| Bugs and Thugs | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Directed by | I. Freleng |
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Produced by | Edward Selzer |
| Starring | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by | Manuel Perez Ken Champin Virgil Ross Arthur Davis |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Irv Wyner |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7 minutes |
| Language | English |
Bugs and Thugs is a 1954Warner Bros.Looney Tunes cartoon directed byFriz Freleng.[1][a] The short was released on March 13, 1954, and starsBugs Bunny, withRocky and Mugsy.[2] The film is a semi-remake of the 1946 cartoonRacketeer Rabbit. It is also the first Warner Bros short to featureMilt Franklyn as a musical director.
In the film, Bugs mistakes thegetaway car of abank robber for a taxi and enters it uninvited, being taken hostage as a result.
Bugs Bunny walks through a city park reading a newspaper about rabbit hunting season. After grabbing a carrot from his bank'ssafe deposit box he ends up in agetaway car with Rocky and Mugsy who have just robbed a bank. While stopped at a gas station Bugs calls the police. Rocky and Mugsy's car breaks down after getting hit by a train. They go to a hidden safe house where Bugs outwits them before the police arrive where Rocky and Mugsy beg to be taken away. Bugs then becomes a private detective.
Jerry Beck writes, "A remake of director Friz Freleng's earlier crime classicRacketeer Rabbit (1946), which featured caricatures ofEdward G. Robinson andPeter Lorre as the gangsters,Bugs and Thugs is faster and funnier, has a great modern design (thanks to Hawley Pratt's layouts), and introduces two great new foils — Rocky and Mugsy — for Bugs Bunny."[3]
Bugs and Thugs is available on the following DVDs:
The short was also available to stream onHBO Max in some territories until March 2025.
The short is also part of theUltra HD Blu-ray,Blu-ray andiTunes releases ofGoodfellas as a part of aMerrie Melodies &Looney Tunes bonus features compilation that also includesRacketeer Rabbit.[4]
| Preceded by | Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1954 | Succeeded by |