Wackiki Wabbit
Encyclopedia
Wackiki Wabbit is a 1943 Warner Bros.
Merrie Melodies
cartoon, starring Bugs Bunny
. It was written by Tedd Pierce
and directed by Chuck Jones
. Voices were provided by Mel Blanc
(Bugs), Tedd Pierce
(the tall, thin man), and Michael Maltese
(the short, fat man - the two men's appearances are rough caricatures of the actual men). The musical score was conducted by Carl Stalling
.
Wackiki Wabbit is notable for its experimental use of strongly graphic, nearly abstract backgrounds. The title is a double play on words, with "Wackiki" suggesting both the island setting (as in "Waikiki
") as well as suggesting "wacky" (crazy) along with the usual Elmer Fudd
speech pronunciation of "rabbit", although Elmer does not appear in this picture.
This cartoon has fallen to the public domain
after United Artists
(successor to Associated Artists Productions
) failed to renew the copyright on time. The cartoon can be found, uncut and restored, on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3
.
The cartoon opens with two castaways adrift on a small raft in the middle of the ocean, underscored with "Asleep in the Deep
". Delirious from hunger, they start imagining each other (or even their own limbs) as food. They spot an island in the distance and rush ashore, underscored by "Down Where the Trade Winds Play", a song used several times in the cartoon, where they meet Bugs Bunny, who is munching on his carrot as usual. To his friendly, "What's the good word, strangers?" they answer "FOOD!" and start after Bugs, who leaps away on a vine with a Tarzan yell
.
Chasing Bugs through the jungle, they spy him, semi-disguised as one of the "natives", dancing. Bugs welcomes them with, "Ah! White Men! Welcome to Humuhumunukunukuapua'a'a'a
island." He then proceeds to speak in Polynesian-accented nonsense, a long stretch of which is subtitled simply "What's up Doc?" and a very short segment is subtitled, "Now is the time for every good man to come to the aid of his party." The tall and skinny man says, "Well, thanks!" and the short, fat man, actually seeing the peculiar subtitle, "Ofa eno maua te ofe popaa", says, "Gee, did you say that?" The skinny man shrugs.
Bugs and the two men prepare the feast as they sing "We're gonna have roast rabbit" and Bugs realizes he's the roast rabbit and climbs back up his tree and then
Bugs tricks them by substituting a skinned chicken for himself in the large cooking pot. He taunts them with the chicken, using it as a marionette in order to make the two men think the chicken is possessed
by a Ghost
, until the strings become tangled and he has to make a quick escape.
As the castaways sob in frustration, they hear a steam whistle from a ship. As the men leap for joy at the prospect of being saved and trot toward the gangplank, Bugs kisses them goodbye and presents them with leis
, then pulls his time-honored switcheroo trick and boards the ship himself. The boat pulls out, leaving the two men on the island, still waving goodbye to Bugs. The Skinny Man slaps the Fat Man (off-camera, following the Hays Office
rules) for still yelling "Goodbye!" The two at once imagine each other as a frankfurter and a hamburger, chasing each other into the distance as "Aloha Oe" plays on the underscore, and the cartoon irises out.
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,...
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,...
cartoon, starring 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...
. It was written by Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce , was an American animated cartoon writer, animator and artist. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at...
and directed by Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
. Voices were provided 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...
(Bugs), Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce , was an American animated cartoon writer, animator and artist. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at...
(the tall, thin man), and Michael Maltese
Michael Maltese
Michael "Mike" Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon shorts.-Career:...
(the short, fat man - the two men's appearances are rough caricatures of the actual men). The musical score was conducted by Carl Stalling
Carl Stalling
Carl W. Stalling was an American composer and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years.-Biography:Stalling was born to Ernest and...
.
Wackiki Wabbit is notable for its experimental use of strongly graphic, nearly abstract backgrounds. The title is a double play on words, with "Wackiki" suggesting both the island setting (as in "Waikiki
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
") as well as suggesting "wacky" (crazy) along with the usual 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...
speech pronunciation of "rabbit", although Elmer does not appear in this picture.
This cartoon has fallen to 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...
after 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....
