Bowery Bugs
Encyclopedia
Bowery Bugs is a Bugs Bunny
cartoon directed by Arthur Davis, written by Lloyd Turner and Bill Scott, and released in mid-1949 as part of the Merrie Melodies
series. It stars Bugs Bunny
(voiced by Mel Blanc
, who also voices the other men in the pool hall) and Steve Brodie (voiced here by Billy Bletcher
), who was based on the real-life Brooklyn bookmaker
Steve Brody who claimed to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge
.
, (about 1/2 mile from the southern end of the actual street called the Bowery
), telling an old man a story, in carnival-barker style, about how and why Steve Brody jumped off the bridge in June 1886 in the form of pictures: Brody had a terrific run of bad luck. He decided he needed a good luck charm ideally a rabbit's foot and the place he hoped to find it was in the country forest.
At this point the story is animated. Brody cycles to Flatbush and finds Bugs' house. Brody holding a knife, pulls Bugs (singing "All That Glitters Is Not Gold") out of a hole. Brody tells Bugs that he needs a good luck charm and that "he is it". Bugs responds by explaining why rabbits feet are not lucky. Bugs directs Brody to "Swami Rabbitima". Brody decides to chance it on condition he'll come back for Bugs if it doesn't work.
The Swami (Bugs in disguise) asks Brody if he wants his palm read? When he says yes, Bugs paints his right palm the colour red. Then Bugs asks if he wants him to read the bumps on his head
. Brody says he has none, so Bugs takes a hammer and makes bumps. Brody, angry at Bugs starts to chase him but Bugs starts dealing out playing cards for cartomancy
. He tells Brody that he has a meeting coming up with a man wearing a carnation (also Bugs in disguise), who will be his lucky mascot at gambling.
Brody's luck does not change though (he plays a slot machine and receives a mere three lemons for his trouble). After being kicked out of the gambling establishment by a gorilla
bouncer, he heads back to Swami. Bugs asks Brody when he was born, but Brody doesn't remember. Bugs then spins a zodiac
wheel then when it lands on the sign of the wolf. He tells Brody that he is lucky with love. However, flirting with a "lady" (also Bugs in disguise) only nets him a multiple bonking by a policeman for being a "masher". When Brody returns to the Swami and clarifies why he wants his luck to change ("So's I can get me hands on some dough!), Bugs tells him to go to 29 River Street, home of "Grandma's Happy Home Bakery", where a baker (Bugs yet again) gladly provides him "a mess of dough", in which he bakes Brody into a pie.
Unmasking the baker as Bugs, Brody retraces his steps to unmask Bugs' previous disguise, leading Brody to believe "Everybody's a rabbit!". When Brody looks into what he thinks is a mirror (but is actually a window) and sees Bugs looking back at him, he thinks he has turned into a rabbit and snaps, hopping down the street, hysterically shouting "What's up, doc!".
Seeing a police officer, apparently staring contemplatively at the river from the Brooklyn Bridge, Brody begs (to his back) for help. Turning, the officer reveals himself to be Bugs, demanding (in a thick Irish accent) "What's all this about rabbits, Doc?". Finally driven mad, Brody leaps into the East River
. The scene freezes of Brody jumping off to a poster seen behind Bugs.
Bugs' story ends there, and the impressed old man says, "I'll buy it!" and hands Bugs some money.
in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection
DVD series.
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 directed by Arthur Davis, written by Lloyd Turner and Bill Scott, and released in mid-1949 as part of 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. It stars 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...
(voiced 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...
, who also voices the other men in the pool hall) and Steve Brodie (voiced here by Billy Bletcher
Billy Bletcher
William "Billy" Bletcher was an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.-Career:...
), who was based on the real-life Brooklyn bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
Steve Brody who claimed to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
.
Plot
Bugs Bunny is standing at the base of the famous Brooklyn BridgeBrooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
, (about 1/2 mile from the southern end of the actual street called the Bowery
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
), telling an old man a story, in carnival-barker style, about how and why Steve Brody jumped off the bridge in June 1886 in the form of pictures: Brody had a terrific run of bad luck. He decided he needed a good luck charm ideally a rabbit's foot and the place he hoped to find it was in the country forest.
At this point the story is animated. Brody cycles to Flatbush and finds Bugs' house. Brody holding a knife, pulls Bugs (singing "All That Glitters Is Not Gold") out of a hole. Brody tells Bugs that he needs a good luck charm and that "he is it". Bugs responds by explaining why rabbits feet are not lucky. Bugs directs Brody to "Swami Rabbitima". Brody decides to chance it on condition he'll come back for Bugs if it doesn't work.
