Jump to content

Southern Fried Rabbit

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Southern Fried Rabbit
Directed byI. Freleng
Story byWarren Foster
Produced byEdward Selzer
StarringMel Blanc
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Animation byKen Champin
Arthur Davis
Manuel Perez
Virgil Ross
Layouts byHawley Pratt
Backgrounds byIrv Wyner
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • May 2, 1953 (1953-05-02) (U.S.)
Running time
6:45
LanguageEnglish

Southern Fried Rabbit is a 1953 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.[1] The cartoon was released on May 2, 1953, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.[2]

Plot

[edit]

A severe drought has ruined the carrot crop in Bugs Bunny's northern home. Upon learning of a boom crop in Alabama, Bugs decides to make the trip to the south. After a lot of walking, he finds himself at the Mason–Dixon line; but as soon as he crosses, he is shot at by "Colonel" Sam, who chases Bugs back over the line. Upon Bugs asking him, Sam claims that he is a Confederate soldier and has received orders from General Lee to guard the borders between the Confederate States and the Union. Bugs points out that the American Civil War ended almost 90 years ago (the cartoon itself was animated in 1953), but Sam refuses to accept this, shoots at Bugs and forces him to run away, prompting the rabbit to use trickery to cross the border.

First, Bugs disguises himself as a banjo-playing slave, singing "My Old Kentucky Home". When Sam asks for a "peppier" tune, Bugs sings "Yankee Doodle", leading Sam to call Bugs a traitor. Bugs forces a whip into Sam's hands, begs Sam not to beat him, and runs off. Bugs immediately returns disguised as Abraham Lincoln, scolds Sam for "whipping slaves", and hands him a card to "look [him] up at [his] Gettysburg Address".

However, Bugs' cover is blown when Sam sees his tail sticking out of Abe's trenchcoat. Infuriated, he chases Bugs into a tree. When he tries to light a bomb, Bugs repeatedly blows out his match, so Sam goes even further away. But with more ground to cover, the fuse runs out as Sam runs back, and the bomb detonates in his hands.

Bugs then disguises himself as General Brickwall Jackson and fools Sam into marching into a well. Afterwards, Bugs flees from Sam into a mansion, where he disguises himself as Scarlett O'Hara; and when Sam attempts to search the mansion, he takes a cannon blast while looking inside a closet and is dissuaded from searching any further.

Finally, disguised as an injured Confederate soldier, Bugs succeeds in tricking Sam by informing him that the Yankees are in Chattanooga. Sam heads to Chattanooga, and the finale has him threatening the New York Yankees, preventing them from competing in an exhibition baseball game against the Chattanooga Lookouts.

Publication notes

[edit]

Due to later controversies about the portrayal of ethnic stereotypes in cartoons, the scene where Bugs crosses the border disguised as a slave and Abraham Lincoln was cut from the episode's television broadcastings.[3]

Home media

[edit]

Southern Fried Rabbit was made available on a VHS tape, and its restored, uncut version on DVD in Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4.[3]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 248. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60-62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Jason Bailey: "White Actors’ Most Egregious Portrayals of People of Color". Flavorwire, July 3, 2013 (retrieved June 1, 2021).
[edit]
Preceded by Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1953 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Fried_Rabbit&oldid=1245471335"