Bugs' Bonnets
Hats change personalities for Bugs and Elmer.
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In this 1956 Merrie Melodies short from Warner Bros., Chuck Jones directs Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd through a series of quick social transformations. Each time a character puts on a different hat, their entire persona shifts accordingly. Tedd Pierce wrote the cartoon, which was released on January 14, 1956.
Plot
The narrative begins by examining how clothing influences human behavior, showing a businessman turning into a pirate and Elmer Fudd shifting from ordinary clothes to hunting gear. A truck from the Acme Theatrical Hat Co. then scatters hats, prompting Bugs and Elmer to don various headwear. Each hat triggers a new role: Bugs becomes a military sergeant and a game warden, while Elmer transforms into General Douglas MacArthur and a pilgrim. The chase culminates in a mock wedding ceremony set to Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March," with Bugs in a top hat carrying Elmer in a bride's veil to a cottage.
Did You Know?
- Mel Blanc voiced Bugs Bunny, and Arthur Q. Bryan voiced Elmer Fudd.
- Animation historian Michael Barrier criticized the film in a Funnyworld magazine essay, calling it 'a dreary exposition on the notion that the hat one wears shapes one's personality'.
More in Bugs Bunny Films
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Bugs' Bonnets (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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