Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
Encyclopedia
Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers is a Bugs Bunny
short cartoon directed by Greg Ford
and Terry Lennon and released in 1992. The cartoon was intended for a release in theaters, but was left out of production and was instead later seen on TV on Nickelodeon
, and later, Cartoon Network
.
by Bugs explaining that strange carrots have traveled from outer space to Earth. In the first scene, Bugs wakes up in his rabbit hole and remarks that he is late for work. His "work" consists of performing routines with Elmer Fudd
, Yosemite Sam
, and Daffy Duck
. During the routines, there is a strange pile of glowing carrots in the background, but Bugs ignores them.
The next day, Bugs wakes up and returns to work, but Elmer, Yosemite Sam, and Daffy Duck appear as poorly-drawn versions of themselves with strangely friendly attitudes. In each of Bugs' routines, they offer him a carrot. After two offers, Bugs accepts the carrot from Daffy but decides to eat it later. Back home, as Bugs Bunny tries to figure out why Elmer, Sam, and Daffy appear so different, the carrot produces a poorly drawn version of Bugs. The imposter attempts to kill the real Bugs with an axe and Bugs runs off screaming (pausing briefly to add, "You know something, folks? This is the scariest part of the picture").
The typical "That's All Folks!" scene plays, but Bugs interrupts, claiming he must get to the bottom of the mystery. He finds tags on Elmer, Sam, and Daffy indicating that the imposters were made on the planet "Nudnik", and realizes he must get rid of them to get the original characters back. He collects the now malfunctioning "pale stereotypes" into a sack and fires them into space, and they get sucked into a black hole
which swallows the impostors. Bugs wakes up to find all of his enemies are back to normal.
After the credits, an impostor Porky Pig
pops out of the Looney Tunes drum. Trying to utter the line "That's All, Folks!" Bugs throws out the imposter and drags in the real Porky Pig, placing him inside the drum. Porky chuckles and then says his line.
2 Disc Special Edition DVD
as a special feature. In the Space Jam DVD, the cartoon is edited, as Yosemite Sam originally appeared in the cartoon. He was taken out by Warner Bros.
due to "time allotment". Sam can still be heard in the edited version when all of the Looney Tune "pods" are about to be launched into space. The uncut version is found on disc 2 of The Essential Bugs Bunny DVD set.
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...
short cartoon directed by Greg Ford
Greg Ford
Greg Ford is an animator, director, historian and consultant to Warner Bros. Animation. He is perhaps best known for directing the films Daffy Duck's Quackbusters and Bunny .-Biography:...
and Terry Lennon and released in 1992. The cartoon was intended for a release in theaters, but was left out of production and was instead later seen on TV on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
, and later, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
.
Plot
In a parody of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the short opens with a voice-overVoice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
by Bugs explaining that strange carrots have traveled from outer space to Earth. In the first scene, Bugs wakes up in his rabbit hole and remarks that he is late for work. His "work" consists of performing routines with 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...
, 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...
, and Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy 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...
. During the routines, there is a strange pile of glowing carrots in the background, but Bugs ignores them.
The next day, Bugs wakes up and returns to work, but Elmer, Yosemite Sam, and Daffy Duck appear as poorly-drawn versions of themselves with strangely friendly attitudes. In each of Bugs' routines, they offer him a carrot. After two offers, Bugs accepts the carrot from Daffy but decides to eat it later. Back home, as Bugs Bunny tries to figure out why Elmer, Sam, and Daffy appear so different, the carrot produces a poorly drawn version of Bugs. The imposter attempts to kill the real Bugs with an axe and Bugs runs off screaming (pausing briefly to add, "You know something, folks? This is the scariest part of the picture").
The typical "That's All Folks!" scene plays, but Bugs interrupts, claiming he must get to the bottom of the mystery. He finds tags on Elmer, Sam, and Daffy indicating that the imposters were made on the planet "Nudnik", and realizes he must get rid of them to get the original characters back. He collects the now malfunctioning "pale stereotypes" into a sack and fires them into space, and they get sucked into a black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
which swallows the impostors. Bugs wakes up to find all of his enemies are back to normal.
After the credits, an impostor Porky Pig
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
pops out of the Looney Tunes drum. Trying to utter the line "That's All, Folks!" Bugs throws out the imposter and drags in the real Porky Pig, placing him inside the drum. Porky chuckles and then says his line.
Trivia
- This cartoon features many parodies of animated TV series of the 50's and 60's including Hanna-BarberaHanna-BarberaHanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
and Clutch CargoClutch CargoClutch Cargo is an animated television series produced by Cambria Productions and syndicated beginning on March 9, 1959. Notable for its very limited animation, yet imaginative stories, the series was a surprise hit at the time, and could be seen on 65 stations nationwide in 1960.- Plot :The...
. - The planet Nudnik is named after the Gene DeitchGene DeitchEugene Merril "Gene" Deitch is an American illustrator, animator and film director. He has been based in Prague, capital of Czechoslovakia and the present-day Czech Republic, since 1959. Since 1968, Deitch has been the leading animation director for the Connecticut organization Weston...
character of the same nameNudnik (cartoon)Nudnik was a Czechoslovak/Czech animated film series directed by Gene Deitch, produced by William Lawrence Snyder, and distributed by Paramount Studios. The shorts were released during 1965 and 1967 with 12 shorts...
. - The music in this cartoon uses scores from various Looney Tunes cartoons composed by Carl StallingCarl StallingCarl W. Stalling was an American composer and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years.-Biography:Stalling was born to Ernest and...
and Milt FranklynMilt FranklynMilton J. Franklyn was a musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes animated cartoons....
. - Originally part of a compilation special produced for television, this short never received an official theatrical release.
Availability
The cartoon appears in the Space JamSpace Jam
Aside from Jordan, a number of NBA players and coaches appeared in the film. Larry Bird portrays a friend of Jordan who joins him for a game of golf. When the Monstars steal the NBA players' talent, they invade a game between the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks, causing the Knicks' Patrick...
2 Disc Special Edition DVD
DVD
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....
as a special feature. In the Space Jam DVD, the cartoon is edited, as Yosemite Sam originally appeared in the cartoon. He was taken out by Warner Bros.
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,...
due to "time allotment". Sam can still be heard in the edited version when all of the Looney Tune "pods" are about to be launched into space. The uncut version is found on disc 2 of The Essential Bugs Bunny DVD set.
External Links
- Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...