A Star Is Bored
Encyclopedia
A Star Is Bored is a Warner Bros.
animated cartoon
of the Looney Tunes
series, directed by Friz Freleng
. The cartoon expands upon the rivalry depicted between Bugs and Daffy in such films as Chuck Jones
' Rabbit Fire
, this time placing the action in a show-biz setting. In this 7-minute short, Daffy must double for Bugs in any slapstick that Warners deems too dangerous for its top star.
), about his great film career, albeit rather modestly (“Who'd want to read about little old me?”). Outside of Bugs' room, lowly Warners studio janitor Daffy (“What a job for a duck with MY talents! Pushing a broom while others with absolutely nothing on the ball get all the breaks.") eavesdrops on Bugs' conversation and is disgusted ((Mockingly) "Anything my public demands! Anything my public demands!). "Listen to that ham [Bugs] putting it on," he snarls. "If a long eared rabbit can be a star, so can a duck!"
Daffy then marches into the casting director's (possibly Jack Warner
) office just as he is on the phone with another executive discussing the difficulty in finding anyone "stupid enough" to be Bugs' stunt double for his next picture. "Hang up," Daffy triumphantly tells the boss, who in a low voice tells his colleague on the phone, "I think I've found a pigeon." Daffy hears that comment and tells the boss that, "I'm a duck. D-U-K, duck. Loaded with talent." The boss grants Daffy the role without elaborating about its stunt double status.
After a visit to the Make-Up Department, Daffy gets his first taste of on-the-set film action shortly thereafter (a Western
co-starring Yosemite Sam
. See “Censorship” for details.) Bugs walks onto the set when the director says “Rrrroll 'em” in a German accent (possibly Friz Freleng
). Customary carrot in hand, Bugs says his catch phrase
, “Eh, what's up, Doc?” to which Sam growls, “All right, rabbit! Say your prayers! I'm a-gonna blast ya!” However, right at this moment, the director announces “Cut! Brrring in the double!” Initially, Daffy is extremely excited to be finally in any motion picture. He takes Bugs' place in a rabbit costume and holding a carrot, and stands next to Sam, whereupon they repeat the “What's up Doc?” / “I'm a-gonna blast ya!” exchange — only the director doesn't announce “Cut!” again. Instead, he lets Daffy continue the picture; he forgets his next line and has to look back at his script to see that it's “I dare you!” Sam shoots Daffy in the face; a large number of his feathers, as well as his beak, fall off. Daffy quickly hollers for “MAKE-UP!”
Next, Bugs is in a scene where Elmer Fudd
is cast in his usual role as trying to hunt Bugs. Bugs is high in a tree, and Elmer is supposed to climb it to saw the branch Bugs is sitting on, off (though not all the way through, as Bugs reminds him). However, Daffy has other ideas. He tells Elmer to come closer to him, as he has something to tell him. Lacking a clue to Daffy's actual motive, Elmer shuffles closer to Daffy, who whacks him in the head to knock him out. Daffy dresses up like Elmer and grabs his saw. When the director says, “Camera ... ACTION!” Bugs responds by telling "Elmer" , “Remember Elmer you are not supposed to cut all the way through.” However, with a maliciously insane laugh, not Elmer but Daffy climbs the tree and jeers, “You're gonna be a FALLING star,” and saws right through the limb. However, unbeknownst to the greedy duck, Bugs was safe all along; his limb was attached to a telephone pole, so the rest of the tree comes crashing down. The director says "Ok, Print it!" despite the complications.
After this sequence, Bugs is fishing off a pier. Daffy shows up and snaps “AHA! Tryin' to hog all the easy scenes for yourself, eh? I'LL handle this one.” Bugs protests, but Daffy takes no notice (“Scared I'll show up your acting ability, huh?”). He also takes Bugs' place at the end of the pier and his fishing rod. Yet he is not safe from the film script even now, as a giant bluefin tuna
swallows him whole. After a long struggle, Daffy frees himself and shouts “MAKE-UP!” again.
