14 Carrot Rabbit
Encyclopedia
14 Carrot Rabbit is a 1951 animated cartoon
short in the Looney Tunes
series featuring Bugs Bunny
and Yosemite Sam
, directed by Friz Freleng
and first released March 15, 1952. The title is a play on "14 karat
", as in a purity level for gold
.
in America, and centers on Yosemite Sam
(here as Chilkoot Sam) whose attempts are to steal other people's gold. The story begins with an old man named Louie slouching over by a river to clean the gold he found in a pan. Sam suddenly appears, uses his gun and reputation to scare him away, and claims the gold. When he sees how little he has stolen from old Louie, he says "Picking's mighty slim around here, hardly no reward for a day's work," even though he did not work for it. Sam later takes the gold to a shop called "Next to Last Chance Saloon" to trade them for money. After the weigh-up, Sam is furious to find out that Pierre can offer only $10 for the gold.
While Sam complains about the result, Bugs Bunny
wobbles into the shop with a gigantic piece of gold to trade for a couple roots of carrots. When Bugs leaves, Sam asks Pierre the origin of Bugs' finding, and he tells him that Bugs finds gold because he gets a funny feeling when he's near gold.
With this information, Sam goes to find Bugs. He sees Bugs get the funny feeling, and Bugs digs up the ground, only to find it is a lost collar button. Sam then decides to ask Bugs to be his partner; if Bugs can locate the gold, Sam will dig it up and split it with the rabbit in a 50/50 deal. Bugs stares back at the camera and wiggles his eyebrows with a smirk, knowing that Sam cannot be trusted and he will have to play some tricks on him. Choosing to play along, he asks if he really can afford to take Sam up on his offer, and Sam pretends he never had been "Chilkoot Sam" and styles himself "Square-deal Sam" instead. They stroll along together when Bugs indicates he's found gold. Bugs points out the spot and Sam starts digging for gold and rejects the partnership with Bugs. Bugs, realizing he's been double-crossed, spots a cliff and when he tries to tell Sam where he's digging, Sam just orders him to shut up and digs right through, to land in a lake below.
Soon afterwards, Bugs goes downhill, and when Sam shows up, Bugs starts digging, making Sam think Bugs is trying to get the gold for himself, so he grabs the tools and starts to dig deeper and deeper, but it turns out he is in a dump truck full of rock and soil. The truck driver is Bugs, who drives the truck to a cliff and empties the truck over the edge. But Sam keeps digging and finds himself on the bottom of the soil pile and imagines that he has dug through the globe and falls into hard ground.
An angry Sam vows to chase Bugs through every state in the Union
. When he finally caught up with Bugs, he has another "funny" moment. Sam tries to resist the gold-digging infatuation but, ends up caving in and starts to dig. This time Bugs was right and he finds tons of gold, but finds out that he is digging at the United States Gold Reserve in Fort Knox
, Kentucky
. He ends up getting taken away by US MP soldiers and charged with a felony. Another MP finds Bugs and asks him what he is doing there; Bugs nervously replies, "Who, me? I’m waiting for a street car." But instead of a car, a ship glides in front of Bugs and he gets on and escapes getting arrested.
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
short in the Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
series featuring 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...
and Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...
, directed by Friz Freleng
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
and first released March 15, 1952. The title is a play on "14 karat
Carat (purity)
The karat or carat is a unit of purity for gold alloys.- Measure :Karat purity is measured as 24 times the purity by mass:where...
", as in a purity level for gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
.
Plot
The basic plot of 14 Carrot Rabbit takes place during the gold rushGold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
in America, and centers on Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...
(here as Chilkoot Sam) whose attempts are to steal other people's gold. The story begins with an old man named Louie slouching over by a river to clean the gold he found in a pan. Sam suddenly appears, uses his gun and reputation to scare him away, and claims the gold. When he sees how little he has stolen from old Louie, he says "Picking's mighty slim around here, hardly no reward for a day's work," even though he did not work for it. Sam later takes the gold to a shop called "Next to Last Chance Saloon" to trade them for money. After the weigh-up, Sam is furious to find out that Pierre can offer only $10 for the gold.
While Sam complains about the result, 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...
wobbles into the shop with a gigantic piece of gold to trade for a couple roots of carrots. When Bugs leaves, Sam asks Pierre the origin of Bugs' finding, and he tells him that Bugs finds gold because he gets a funny feeling when he's near gold.
With this information, Sam goes to find Bugs. He sees Bugs get the funny feeling, and Bugs digs up the ground, only to find it is a lost collar button. Sam then decides to ask Bugs to be his partner; if Bugs can locate the gold, Sam will dig it up and split it with the rabbit in a 50/50 deal. Bugs stares back at the camera and wiggles his eyebrows with a smirk, knowing that Sam cannot be trusted and he will have to play some tricks on him. Choosing to play along, he asks if he really can afford to take Sam up on his offer, and Sam pretends he never had been "Chilkoot Sam" and styles himself "Square-deal Sam" instead. They stroll along together when Bugs indicates he's found gold. Bugs points out the spot and Sam starts digging for gold and rejects the partnership with Bugs. Bugs, realizing he's been double-crossed, spots a cliff and when he tries to tell Sam where he's digging, Sam just orders him to shut up and digs right through, to land in a lake below.
Soon afterwards, Bugs goes downhill, and when Sam shows up, Bugs starts digging, making Sam think Bugs is trying to get the gold for himself, so he grabs the tools and starts to dig deeper and deeper, but it turns out he is in a dump truck full of rock and soil. The truck driver is Bugs, who drives the truck to a cliff and empties the truck over the edge. But Sam keeps digging and finds himself on the bottom of the soil pile and imagines that he has dug through the globe and falls into hard ground.
An angry Sam vows to chase Bugs through every state in the Union
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. When he finally caught up with Bugs, he has another "funny" moment. Sam tries to resist the gold-digging infatuation but, ends up caving in and starts to dig. This time Bugs was right and he finds tons of gold, but finds out that he is digging at the United States Gold Reserve in Fort Knox
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. He ends up getting taken away by US MP soldiers and charged with a felony. Another MP finds Bugs and asks him what he is doing there; Bugs nervously replies, "Who, me? I’m waiting for a street car." But instead of a car, a ship glides in front of Bugs and he gets on and escapes getting arrested.
Censorship
- When this cartoon aired on ABC, the part where Bugs (in a runner's uniform) challenges Yosemite Sam to a race was cut to remove the part where Sam shoots Bugs in his rear end to make him go.
- The CBS version cut the part at the beginning in which Sam shoots at an elderly prospector.