Big House Bunny

Big House Bunny
Big House Bunny
	Lobby card
Directed by	I. Freleng
Story by	Tedd Pierce
Produced by	Edward Selzer; (uncredited)
Starring	Mel Blanc
Music by	Carl Stalling
Animation by	Virgil Ross; Arthur Davis; Gerry Chiniquy; Ken Champin
Layouts by	Hawley Pratt
Backgrounds by	Phil DeGuard
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures ; The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	April 22, 1950 (U.S.);
Running time	7:09
Language	English

Big House Bunny is a 1950 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng.^[2] The cartoon was released on April 22, 1950, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.^[3]

Plot

Bugs Bunny finds himself inadvertently entangled in the affairs of Sing Song Prison. Encountering prison guard Yosemite Sam Schultz, Bugs faces unwarranted suspicion and subsequent incarceration following a confrontation with Sam.

Despite protestations of innocence, Bugs is swiftly apprehended, adorned with a prisoner's attire, and consigned to labor at the rock pile. Enduring Sam's taunts of an extended imprisonment, Bugs ingeniously engineers an escape plan. Exploiting Sam's momentary distraction, Bugs manipulates a cannon, propelling himself over the prison walls to temporary freedom before Sam swiftly recaptures him. Subsequently, Bugs employs cunning tactics to outwit Sam, culminating in Sam inadvertently confining himself within a jail cell. Amidst further exchanges, Bugs orchestrates a sequence of role reversals, compelling Sam to unwittingly swap roles with him, thereby subjecting Sam to the ridicule and consequences of his own ploys.

Amidst this cat-and-mouse game, Bugs continues to outmaneuver Sam, perpetuating a cycle of comical misadventures and thwarting Sam's every attempt at retribution. Employing guile and deception, Bugs undermines Sam's authority and exploits his vulnerabilities, ultimately resulting in Sam's enduring humiliation and defeat. As the narrative unfolds, Bugs perpetuates his dominance over Sam, deceiving him with false promises of aid and exacerbating Sam's predicament with relentless trickery. Ultimately, Sam finds himself ensnared in a web of Bugs' machinations, enduring the consequences of his own folly as Bugs revels in the satisfaction of his victory.

It all culminates when Sam, fed up with Bugs and his antics, finally decides to let him out of the prison to be rid of him. However, Bugs rats out Sam to the prison warden that he "let a prisoner go", which Bugs was not, since he committed no crimes to warrant prison time, and Sam is punished with being made a inmate himself and sent to work the rock pile. As Sam grumbles over who the stool pigeon was that told on him, It was Bugs who ratted him out who is seen standing on a stool as he imitates a pigeon cooing.

Home media

Big House Bunny is available, uncensored and uncut, on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc 1.

References

^ Lawson, Tim; Persons, Alisa (9 December 2004). The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-57806-696-4.
^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 210. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.