Another scene wherein Bugs is chased by Elmer follows this one, culminating when Bugs dives into another tree. With the "scwewy wabbit" cornered, Elmer aims his gun into the tree but gets poked in the rear by the gun's barrel (in reality, it's really Bugs holding another gun). When Elmer pulls his gun back, the other one makes the same movements. Wondering just how stupid Elmer is, Daffy furiously marches onto the set, snatches Elmer's gun and shoves him off. Daffy sticks the gun into the hole in the tree in which Bugs is hiding — but what he believes to be another gun (in reality it's HIS gun bent around so that it points at his hindquarters) sticks up through a hole in the ground just behind him! Daffy retracts his gun; the “other” gun does the same. Daffy does this two or three more times before he decides to try a small experiment. He ties a red ribbon around the barrel of his gun, then sticks it into the tree, and looks behind him. The ribbon on the gun in the ground is white with red polka dots, leading Daffy to believe it to be a fake. He shoots, intending to mark Bugs, but the bent-around gun plan is revealed when the bullet hits him in the hindquarters and he pulls the gun out of the tree. The ribbon is white with red spots! Daffy didn't see Bugs switch the ribbon. Daffy yells “MAKE-UP!”
The next scene has Bugs piloting a plane accelerating up to 20,000 feet, then going uncontrollably in the direction of the ground. Just as Daffy, dressed in his rabbit suit
, jokes about not looking at Bugs' demise, the director screams “CUT!” and the plane halts, seemingly a few feet from crashing into the ground. The director calls for "the double" one more time. Daffy ("D-d-double?") is helicoptered onto the scene, where he and Bugs switch places. After the director yells “Rrrroll 'em,” the plane resumes its super-high-speed course into the ground. Predictably, it's wrecked, and Daffy again yells “MAKE-UP!” for the fourth time.
Having finally had more than enough, Daffy announces that “I'm through playin' stooge to a rabbit. I wanted to star in my own picture!” to the casting director, who promptly tells the distraught coal-coloured waterfowl that he has just such a script: the starring role in a new movie called The Duck.
The final scene shows the filming of The Duck, with Daffy starring as a typical duck in a peaceful pond and directed by the same man who helmed the earlier movie wherein Daffy subbed for Bugs. Just as in the first scene of the earlier film, Daffy digs out his script to rehearse his line. When the director announces "Rrrroll 'em," Daffy says, "I wonder where all the hunters are today?”, at which point ten hunters suddenly surround the pond, gun Daffy down and leave. Again infuriated, Daffy shrieks, “I DEMAND TO KNOW WHO WROTE THIS SCRIPT!” The cruel screenwriter turns out to be none other than... Bugs, to whom the camera is now transferred and who says
, “I'd love to tell him, but... hehehehe... modesty forbids.” Iris
out.
box set Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5
, as well as the similar, two-disc DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
animated cartoon
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...
of 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, 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....
. The cartoon expands upon the rivalry depicted between Bugs and Daffy in such films as Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
' Rabbit Fire
Rabbit Fire
Rabbit Fire is a 1951 Looney Tunes cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, The short is notable for being the first film in Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two films being Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!. It is also...
, this time placing the action in a show-biz setting. In this 7-minute short, Daffy must double for Bugs in any slapstick that Warners deems too dangerous for its top star.
Plot
The opening frame depicts the exterior of Bugs' dressing room, inside which he is talking to the journalist, Lolly (a reference to the nickname of famed Hollywood columnist Louella ParsonsLouella Parsons
Louella Parsons was the first American news-writer movie columnist in the United States. She was a gossip columnist who, for many years, was an influential arbiter of Hollywood mores, often feared and hated by the individuals, mostly actors, whose careers she could negatively impact via her...
), about his great film career, albeit rather modestly (“Who'd want to read about little old me?”). Outside of Bugs' room, lowly Warners studio janitor Daffy (“What a job for a duck with MY talents! Pushing a broom while others with absolutely nothing on the ball get all the breaks.") eavesdrops on Bugs' conversation and is disgusted ((Mockingly) "Anything my public demands! Anything my public demands!). "Listen to that ham [Bugs] putting it on," he snarls. "If a long eared rabbit can be a star, so can a duck!"