(successor to 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...
) failed to renew the copyright on time. The cartoon can be found, uncut and restored, on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3
Looney 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...
.
Plot synopsis
Asleep in the Deep (song)
"Asleep in the Deep" is a song written by Arthur J. Lamb and composed by Henry W. Petrie in 1897. It is titled for a refrain found in its chorus:* * -External links:**...
". Delirious from hunger, they start imagining each other (or even their own limbs) as food. They spot an island in the distance and rush ashore, underscored by "Down Where the Trade Winds Play", a song used several times in the cartoon, where they meet Bugs Bunny, who is munching on his carrot as usual. To his friendly, "What's the good word, strangers?" they answer "FOOD!" and start after Bugs, who leaps away on a vine with a Tarzan yell
Tarzan yell
The Tarzan yell is the distinctive, ululating yell of the character Tarzan, as portrayed by actor Johnny Weissmuller in the films based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, starting with Tarzan the Ape Man...
.
Chasing Bugs through the jungle, they spy him, semi-disguised as one of the "natives", dancing. Bugs welcomes them with, "Ah! White Men! Welcome to Humuhumunukunukuapua'a'a'a
Reef triggerfish
The reef, rectangular, or wedge-tail triggerfish, also known by its Hawaiian name, humuhumunukunukuāpuaa , also spelled Humuhumunukunukuapua'a or just humuhumu for short; meaning "triggerfish with a snout like a pig"), is one of several species of triggerfish...
island." He then proceeds to speak in Polynesian-accented nonsense, a long stretch of which is subtitled simply "What's up Doc?" and a very short segment is subtitled, "Now is the time for every good man to come to the aid of his party." The tall and skinny man says, "Well, thanks!" and the short, fat man, actually seeing the peculiar subtitle, "Ofa eno maua te ofe popaa", says, "Gee, did you say that?" The skinny man shrugs.
Bugs and the two men prepare the feast as they sing "We're gonna have roast rabbit" and Bugs realizes he's the roast rabbit and climbs back up his tree and then
Bugs tricks them by substituting a skinned chicken for himself in the large cooking pot. He taunts them with the chicken, using it as a marionette in order to make the two men think the chicken is possessed
Spiritual possession
Spirit possession is a paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour...
by a Ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
, until the strings become tangled and he has to make a quick escape.
As the castaways sob in frustration, they hear a steam whistle from a ship. As the men leap for joy at the prospect of being saved and trot toward the gangplank, Bugs kisses them goodbye and presents them with leis
Lei (Hawaii)
Lei is a Hawaiian word for a garland or wreath. More loosely defined, a lei is any series of objects strung together with the intent to be worn. The most popular concept of a lei in Hawaiian culture is a wreath of flowers draped around the neck presented upon arriving or leaving as a symbol of...
, then pulls his time-honored switcheroo trick and boards the ship himself. The boat pulls out, leaving the two men on the island, still waving goodbye to Bugs. The Skinny Man slaps the Fat Man (off-camera, following the Hays Office
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Hollywood's chief censor of the...
rules) for still yelling "Goodbye!" The two at once imagine each other as a frankfurter and a hamburger, chasing each other into the distance as "Aloha Oe" plays on the underscore, and the cartoon irises out.
Note
- A few clips from this, Fresh HareFresh HareFresh Hare is a Warner Bros. theatrical Merrie Melodies cartoon. It was directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng, written by Michael Maltese, and produced by Leon Schlesinger...
and Case of the Missing HareCase of the Missing HareCase of the Missing Hare is a 1942 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Chuck Jones and starring Bugs Bunny. The title is a typical play on words, and although it suggests a Mystery story, it bears no apparent relationship to the plotline.It is also one of the few...
were used in the documentary Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePantsSquare Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePantsSquare Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants is a documentary produced by Patrick Creadon and Christine O'Malley that aired on VH1 on July 14, 2009. The documentary chronicles the pop culture success of the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, including its impact on U.S. President Barack...
. - This cartoon is found on Volume 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.
See also
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
- List of Bugs Bunny cartoons
- List of films in the public domain