All This and Rabbit Stew
Encyclopedia
All This and Rabbit Stew is a one-reel animated cartoon
short subject
in the Merrie Melodies
series, produced in Technicolor
and released to theatres on September 20, 1941 by Warner Bros.
and Vitaphone
. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger
and directed by an uncredited Tex Avery
, with musical supervision by Carl W. Stalling and voices by Mel Blanc
.
The cartoon was the final Avery-directed Bugs Bunny
short to be released. Although it was produced before The Heckling Hare
(after the production of which Avery was suspended from the Schlesinger studio and defected to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
), it was released afterwards. The title is a parody
of that of All This and Heaven Too
. Because the cartoon was released after Avery left Warner Bros., Avery's name does not appear in the credits.
After copyright on All This and Rabbit Stew expired in 1969, the film fell into the public domain
. The cartoon has been considered controversial due to racial stereotyping, which prompted United Artists
to withhold this cartoon from syndication a year before it entered the public domain, making it one of the infamous Censored Eleven
. The plot has Bugs Bunny hunted by a slow-witted Black
hunter who sounds and looks like Stepin Fetchit
.
's 1946 Looney Tunes short The Big Snooze
. For that film, the animation of the Black hunter was redrawn into animation of Elmer Fudd
.
, and would reappear in Angel Puss
.
" group of banned Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts. It was one of the 12 cartoons to be pulled from Cartoon Network's "June Bugs" 2001 marathon by order of AOL Time Warner due to its "offensive" depiction of an African-American.
It is also the only Bugs Bunny cartoon in the Censored Eleven. Due to its public domain status, it is not as scarce as most of the others. It can be seen on the internet and on low-budget video releases of public domain cartoons, in all cases as very worn-out and faded prints. (Neither UA nor Associated Artists Productions
[a.a.p.] - from which UA had acquired the cartoons - had access to the original Technicolor
negatives, which were being stored at the WB studios.) Some versions also lack the original ending. In the original release, Bugs wins the African-American man's clothes in a dice game and walks off wearing them, leaving the man with nothing but a leaf covering his crotch. In the course of the iris out, Bugs is seen reaching in and grabbing the leaf. This bit is edited from some versions of the cartoon (but not TV versions).
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
short subject
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
in the Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
series, produced in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and released to theatres on September 20, 1941 by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger was an American film producer, most noted for founding Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the golden age of Hollywood animation.-Early life and career:...
and directed by an uncredited Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
, with musical supervision by Carl W. Stalling and voices by Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
.
The cartoon was the final Avery-directed Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
short to be released. Although it was produced before The Heckling Hare
The Heckling Hare
The Heckling Hare is a Merrie Melodies cartoon, released on July 12, 1941 and featuring Bugs Bunny and a dopey dog named Willoughby. The cartoon was directed by Tex Avery, written by Michael Maltese, animated by soon-to-be director Bob McKimson, and with musical direction by Carl Stalling...
(after the production of which Avery was suspended from the Schlesinger studio and defected to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
), it was released afterwards. The title is a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of that of All This and Heaven Too
All This and Heaven Too
All This, and Heaven Too is a 1940 American drama film made by Warner Bros.-First National Pictures, produced and directed by Anatole Litvak with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer. The screenplay was adapted by Casey Robinson from the novel by Rachel Field...
. Because the cartoon was released after Avery left Warner Bros., Avery's name does not appear in the credits.
After copyright on All This and Rabbit Stew expired in 1969, the film fell into the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
. The cartoon has been considered controversial due to racial stereotyping, which prompted United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
to withhold this cartoon from syndication a year before it entered the public domain, making it one of the infamous Censored Eleven
Censored Eleven
The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968...
. The plot has Bugs Bunny hunted by a slow-witted Black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
hunter who sounds and looks like Stepin Fetchit
Stepin Fetchit
Stepin Fetchit was the stage name of American comedian and film actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry....
.
Similarity of scenes
The cartoon's central gag sequence, involving the hunter constantly ending up on the wrong side of a rolling log hanging over a cliff, was repurposed for Bob ClampettBob Clampett
Robert Emerson "Bob" Clampett was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., and the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil...
's 1946 Looney Tunes short The Big Snooze
The Big Snooze
The Big Snooze is a 1946 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by an uncredited Bob Clampett, his final cartoon for Warner. Its title was inspired by the 1939 book The Big Sleep, and its 1946 film adaptation, also a Warner release. The Big Snooze features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, voiced as...
. For that film, the animation of the Black hunter was redrawn into animation of Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...
.
Appearances
This is the second appearance of the black hunter, who had appeared in a slightly different design in Confederate HoneyConfederate Honey
Confederate Honey is a 1940 Merrie Melodies animated cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng and produced by Leon Schlesinger. It is a sendup of Gone with the Wind, and features an early appearance by Elmer Fudd in his most familiar form....
, and would reappear in Angel Puss
Angel Puss
Angel Puss is a 1944 short animated cartoon written by Lou Lilly, animated by Ken Harris, and directed by Chuck Jones. It was released on June 3, 1944, by Warner Brothers as part of its Looney Tunes series.-Synopsis:...
.
Censorship and Bans
Due to the film's racial stereotyping, All This and Rabbit Stew has not been seen on television since 1968, and was put under the "Censored ElevenCensored Eleven
The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968...
" group of banned Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts. It was one of the 12 cartoons to be pulled from Cartoon Network's "June Bugs" 2001 marathon by order of AOL Time Warner due to its "offensive" depiction of an African-American.
It is also the only Bugs Bunny cartoon in the Censored Eleven. Due to its public domain status, it is not as scarce as most of the others. It can be seen on the internet and on low-budget video releases of public domain cartoons, in all cases as very worn-out and faded prints. (Neither UA nor Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...
[a.a.p.] - from which UA had acquired the cartoons - had access to the original Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
negatives, which were being stored at the WB studios.) Some versions also lack the original ending. In the original release, Bugs wins the African-American man's clothes in a dice game and walks off wearing them, leaving the man with nothing but a leaf covering his crotch. In the course of the iris out, Bugs is seen reaching in and grabbing the leaf. This bit is edited from some versions of the cartoon (but not TV versions).