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Ballot Box Bunny is a 1951 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.

Plot[]

Yosemite Sam is running for mayor of a small town saying, "There's enough fresh air and sunshine in this great country of ours for everybody, and I'll see to it, that you'll get your share!" Bugs Bunny is underneath the podium drinking carrot juice when Sam makes a pledge to make good on his previous promise to rid the town "of every last rabbit" if elected. Bugs, having spit his carrot juice out in disbelief, decides he needs to fight against Sam by running against him for mayor.

Bugs proceeds to quickly try and win the townspeople over, referencing Theodore Roosevelt's famous quote, "I speak softly, but carry a BIG stick!" However, Sam, declaring that he speaks loud and carries "a bigger stick, and I use it too!" has more than a few tricks up his sleeve. He steals Bugs' cigar stand, sends a boxful of army ants to steal all of Bugs' food, and rigs explosives in a piano and by the front door of Bugs' campaign office, all of which backfire on him. A campaign slogan seen on a pro-Bugs banner says that the candidate is "Loyal, Lovable, Literate." Bugs switches his "SMELLO" cigars with five-cent ATOM Explosive Cigars which say "You Will Get A BANG Out Of This", hides a dynamite stick in a watermelon, pretends that a pretty girl called Emma who loves Sam is at his door, and misplays the piano tune on purpose to infuriate Sam, who plays it right and falls for his trap for the fourth time.

While they are busy fighting with each other, the mayorship is won by a literal "dark horse" candidate: a chestnut-colored mare! The two then play a game of Russian Roulette. Bugs shoots at himself, but misses and shoots Sam in the head. Sam grumbles, "I hate that rabbit!"

Caricatures[]

Musical Cues[]

  • "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms"

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • Versions of this cartoon shown on Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends (both the syndicated version and the FOX version), ABC's The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, and The WB cut the entire ending scene where Bugs and Sam play Russian Roulette after both losing the mayoral race to a literal "dark horse" by irising out after Bugs and Sam look at each other following the "Dark Horse"/"Mare" line.[3]
    • The Nickelodeon airing of this short shows the scene of Bugs and Sam looking at each other first, followed by the mare, and the short ends with an iris out on her.
  • Cartoon Network and Boomerang also aired this short edited the same way it was on ABC, FOX, The WB, and The Merrie Melodies Show.[3] The ending has since been restored as of 2011.[4]
    • Some European feeds of Cartoon Network and Boomerang have aired this short uncensored, either using the Golden Jubilee tape print at PAL speed with high-pitched audio or the 1998 dubbed version (a.k.a. THIS VERSION 1998) print in PAL speed but with normal-pitched audio. This PAL print is shown on the Boomerang subscription service, albeit uncensored with the Russian Roulette ending gag intact, similar to some TV airings in PAL countries.[5]
  • In addition to the ending cut made by The Merrie Melodies Show, FOX, ABC, The WB, and the pre-2011 Cartoon Network and Boomerang, Nickelodeon altered the part in which Bugs plays his "juteybox" (read: Bugs' marching one-man band) and Sam shoots him by having Bugs' marching played in a loop and Sam yelling, "Shut off that juteybox! I can't hear myself a-speechin'" over the looped shot, followed by a cut to Sam saying: "Now, where was I?" This edit makes it seem that Bugs merely stopped because Sam told him to rather than be forced to do it by use of firearms.[3]

Goofs[]

  • When Bugs plays two distinctly different sour notes each time, he is striking the exact same key.

Notes[]

  • Most of this cartoon was used in the TV special Bugs Bunny: All American Hero.
  • The "dark horse" election as the new mayor is a pun joke; the term "dark horse" refers to one who receives unexpected support as a candidate for the nomination in a political convention.
  • Unlike most cartoons, Bugs drinks carrot juice instead of munching on a carrot.
  • There are several inside jokes found in this cartoon:
  • The pre-2011 censored version that aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang is a horribly faded unrestored print from the Golden Jubilee tapes which has been time-compressed to PAL speed. The post-2011 uncensored version is the restored version on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 DVD set played at its original NTSC speed.[4]
  • This short and "His Hare Raising Tale" were the only two cartoons with orange color ring titles that did not have a fade in before Bugs Bunny's headshot on the opening titles.[citation needed]
  • The cartoon was reissued in the 1959-1964 season, which removed both the original opening and ending titles with the red opening and ending titles. It, along with "A Bear for Punishment", had the orange opening and ending titles with black backgrounds before they were reissued.[citation needed] (November 2020)
  • Clips of this cartoon appear in an episode of Ozzy and Drix.[6]
  • MeTV aired a previously unreleased re-restored print of the cartoon on Toon In with Me uncensored with the DVNR artifacts removed. This re-restoration was later made available on iTunes Video.

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
His Hare Raising Tale
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1951
Succeeded by
Big Top Bunny
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

also see the List of Bugs Bunny cartoons

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