: "Ah sure, I know. But aren't they all witches inside?"
This cartoon caused some controversy in Canada due to Bugs's ending line about Witch Hazel being turned into a rabbit being perceived as misogynistic.[4] And Bugs's closing line, "Ah sure, I know, but aren't they all witches inside?" was edited out of commercial broadcasts in the 1980s, and was replaced in later versions with "Sure uh, I know, but after all, who wants to be alone on Halloween?", which was the re-dubbed line for the ending ofBewitched Bunny after it was repurposed in 1977'sBugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special. This controversy was briefly mentioned by Eric Goldberg[5] on the DVD commentary of the fifth volume of theLooney Tunes Golden CollectionDVD set. However, the original version has been aired in Canada (as recently as 2015) on the Canadian cable channelTeletoon Retro.
Bewitched Bunny is available on the second disc ofLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, the second disc ofLooney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5, and the second disc ofLooney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1.
| Preceded by | Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1954 | Succeeded by |
"Hansel and Gretel" by theBrothers Grimm | ||
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