Daffy then marches into the casting director's (possibly Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
) office just as he is on the phone with another executive discussing the difficulty in finding anyone "stupid enough" to be Bugs' stunt double for his next picture. "Hang up," Daffy triumphantly tells the boss, who in a low voice tells his colleague on the phone, "I think I've found a pigeon." Daffy hears that comment and tells the boss that, "I'm a duck. D-U-K, duck. Loaded with talent." The boss grants Daffy the role without elaborating about its stunt double status.
After a visit to the Make-Up Department, Daffy gets his first taste of on-the-set film action shortly thereafter (a Western
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
co-starring 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...
. See “Censorship” for details.) Bugs walks onto the set when the director says “Rrrroll 'em” in a German accent (possibly 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....
). Customary carrot in hand, Bugs says his catch phrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
, “Eh, what's up, Doc?” to which Sam growls, “All right, rabbit! Say your prayers! I'm a-gonna blast ya!” However, right at this moment, the director announces “Cut! Brrring in the double!” Initially, Daffy is extremely excited to be finally in any motion picture. He takes Bugs' place in a rabbit costume and holding a carrot, and stands next to Sam, whereupon they repeat the “What's up Doc?” / “I'm a-gonna blast ya!” exchange — only the director doesn't announce “Cut!” again. Instead, he lets Daffy continue the picture; he forgets his next line and has to look back at his script to see that it's “I dare you!” Sam shoots Daffy in the face; a large number of his feathers, as well as his beak, fall off. Daffy quickly hollers for “MAKE-UP!”
Next, Bugs is in a scene where Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...
is cast in his usual role as trying to hunt Bugs. Bugs is high in a tree, and Elmer is supposed to climb it to saw the branch Bugs is sitting on, off (though not all the way through, as Bugs reminds him). However, Daffy has other ideas. He tells Elmer to come closer to him, as he has something to tell him. Lacking a clue to Daffy's actual motive, Elmer shuffles closer to Daffy, who whacks him in the head to knock him out. Daffy dresses up like Elmer and grabs his saw. When the director says, “Camera ... ACTION!” Bugs responds by telling "Elmer" , “Remember Elmer you are not supposed to cut all the way through.” However, with a maliciously insane laugh, not Elmer but Daffy climbs the tree and jeers, “You're gonna be a FALLING star,” and saws right through the limb. However, unbeknownst to the greedy duck, Bugs was safe all along; his limb was attached to a telephone pole, so the rest of the tree comes crashing down. The director says "Ok, Print it!" despite the complications.
After this sequence, Bugs is fishing off a pier. Daffy shows up and snaps “AHA! Tryin' to hog all the easy scenes for yourself, eh? I'LL handle this one.” Bugs protests, but Daffy takes no notice (“Scared I'll show up your acting ability, huh?”). He also takes Bugs' place at the end of the pier and his fishing rod. Yet he is not safe from the film script even now, as a giant bluefin tuna
Northern bluefin tuna
The Northern bluefin tuna is a species of tuna in the Scombridae family. It is variously known as the Atlantic bluefin tuna, giant bluefin tuna and formerly as the tunny. Atlantic bluefin are native to both the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Mediterranean Sea...
swallows him whole. After a long struggle, Daffy frees himself and shouts “MAKE-UP!” again.
Another scene wherein Bugs is chased by Elmer follows this one, culminating when Bugs dives into another tree. With the "scwewy wabbit" cornered, Elmer aims his gun into the tree but gets poked in the rear by the gun's barrel (in reality, it's really Bugs holding another gun). When Elmer pulls his gun back, the other one makes the same movements. Wondering just how stupid Elmer is, Daffy furiously marches onto the set, snatches Elmer's gun and shoves him off. Daffy sticks the gun into the hole in the tree in which Bugs is hiding — but what he believes to be another gun (in reality it's HIS gun bent around so that it points at his hindquarters) sticks up through a hole in the ground just behind him! Daffy retracts his gun; the “other” gun does the same. Daffy does this two or three more times before he decides to try a small experiment. He ties a red ribbon around the barrel of his gun, then sticks it into the tree, and looks behind him. The ribbon on the gun in the ground is white with red polka dots, leading Daffy to believe it to be a fake. He shoots, intending to mark Bugs, but the bent-around gun plan is revealed when the bullet hits him in the hindquarters and he pulls the gun out of the tree. The ribbon is white with red spots! Daffy didn't see Bugs switch the ribbon. Daffy yells “MAKE-UP!”
