Big House Bunny
Encyclopedia
Big House Bunny is a 1948 Looney Tunes
Bugs Bunny
cartoon, released in 1950 and directed by Friz Freleng
.
(here called Sam Schultz, presumably as a character role, possibly a reference to Dutch Schultz
) beats Bugs with a billy club, telling him, "Trying to pull an escape, 777174, huh?" To which Bugs replies, "I'm not 777174 - I'm only 3½
." Sam finds this fine, and soon Bugs is in a prison uniform, breaking rocks, with the prison number "3½" (as Bugs says, "Eh, my mother told me there'd be days like this.")
When Sam tells Bugs he'll be in prison for 50 years, Bugs tries to make an escape, telling Sam that a different prisoner is escaping over the wall. Bugs puts his own ball which he's chained to in the cannon, which Sam fires, causing Bugs to leave. Sam chases after Bugs and brings him back.
When Sam attempts to put Bugs into a jail cell, Bugs manages to pull a switch on Sam, causing Sam to be locked up instead. When this ploy fails, Sam vows to place Bugs in solitary confinement
for 99 years, to which Bugs replies "You wouldn't be so tough if you weren't wearing that uniform!" Sam takes the bait and doffs his jacket and cap, while Bugs, in striped prison tunic and hat, does the same. After a few fight gestures from Sam, Bugs concedes and dons Sam's guard uniform, leaving Sam to unthinkingly don the prison garb, at which point Bugs summons the guards and gets Sam beaten up and locked up instead. Although now free to leave through his tunnel, Bugs is having too much fun to quit outsmarting Sam so soon, and, posing as a sympathetic guard ("I'm gettin' ya' outta here, see? I haven't forgotten what ya' done for Mary an' the kids, see?"), hands Sam an 'AJAX Escape Kit' (disguised as a "loaf of bread"), complete with map and pickaxe. Sam winds up digging into what appears to be a jungle, but turns out to be oversized plants in the office of the warden ("SCHULTZ! Just what is the meaning of this?!"), who yells at Sam before he's kicked out.
After a few more failed attempts at getting Bugs (including mistaking Bugs for the warden, and soon after, the actual warden for Bugs), Sam has finally had enough. He opens the door, yelling for Bugs to get out. With Bugs gone, Sam is delighted... until he hears the warden over the intercom, "SCHULTZ! OFFICE!" The next scene is of an angry-mooded Sam in a prison uniform, breaking rocks, wondering who was the 'stool pigeon' who squealed on him. We then see Bugs standing on a stool atop the prison wall, acting like a pigeon and cooing, implying that he told the warden about letting him out.
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
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...
cartoon, released in 1950 and directed by Friz Freleng
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
.
Plot
Needing to get away from hunters, Bugs digs a tunnel and accidentally winds up in Sing Song Prison (a clear reference to Sing Sing Prison; "No Hanging Around"). As he tries walking away, prison guard (later a prisoner) Yosemite SamYosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...
(here called Sam Schultz, presumably as a character role, possibly a reference to Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area Jewish American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime-related activities such as bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket...
) beats Bugs with a billy club, telling him, "Trying to pull an escape, 777174, huh?" To which Bugs replies, "I'm not 777174 - I'm only 3½
The Baby Snooks Show
The Baby Snooks Show was an American radio program starring comedienne and Ziegfeld Follies alumna Fanny Brice as a mischievous young girl who was 40 years younger than the actress who played her when she first went on the air. The series began on CBS September 17, 1944, airing on Sunday evenings...
." Sam finds this fine, and soon Bugs is in a prison uniform, breaking rocks, with the prison number "3½" (as Bugs says, "Eh, my mother told me there'd be days like this.")
When Sam tells Bugs he'll be in prison for 50 years, Bugs tries to make an escape, telling Sam that a different prisoner is escaping over the wall. Bugs puts his own ball which he's chained to in the cannon, which Sam fires, causing Bugs to leave. Sam chases after Bugs and brings him back.
When Sam attempts to put Bugs into a jail cell, Bugs manages to pull a switch on Sam, causing Sam to be locked up instead. When this ploy fails, Sam vows to place Bugs in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
for 99 years, to which Bugs replies "You wouldn't be so tough if you weren't wearing that uniform!" Sam takes the bait and doffs his jacket and cap, while Bugs, in striped prison tunic and hat, does the same. After a few fight gestures from Sam, Bugs concedes and dons Sam's guard uniform, leaving Sam to unthinkingly don the prison garb, at which point Bugs summons the guards and gets Sam beaten up and locked up instead. Although now free to leave through his tunnel, Bugs is having too much fun to quit outsmarting Sam so soon, and, posing as a sympathetic guard ("I'm gettin' ya' outta here, see? I haven't forgotten what ya' done for Mary an' the kids, see?"), hands Sam an 'AJAX Escape Kit' (disguised as a "loaf of bread"), complete with map and pickaxe. Sam winds up digging into what appears to be a jungle, but turns out to be oversized plants in the office of the warden ("SCHULTZ! Just what is the meaning of this?!"), who yells at Sam before he's kicked out.
After a few more failed attempts at getting Bugs (including mistaking Bugs for the warden, and soon after, the actual warden for Bugs), Sam has finally had enough. He opens the door, yelling for Bugs to get out. With Bugs gone, Sam is delighted... until he hears the warden over the intercom, "SCHULTZ! OFFICE!" The next scene is of an angry-mooded Sam in a prison uniform, breaking rocks, wondering who was the 'stool pigeon' who squealed on him. We then see Bugs standing on a stool atop the prison wall, acting like a pigeon and cooing, implying that he told the warden about letting him out.
Censorship
- On the syndicated "Merrie Melodies" show, NickelodeonNickelodeon (TV channel)Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
, ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, and Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network (United States)Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
, the entire sequence where Yosemite Sam chases Bugs up a hangman's scaffold (where Bugs presses a button and goes down, elevator-style, while Sam does the same and ends up hanged) was cut. - In addition to the above cut, ABC also cut the scene where Bugs (as the warden) offers Sam a cigar and tells him to pull up a chair (which turns out to be the electric chair). Bugs then offers Sam a light (which turns out to be the switch connected to the electric chair- "Warm enough for you, Schultz?").
- The Merrie Melodies Show, in addition to the first cut, also cut the scene where Bugs sneaks in a prison escape kit for Sam and Sam tunnels his way into the warden's office.
- When this cartoon was used for the TV special The Bugs Bunny Mystery SpecialThe Bugs Bunny Mystery SpecialThe Bugs Bunny Mystery Special is an animated television special that was broadcast on CBS October 26, 1980. Presented as an Alfred Hitchcock-style whodunit, the plot is modeled after those of North by Northwest and The Fugitive...
, the scene of Sam dropping through the floor with a noose around his neck was replaced with new footage of Yosemite Sam getting sprung in the air after pressing the button on the scaffold.
Availability
- Big House Bunny is available, uncensored and uncut, on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc 1.