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Bugs & Daffy: Wartime Cartoons 
Actors : Mel Blanc, Billy Bletcher, Bea Benaderet, Robert C. Bruce, Richard Bickenbach
Director : Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, Friz Freleng, Robert Clampett
Studio : MGM (Video & DVD)
by MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date : 1998-09-01
Publisher : MGM (Video & DVD)
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9786301967303
UPC : 027616149435
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 6 reviews)
List Price : $19.98
Our Price : $159.99
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TRUE WARNER BROTHERS CLASSICS |
Disney notwithstanding, in my humble opinion the greatest animated shorts came out of Warner Brothers in the late 30's to mid 1940's. This collection of 11 toons hosted by big toon head fan and movie critic, Leonard maltin, features Warner's unabashedly pro-american and ethno-centric cartoons of WWII. Rarely, If Ever, do these pop up on TV anymore due to their stereotypes of Japanese and Germans.
That said these are some hilarious cartoons, brought to you by the holy trinity of Warner Bros. directors Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, and Chuck Jones. Here are the highlights of the 11 toons:
"Herr meets Hare" Hermann Goering heads to the Black Forest for rest and relaxation; because of a wrong turn in Albuquerque, so does Bugs, who encounters "Fatso" while trying to get to Las Vegas. Bugs taunts the Nazi, who captures him and takes him to Adolf Hitler, but Bugs gets the last laugh -- disguised as Stalin. A Classic!
"Draftee Daffy" - Daffy is fully behind the war effort until he is drafted. The man from the draft board attempts to deliver his notice as Daffy frantically avoids him, even by hiding in Hell. Unfortunately for Daffy, the Devil is the man from the draft board in disguise.
"DAffy the Commando" - Daffy is a commando who parachutes down into the German trenches to raise hell. Daffy bedevils the German commander, Von Vulture, and his sidekick, little helmet-with-two-feet Schultz, providing plenty of opportunities for anti-Nazi jokes along the way. Von Vulture blows Daffy's plane to bits with a machine gun, and the commando is forced to flee on foot. He hides in a dark tunnel, which turns out to be the barrel of a long-range cannon. Daffy is shot out of it and lands in Berlin, where Adolf Hitler is shrilly haranguing a crowd. Daffy has the honor of clobbering the Fuhrer himself with a mallet. Simply fantastic!!!
"Plane Daffy" - One after another of a company of carrier pigeons falls prey to the seductive wiles of "Queen of the Spies" Hatta Mari. The alarm is raised at pigeon headquarters when Pigeon 13 goes AWOL with the female Nazi spy bird, to whom he reveals all his secrets. Self-described woman-hater Daffy volunteers for the next mission, but has to swallow his secret message when the temptress corners him as well. After a frenetic battle at slinky Mari's pad, she X-rays the duck and broadcasts the secret ("Hitler is a stinker") to Hitler, plus Goebbels and Goering- who have to shoot themselves through the head after agreeing with it.
While a couple of these WWII era toons do show up on Warners recent Golden collection DVD boxed sets, the best ones, those that deal directly with WWII and with Hitler and the other Axis powers, do not. what a shame. It would really be nice for Warners to release this set on DVD.
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Amusing way of examining how we saw World War II |
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This tape offers a selection of 11 of the many cartoons that Warner Studios churned out during the Second World War. For me, watching them was a trip down memory lane; though I wasn't alive back then, I remember watching many of these on the local children's television show as I was growing up. Even after all these years, these cartoons still have the ability to make me laugh. Yet such a collection raises the usual questions about what was included and was left out. Some of the cartoons -- most notably "Draftee Daffy" and "Falling Hare" -- are virtually timeless and often appear on television today, while others -- such as "The Weakly Reporter" and "Russian Rhapsody" -- are interesting from a historical standpoint ("Fifth Column Mouse" was especially fascinating as a none-too-subtle fable about the failure of appeasement). But with a couple of them, their inclusion in a collection of World War II cartoons seemed a stretch. "Super Rabbit" had only a end-scene plug for enlisting in the military, while the link between "Little Red Riding Rabbit" and the war was even more tenuous -- a note seen for five seconds early in the cartoon. What makes this an issue is what cartoons were excluded. Most immediately apparent was the exclusive focus on the war against Germany; none of the infamously racist anti-Japanese cartoons -- such as "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" and "Tokio Jokio" -- appear in the collection. While undeniably offensive by today's standards, excluding them has the effect of distorting history; such racist portrayals were typical of how the Japanese were depicted throughout the conflict, and including them could have served as an important reminder of how we viewed our enemy during the war. Almost as glaring is the absence of the "Private Snafu" cartoons that Chuck Jones did with Theodore Geisel (the future Dr. Seuss), though they are now available seperately on DVD. These exclusions mar what is otherwise a uniquely enjoyable way of looking at how we depicted the Second World War. |
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Educational |
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With this collection, you not only learn WWII facts, you also learn about the mood or feelings of the people at the time. Great for students studying WWII in history class. |
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Excellent WWII Video |
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This is a very rare cartoon collection, featuring 11 great cartoons from the second World War, hosted by Leonard Maltin. It contains: THE WEAKLY REPORTER D: Chuck Jones. Jones spoofs WWII themes with some very poor gags. Rating: C+ DRAFTEE DAFFY D: Bob Clampett. Daffy Duck tries to escape the "Little Man from the Draft Board" with some zany takes. Rating: A- SUPER RABBIT D: Chuck Jones. Patriotic Bugs Bunny is turned into "Super Rabbit" and fights Cotton Tail Smith, a rabbit hater. Rating: B+ FIFTH COLUMN MOUSE D: Friz Freleng. Patriotic mice fight back at a cat after they are forced to be his slave. Rating: A FALLING HARE D: Bob Clampett. Bugs meets his match when he matches wits with a gremlin on a runnaway airplane. Rating: B+ DAFFY THE COMMANDO D: Friz Freleng. Daffy Duck is chased by Von Vulture, and has a surprise ending with Daffy malleting Der Feuhrer! Rating: A+ SWOONER CROONER D: Frank Tashlin. Porky Pig's hens who lay eggs for victory, are swooned by a Frank Sinatra rooster, but fights back with a Bing Crosby rooster. Rating: A LITTLE RED RIDING RABBIT D: Friz Freleng. A bobby-soxer Red Riding Hood brings the wolf (posing as Grandma, who is at Lockheed) Bugs Bunny, "Ta Have!". Rating: A+ PLANE DAFFY D: Frank Tashlin. Daffy Duck tries to deliver a secret document, but is chased by Hatta Marri, a female enemy spy. Rating: A+ HERR MEETS HARE D: Friz Freleng. Bugs winds up in the German Black Forest, where he tackles Herman Georing. Rating: A+ RUSSIAN RHAPSODY D: Bob Clampett. Hitler tries to bomb Moscow in person, but his plane is hijacked by little gremlins that look like the people who worked at the studio. Rating: A+ |
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Bugs and Daffy Axes the Axis! |
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While not a definitive collection(hence only four stars), this collection is a great look at how the Warner Bros. cartoons kept up the spirits of the those on the homefront, and allowed us to laugh at those who threatened us(Hitler, etc.). Russian Rhapsody is a great capper to the collection. |
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