The Swami (Bugs in disguise) asks Brody if he wants his palm read? When he says yes, Bugs paints his right palm the colour red. Then Bugs asks if he wants him to read the bumps on his head
Phrenology
Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...
. Brody says he has none, so Bugs takes a hammer and makes bumps. Brody, angry at Bugs starts to chase him but Bugs starts dealing out playing cards for cartomancy
Cartomancy
Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were first introduced into Europe in the 14th century...
. He tells Brody that he has a meeting coming up with a man wearing a carnation (also Bugs in disguise), who will be his lucky mascot at gambling.
Brody's luck does not change though (he plays a slot machine and receives a mere three lemons for his trouble). After being kicked out of the gambling establishment by a gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
bouncer, he heads back to Swami. Bugs asks Brody when he was born, but Brody doesn't remember. Bugs then spins a zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
wheel then when it lands on the sign of the wolf. He tells Brody that he is lucky with love. However, flirting with a "lady" (also Bugs in disguise) only nets him a multiple bonking by a policeman for being a "masher". When Brody returns to the Swami and clarifies why he wants his luck to change ("So's I can get me hands on some dough!), Bugs tells him to go to 29 River Street, home of "Grandma's Happy Home Bakery", where a baker (Bugs yet again) gladly provides him "a mess of dough", in which he bakes Brody into a pie.
Unmasking the baker as Bugs, Brody retraces his steps to unmask Bugs' previous disguise, leading Brody to believe "Everybody's a rabbit!". When Brody looks into what he thinks is a mirror (but is actually a window) and sees Bugs looking back at him, he thinks he has turned into a rabbit and snaps, hopping down the street, hysterically shouting "What's up, doc!".
Seeing a police officer, apparently staring contemplatively at the river from the Brooklyn Bridge, Brody begs (to his back) for help. Turning, the officer reveals himself to be Bugs, demanding (in a thick Irish accent) "What's all this about rabbits, Doc?". Finally driven mad, Brody leaps into the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
. The scene freezes of Brody jumping off to a poster seen behind Bugs.
Bugs' story ends there, and the impressed old man says, "I'll buy it!" and hands Bugs some money.
Production details
- This is the only Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Arthur Davis (not counting Bugs's cameo in The Goofy GophersThe Goofy GophersThe Goofy Gophers is a 1946 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon released on January 25, 1947. It stars the Goofy Gophers with a cameo by Bugs Bunny at the end...
). - Although Bill Scott (of Bullwinkle J. MooseBullwinkle J. MooseBullwinkle J. Moose is a fictional character in the 1959–1964 animated television series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, often collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle, produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott...
fame) is credited as a co-writer, he told Keith ScottKeith Scott (Australia)Keith Scott is a voice-over and voice actor from Australia. He provided the voice for Bullwinkle J...
in the book The Moose That Roared that he had no recollection of working on this film. By all indications, Lloyd Turner alone was responsible for the film's story, with Scott having been moved to a brief, unsuccessful spell as Friz FrelengFriz FrelengIsadore "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....
's story artist, though the reason why Scott was still credited on this short is not known. - Aside from Quackodile Tears in 1962, this cartoon was officially the last Warner Bros. animated short directed by Arthur Davis. Although one of his last cartoons, Bye Bye Bluebeard, was released in late-1949, it was animated before Bowery Bugs.
- Art Davis' animators for the cartoon borrowed the special design used in McKimson'sRobert McKimsonRobert "Bob" Porter McKimson, Sr. was an American animator, illustrator, and director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros., and later DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
unit that was used for one more year after the cartoon was released. McKimson eventually used a design almost identical to the design he made for Bob Clampett's unit in 1943.
Censorship
- On ABC, two scenes involving head beatings were shortened:
- When Bugs (dressed as the swami) asks Brody if he'd like to read the bumps on his head, Brody protests that he has no bumps on his head, Bugs originally hit Brody six times. On ABC, the beatings were cut down to one.
- When Brody is sent out to charm a woman (Bugs in drag) and the "woman" cries for the police, Brody was originally beaten by a cop's nightstick 11 times. On ABC, the beatings were drastically shortened to one and a half (with the rest cut with a fake black out into the next scene).
Availability
This cartoon is available (uncut, uncensored, and digitally remastered) on disc one of the third volumeLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 is a DVD box set from Warner Home Video that was released on October 25, 2005. It contains 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical short subject cartoons, 9 documentaries, 32 commentary tracks from animators and historians, 11 "vintage treasures from...
in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection
Looney Tunes Golden Collection
The Looney Tunes Golden Collection was an annual series of six four-disc DVD box sets from Warner Bros.' home video unit Warner Home Video, each containing about 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts...
DVD series.