| Super-Rabbit | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Charles M. Jones |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Kent Rogers Tedd Pierce[1] |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation by | Ken Harris Robert Cannon Ben Washam Rudy Larriva |
| Layouts by | John McGrew |
| Backgrounds by | Gene Fleury |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 8 minutes 13 seconds |
| Language | English |
Super-Rabbit is a 1943Warner Bros. cartoon starringBugs Bunny. The cartoon is aparody of the popular comic book and radio characterSuperman byDC Comics.[2]Super-Rabbit was the 16th Bugs Bunny entry,[3] and the 47th short directed byChuck Jones.
Professor Cannafraz (aRichard Haydn impression) creates a "super carrot" and uses it on his test subject – Rabbitus idioticus americanus (Bugs Bunny), who immediately consumes the proffered carrot. Armed with temporary superhero abilities that need to be replenished with additional super carrots, Bugs remembers a newspaper article aboutTexas hunter "Cottontail" Smith, who wants to exterminate all rabbits.
Bugs, adorned in a superhero costume complete with cape, flies toDeepinaharta, Texas, and assumes the guise of a mild-mannered forest creature by wearing oversized reading glasses and a hat. He encounters Smith, who attempts to shoot Bugs, only for the bullets to form an outline of the rabbit before harmlessly falling to the ground. Bugs then hands Smith a cannon, eats another super carrot as a precaution, then, upon being struck by the cannonball, playsbasketball with it, quickly shoving Smith and his horse onto bleachers while he acts as his own cheerleader. After Bugs returns to the sky, the bemused Smith and his horse follow the rabbit in an airplane. Using his super powers, Bugs then snatches the shell of the plane away from them, plunging Smith and the horse to the ground.
Cruising through the sky, Bugs begins to run out of power, but when he tries to recharge again, he accidentally drops his carrots and he falls to the ground. After Bugs lands, he opens his eyes to see a line of chewed carrot tops eaten by Smith and his horse-turned-Superhero, both wearing cape and costume. Bugs turns to the camera and says "This looks like a job for aREAL Superman!" He ducks into a phone booth. Both Smith and the horse are ready to attack – until the booth opens and they both snap to attention and salute. Bugs marches out in aMarine uniform, singing the "Marines' Hymn". He dismisses the two, claiming he has "important work to do!", and marches off to "Berlin,Tokyo and points East."[4]
TheU.S. Marine Corps were so thrilled that Bugs Bunny decided to become a Marine in this cartoon that they insisted the character be officially inducted into the force as a private, which was done, complete withdogtags. The character was regularly promoted until Bugs was officially "discharged" at the end ofWorld War II as aMaster Sergeant.[5]
Cottontail Smith later appears as one ofYosemite Sam's sidekicks inLooney Tunes: Back in Action. The character's voice is a less raucous version of Sam's andFoghorn Leghorn's.
In 2019, it was shortlisted for the 1944Retro-Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.[6]
The cartoon parodies theMax FleischerSuperman animated shorts as a figure soars across the sky from random directions. Onlookers are heard speculating on its nature: "Look! Up there in the sky!" "It's a boid" [bird]!" "Nah, it ain’t a boid, it's adive-bommah."[4][7]
A Marine is described as "a real superman" by Bugs.[4]
| Preceded by | Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1943 | Succeeded by |