Thursday 18 October 2018

Bugs Meets a Genius

Some terrific pantomime highlights Operation: Rabbit wherein Bugs Bunny outwits Wile E. Coyote, super genius. There’s a knock at the door. Bugs looks at the audience while Wile E. maintains an air of superiority.



“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wile E. Coyote. Genius.”



Bugs tries to fit a word in. Mr. Genius won’t stop talking.



Bugs has a look of mocked shock when Wile E. informs him he is going to eat him.



Wile E. won’t stop talking about how great, nay superior, he is.



Mr. Genius still appears smug and self-confident after Bugs shuts the door on him. Now the fun is watching how Bugs takes him apart.



Mike Maltese has lots of inventive and off-beat things in these Bugs/Wile E. adventures. I like the collapsible door that, no doubt, Wile E. invented. Gad, he’s such a genius.



Your credited animators on this cartoon are Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Lloyd Vaughan and Phil Monroe.

6 comments:

  1. Bugs' pose at the end this one would show up in the 1990s being used on WB merchandising images.

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  2. There's a similar scene in COMpressed Hare (1961) that just kills me: With his back to the audience, Bugs' whiskers twitch as he reads Wile E.'s "Genius" labeled mailbox, and then slowly turns to us with a "Really?" facial expression. No dialogue necessary.

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  3. I much prefer THIS earlier era of Chuck Jones, who with Michael Maltese developed the coyote into those three roles, the Roadrunners, the Bugs team ups and then used "Wile E."a s Ralph Wolf..

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  4. Ben Washam animated this scene. I always loved the motion on Bugs closing the door.

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  5. Such scenes kill the misconception that Looney Tunes only featured mere catch phrases instead of clever dialogue. Most importantly, this scene emphasized the importance of good acting bringing this dialogue to life.

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  6. Wile E. Coyote in this short probably inspired Sideshow Bob (the Simpsons) and Discord (MLP:FIM).

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