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Backwoods Bunny is a 1959 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.

Plot[]

Bugs is traveling underground, and he runs into a tree. When he pokes his head out of the dirt, he wonders where he is, and looks over at a sign that says, "Y'all's in the Ozarks". As he decides to stay where he is and clean out his hole, the scene turns to a small cottage placed atop a tall bare tree occupied by a father buzzard named Pappy and his son Elvis.

Pappy and his son are dirt poor, flies are buzzing around him and the shack they're living in is apparently run-down. Pappy smells something unusual and calls for Elvis to bring his "long distance seein' glasses". He says, "My nose is twichin' like there's eatin' vittles a'movin' around down thar." As Elvis brings the binoculars, Pappy tells him to look through them, and as Elvis goes out onto the porch and looks around, he spots Bugs cleaning out his hole. Elvis plans to catch Bugs by luring him with a carrot. Bugs spots Elvis and says, "Uh oh, looks like I got company". Elvis places the carrot by the entrance to his hole, and Bugs says, "Well, here we go with the carrot bit."

Bugs puts his hand out to feel the carrot long enough to lure Elvis to the hole entrance, and Elvis tries to catch him but misses. We see Bug's arm come out of the hole again and Elvis grabs it and takes off toward the tree. We now see that the 'arm' is a long hose (ironically in the same colour as Bugs's fur, with a white glove on the end of it). Bugs attaches the other end of the hose to a water tap and turns on the water. The force of the water exiting the hose is strong enough to knock Elvis off of his feet and knocks him back and forth between two trees. Bugs turns off the water and Elvis falls to the ground. Bugs walks over chewing a carrot, and asks Elvis, "What are you gonna do with that snake, Doc?". Elvis panics and yells, "Snake?? Get 'im off me boy! Get 'im offa me! Here, y'all hold on to 'im and I'll fetch my shootin' iron and help you kill it," and flies off toward the cottage. Bugs says, "Hmph. He may be a buzzard to his pappy, but to me he's a foist class pigeon."

Elvis re-appears, shootin' iron in hand looking for the snake, and Bugs says there aren't any snakes around. "Now, if you're hunting snakes --". Elvis interrupts and remembers that he's hunting a rabbit and realizes that Bugs is that very rabbit he's been hunting, and points the gun right at Bug's nose. "I'm goin' fix you good, that's what I'm gonna do!" he threatens. Bugs takes the end of the rifle barrel and moves it onto the top of his head. As Elvis shoots, the barrel is aiming too high and misses Bugs entirely. Bugs tells Elvis, "Ooops, you missed me Doc, I better get a little closer." Bugs inches closer and Elvis backs off and tells Bugs to stop that, and as Bugs inches closer the end of the barrel edges further away. Inching further, he backs Elvis up toward a cliff. Soon Elvis is forced off the edge of the cliff and falls to the ground. Bugs says, "Now that's what I call making a good impression!"

Back in the tree top cottage, Pappy asks Elvis if he caught the "eatin' rabbit" yet. At the bottom of the tree, Elvis states, "I almost got 'im Pappy!" We hear a feminine voice coming from off-screen that says, "Hello there, y'all!" Elvis's tongue hangs out of his mouth as he goes nuts for Bugs, who is dressed in a hillbilly woman's dress with his ears pulled back like long hair, swishing his hips to appear more provocative. "Be ya'all lookin' for someone, Sugar?", he asks. Elvis pants and howls like a dog at the strange girl's beauty. She asks, "Who y'all lookin' for, honey?" Elvis says, "Du-uh, y'all" as he removes his hat and appears smitten toward the girl. As he's telling Bugs that he is purdy, and has pretty eyes and a real purdy dress, then realizes that it's Bugs, the rabbit he's been fixin' to shoot. "And now I'm aimin' to do it, you purdy little thing!" He raises his gun and Bugs takes off for the safety of his hole, where upon entering, jumps up in the air, leaving his hillbilly girl costume floating in the breeze as buckshot penetrates the material.

Elvis points his musket into the hole and demands, "All right now, come on outta there, hear?" From the safety of his hole, Bugs says, "Naw, naw, that's not the way it's done, Doc! You gotta say 'If you're not outta there by the time I count to four, I'm gonna shoot ya!' Get it?" Elvis replies, "I sho-nuff do. I'll counts to four and then I'll shoot you." As he starts counting, he has some difficulty with the numbers which gives Bugs ample time to attach some pipes to the end of Elvis's musket that lead all the way to where Pappy is lounging in his tree-top cottage. Pappy takes no notice of the pipe coming up through the floor, the end of which leads directly in front of him.

Elvis gets to 'three' with some help from Bugs, but can't remember what comes after that. He yells up to Pappy, "What come after three in countin' Pappy?" Pappy replies, "Four, Elvis." "What'd y'all say?" asks Elvis. Pappy repeats, "I said, four!" A soon as Elvis hears the number four, he shoots the gun and a blast comes out the end of the pipe, shooting Pappy in the face. Excitedly, Elvis thinks he plugged the rabbit. Pappy corrects Elvis and says, "Elvis, boy, y'all didn't plug no rabbit critter, y'all plugged your pappy! Now what'd y'all wanna do that FOR?" Elvis hears the word "FOUR" again and shoots, sending another blast of bullets up the pipe, which plug Pappy a second time. Pappy, face full of holes from the blasts yells down to the ground, "Now Elvis, ya've gone too FAR" (but it comes out sounding more like the word "four"). Yet another blast comes from the end of the pipe. Pappy yells, "I said FAR, not FOUR", and another blast blows more holes into Pappy. "Now you done it, Elvis! Just wait till I get my two-by-FOUR!" Another blast shoots holes into Pappy's face.