The next scene has Bugs piloting a plane accelerating up to 20,000 feet, then going uncontrollably in the direction of the ground. Just as Daffy, dressed in his rabbit suit
Suit (clothing)
In clothing, a suit is a set of garments made from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, originating in the United Kingdom as country wear...
, jokes about not looking at Bugs' demise, the director screams “CUT!” and the plane halts, seemingly a few feet from crashing into the ground. The director calls for "the double" one more time. Daffy ("D-d-double?") is helicoptered onto the scene, where he and Bugs switch places. After the director yells “Rrrroll 'em,” the plane resumes its super-high-speed course into the ground. Predictably, it's wrecked, and Daffy again yells “MAKE-UP!” for the fourth time.
Having finally had more than enough, Daffy announces that “I'm through playin' stooge to a rabbit. I wanted to star in my own picture!” to the casting director, who promptly tells the distraught coal-coloured waterfowl that he has just such a script: the starring role in a new movie called The Duck.
The final scene shows the filming of The Duck, with Daffy starring as a typical duck in a peaceful pond and directed by the same man who helmed the earlier movie wherein Daffy subbed for Bugs. Just as in the first scene of the earlier film, Daffy digs out his script to rehearse his line. When the director announces "Rrrroll 'em," Daffy says, "I wonder where all the hunters are today?”, at which point ten hunters suddenly surround the pond, gun Daffy down and leave. Again infuriated, Daffy shrieks, “I DEMAND TO KNOW WHO WROTE THIS SCRIPT!” The cruel screenwriter turns out to be none other than... Bugs, to whom the camera is now transferred and who says
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, “I'd love to tell him, but... hehehehe... modesty forbids.” Iris
Diaphragm (optics)
In optics, a diaphragm is a thin opaque structure with an opening at its center. The role of the diaphragm is to stop the passage of light, except for the light passing through the aperture...
out.
Censorship and rearrangement
- On the syndicated run of "The Merrie Melodies Show", all scenes of Daffy getting shot were replaced with still shots of Bugs Bunny looking offscreen.
- The WB version not only edited the cartoon to completely remove the two times that Daffy is the victim of gunshots (Daffy getting shot while replacing Bugs in a scene with Yosemite Sam and the end where Daffy [in his own movie] gets shot by a group of hunters after delivering his line, "I wonder where all the hunters are today"), but rearranged the parts where Daffy is working as Bugs' stunt double. The sequences of the uncut version went as follows:
- Daffy stepping in for Bugs during his scene with Yosemite Sam.
- Daffy, disguised as Elmer Fudd, attempts to saw through Bugs' tree branch, only to fall with the main part of the tree while the branch stays suspended in mid-air from a prop.
- Daffy, sick of doing all the hard jobs while Bugs gets the soft jobs, replaces Bugs in his fishing sequence, only to be swallowed by a large fish.
- Bugs doing a forest chase scene with Elmer Fudd and Daffy trying to shoot Bugs through a tree hole only to have the barrel come out of a rabbit hole.
- Daffy substituting for Bugs during his airplane-flying scene
- The edited version on the WB showed the cartoon this way: the third scene aired first, followed by the second scene, and then the last two scenes, with the scene with Yosemite Sam cut.
Cast
- Mel BlancMel BlancMelvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
as Bugs BunnyBugs BunnyBugs 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...
, Daffy DuckDaffy DuckDaffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
, Yosemite SamYosemite SamYosemite 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...
, ProducerFilm producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
(voice) - Arthur Q. BryanArthur Q. BryanArthur Quirk Bryan was a United States comedian and voice actor, remembered best for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr...
as Elmer Fudd (voice) - June ForayJune ForayJune Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...
as Lolly (voice) (uncredited)
Availability
As of 2007, A Star Is Bored is available on the four-disc DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
box set Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5
Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5 is a Looney Tunes collection on DVD. Following the pattern of one release each year of the previous volumes, it was released on October 30, 2007....
, as well as the similar, two-disc DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5.