Suddenly it jumps from the imitation-Bert Gordon-as-the-Mad Russian dog sniffing on the ground to snorting away next to Bugs Bunny in mid-chew.
You can tell by the trumpet in Carl Stalling’s score that something was taken out because it leaps head by a couple of bars.
Well, the answer was provided to me by Thad Komorowski moments after this was posted. Clampett was never accused of being demure and tasteful. He’s got a gag where the dog sniffs Bugs’ underarm, turns to the camera, and lets’ out with the Lifebuoy radio slogan “Beee…O!” There’s a stretch in-between. The portion cut is the dog spending more time examining the effluviant area.
Bob McKimson gets the sole animation credit. Rod Scribner and Manny Gould would have been in the unit at the time.
Sorry, I made a comment expressing some skepticism about the explanation before bothering to check the "director's cut" included in Golden Collection Vol. 5, which has the opening sequence intact. It turns out that the sniffing sequence goes on for a full 15 seconds there and even has the dog stick his snout a bit too close for comfort to Bugs's crotch a couple of times, which I guess must have been a bit too much for the censors.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find the director's cut on YouTube, but someone has a made a compilation of the differences between it and the released version and posted it there.
They also took out one extra round of 'tag' between the dog and mermaid Bugs in the final cut, but that edit's less noticeable because Stalling's using the same music throughout the sequence (the other edits seem to be to either not offend the decorum of the Hays Office or not to scare the tykes in the audience into thinking that their hero has just had his lower extremities bitten off and masticated or that he's just blown the brains out of his adversary. The 'tag scene' edit seems just to have been done either for time issues, or to cut a few $$$ off the Technicolor processing costs to make up for the extra animation work McKimson had to do at the finish).
ReplyDeleteA comic named Sammy WOlf did the dog's "Mad RUssian" inspired voice (sources: both Clampett himself through Mike Barrier, "Funnyworld MagazineMagazine", and Grham webb, "The Animatd Film Encyclopedia, but I don't know how reliab;le those sources are.. Steve C]
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