Bugs is now wearing a golfing outfit and acts as if he's ready to hit an imaginary golf ball with a driver. Just as he's just about to yell "FORE", he says, "Nahhh, why should I get in the act?" He turns and starts walking away, singing, "I'm lookin' over, a FOUR leafed clover, that I over looked beFORE! Be-FORE! Be-FORE! Be-FORE!"

Music[]

  • "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover", (uncredited). Music by Harry M. Woods, Lyrics by Mort Dixon
  • "Arkansas Traveler", (uncredited). Music by Sanford Faulkner
  • "Oh, You Beautiful Doll", (uncredited). Music by Nat Ayer

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

  • This is the first of two cartoons featuring the hillbilly buzzards Pappy and Elvis, alongside "The Dixie Fryer", a Foghorn Leghorn cartoon, the following year.
  • This is the latest Merrie Melodies cartoon to get a Blue Ribbon reissue, alongside the penultimate latest cartoon overall to be reissued. However, due to being reissued past the original studio's closure, the titles were not replaced due to low budgets from DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
Apes of Wrath
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1959
Succeeded by
Wild and Woolly Hare


Bugs Bunny Shorts
1938 Porky's Hare Hunt
1939 Prest-O Change-OHare-um Scare-um
1940 Elmer's Candid CameraA Wild Hare
1941 Elmer's Pet RabbitTortoise Beats HareHiawatha's Rabbit HuntThe Heckling HareAll This and Rabbit StewWabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to SupperAny Bonds Today?The Wacky WabbitHold the Lion, PleaseBugs Bunny Gets the BoidFresh HareThe Hare-Brained HypnotistCase of the Missing Hare
1943 Tortoise Wins by a HareSuper-RabbitJack-Wabbit and the BeanstalkWackiki WabbitFalling Hare
1944 Little Red Riding RabbitWhat's Cookin' Doc?Bugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny Nips the NipsHare Ribbin'Hare ForceBuckaroo BugsThe Old Grey HareStage Door Cartoon
1945 Herr Meets HareThe Unruly HareHare TriggerHare ConditionedHare Tonic
1946 Baseball BugsHare RemoverHair-Raising HareAcrobatty BunnyRacketeer RabbitThe Big SnoozeRhapsody Rabbit
1947 Rabbit TransitA Hare Grows in ManhattanEaster YeggsSlick Hare
1948 Gorilla My DreamsA Feather in His HareRabbit PunchBuccaneer BunnyBugs Bunny Rides AgainHaredevil HareHot Cross BunnyHare SplitterA-Lad-In His LampMy Bunny Lies over the Sea
1949 Hare DoMississippi HareRebel RabbitHigh Diving HareBowery BugsLong-Haired HareKnights Must FallThe Grey Hounded HareThe Windblown HareFrigid HareWhich Is WitchRabbit Hood
1950 Hurdy-Gurdy HareMutiny on the BunnyHomeless HareBig House BunnyWhat's Up Doc?8 Ball BunnyHillbilly HareBunker Hill BunnyBushy HareRabbit of Seville
1951 Hare We GoRabbit Every MondayBunny HuggedThe Fair Haired HareRabbit FireFrench RarebitHis Hare Raising TaleBallot Box BunnyBig Top Bunny
1952 Operation: RabbitFoxy by Proxy14 Carrot RabbitWater, Water Every HareThe Hasty HareOily HareRabbit SeasoningRabbit's KinHare Lift
1953 Forward March HareUpswept HareSouthern Fried RabbitHare TrimmedBully for BugsLumber Jack-RabbitDuck! Rabbit, Duck!Robot Rabbit
1954 Captain HareblowerBugs and ThugsNo Parking HareDevil May HareBewitched BunnyYankee Doodle BugsBaby Buggy Bunny
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareHare BrushRabbit RampageThis Is a Life?Hyde and HareKnight-Mare HareRoman Legion-Hare
1956 Bugs' BonnetsBroom-Stick BunnyRabbitson CrusoeNapoleon Bunny-PartBarbary-Coast BunnyHalf-Fare HareA Star Is BoredWideo WabbitTo Hare Is Human
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBedevilled RabbitPiker's PeakWhat's Opera, Doc?Bugsy and MugsyShow Biz BugsRabbit Romeo
1958 Hare-Less WolfHare-Way to the StarsNow, Hare ThisKnighty Knight BugsPre-Hysterical Hare
1959 Baton BunnyHare-abian NightsApes of WrathBackwoods BunnyWild and Woolly HareBonanza BunnyA Witch's Tangled HarePeople Are Bunny
1960 Horse HarePerson to BunnyRabbit's FeatFrom Hare to HeirLighter Than Hare
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitCompressed HarePrince Violent
1962 Wet HareBill of HareShishkabugs
1963 Devil's Feud CakeThe Million HareHare-Breadth HurryThe UnmentionablesMad as a Mars HareTransylvania 6-5000
1964 Dumb PatrolDr. Devil and Mr. HareThe Iceman DuckethFalse Hare
1979 Bugs Bunny's Christmas CarolFright Before Christmas
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young BunnySpaced Out Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 From Hare to Eternity
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las VegasDaffy Duck for President
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