Monday 18 July 2016

Tell Me More About My Eyes

Bugs Bunny outsmarts himself in Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears, a 1944 cartoon written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Chuck Jones.

Bugs quickly pulls a con job on Mama Bear who is about to clobber him by complimenting her on her appearance (including her eyes).



The ruse works. Mama Bear reacts by protecting Bugs from the angry Daddy and Junior Bear. But it works too well. Mama becomes completely enamoured with Bugs. “Tell me more about my eyes,” she coquettishly asks.



There is no escape.



Finally, the panicked Bugs jumps into his hole in the ground. We hear giggling and “Tell me more about my eyes.” Bugs jumps out of the hole and runs away to end the cartoon.



Considering his reputation, I can picture Pierce getting into a similar situation with a woman.

Bobe Cannon gets the animation credit and Mama Bear is played by that fine actress Bea Benaderet.

9 comments:

  1. This was one of the first Looney Tunes I've ever seen, when I was 6 or 7. I always thought Mama looked like the mom from the Berenstain Bears.

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    1. Pretty good observation there. I never thought of Mama Bear from that series.

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  2. Funny cartoon, but its hampered by the slow, "floaty" animation. Too many in-betweens?

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    1. As a kid, I often wondered how so many fewer cuts as well, The shots last for quite along time and it's interesting how they could get it all in the shot with those pans, zooms and such when necessary. It plays off like a security camera is getting all this!

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  3. This is still in the period where Jones wasn't quite sure how to handle Bugs, and his heart (and Pierce's) really seem to be more with the parts that only feature Ma, Pa and Junior.

    It's a funny cartoon, but the funniest parts don't involve Bugs. That's not supposed to happen, though it did give Jones the impetus to come back to the characters a few years later (Chuck's next cartoon with Bugs, "Hare Conditioned", wouldn't come out for over a year, by which time he seemed to have a much better rapport with the character and the type of gags that worked best with him).

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    1. It's certainly a transition. I suppose this was a case where the supporting characters took center stage than the main guy.

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  4. I always thought that momma bear in the phone booth (first picture after "there is no escape") was wearing a see-through negligee, now I see that I was right! Pretty risque, even for a cartoon bear!

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    1. My first reaction was that she was practically naked! Which almost negates seeing her in the bath seconds later. You already saw her nearly undressed!

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