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Southern Fried Rabbit is a 1953 Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng.

Plot[]

Bugs Bunny is fleeing to Alabama to escape a carrot famine. His attempt to cross the Mason-Dixon line is stopped by Yosemite Sam, a zealous soldier of the Confederate States of America.

Sam was reportedly ordered by General Robert E. Lee to guard the borders between the Confederate States and the United States during the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). He is oblivious to the fact that the war ended "almost ninety years ago" ("I ain't no clock watcher!") and continues to await new orders that will never come from the now long-deceased General Lee, refusing to allow any Yankee to cross the line.

Bugs fights to cross the line. He disguises himself as a slave, Abraham Lincoln, "General Brickwall Jackson", and Scarlett O'Hara to little effect. He at last succeeds in removing Sam from his guarding post when he disguises himself as an injured Confederate soldier and informing him that "the Yankees are in Chattanooga" in Tennessee. Sam marches to "Chattanoogee", and uses a rifle to threaten the New York Yankees, preventing them from competing in an exhibition baseball game against the Chattanooga Lookouts.

Caricatures[]

Availability[]

Censorship[]

  • The Cartoon Network version of this cartoon cuts out Sam yelling "CHARGE!" after Bugs first tries to cross the Mason-Dixon Line due to the short scene featuring the Confederate "bars and stripes" flag (which is considered a very controversial flag in American culture/history). Cartoon Network also cuts out the entire part where Bugs poses as a slave, then gets his cover blown when he sings "Yankee Doodle," shoves a whip into Sam's hands, begging Sam not to beat him, and Bugs posing as Abraham Lincoln to chastise Sam about whipping slaves. Instead, it goes from Sam yelling, "So, scram Yankee!" to Bugs diving into a tree hole. These edits were also seen on the version shown on the former Kids' WB as well as on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang.[1]
  • Unlike the versions shown on The WB, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang, the sequence where Bugs poses as a runaway slave going back to the South, then blowing his cover by singing "Yankee Doodle" was mostly left in on the FOX and syndicated version of The Merrie Melodies Show. The Merrie Melodies Show version only cut Bugs putting a whip in Yosemite Sam's hand, pleading for Sam not to beat him, and Bugs posing as Abraham Lincoln and chastising him for whipping slaves before Bugs' cover is blown again and Bugs dives into a tree (the edited version goes from Bugs getting caught singing "Yankee Doodle" to Bugs diving into the tree, with some of the whip part left in by mistake). It should be noted that, despite cutting the slave part, Sam's introduction scene (which features the controversial Confederate "bars and stripes" flag) was not cut on either version of The Merrie Melodies Show. It should also be noted that a similar scene on "Wise Quackers" of a character (Bugs in "Southern Fried Rabbit"; Daffy in "Wise Quackers") making another character (Yosemite Sam in "Southern Fried Rabbit"; Elmer Fudd in "Wise Quackers") out to be a slave driver (with the former character dressing up as Abraham Lincoln and chastising the latter character for it) wasn't edited. [1]
    • In addition, The Merrie Melodies Show (both versions) edited Sam being blasted by a cannon by replacing the scene with a still of Bugs (dressed as a Southern Belle) blocking a door (which was recycled from the next scene).

Notes[]

  • Most of the scenes from this cartoon were used in the TV special Bugs Bunny: All American Hero.
  • Despite the censored scene being cut from TV airings, a scene where Bugs pretends to be Abraham Lincoln and Sam finds out he's been tricked is shown in the beginning of the ToonHeads episode "Southern Fried Cartoons" before this short plays.

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]


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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