Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk
Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk is a 1943 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Friz Freleng and starring Bugs Bunny.[1] Voices are provided by Mel Blanc.[2] This is one of only two cartoons where Elmer's speech impediment is referenced in the title (without Elmer appearing), the other one is Wackiki Wabbit. It is a parody of the fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk". It should not be confused with another parody of this story starring Bugs, Daffy and Elmer, the short Beanstalk Bunny (1955).
| Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Supervision: I. Freleng |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Starring | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Jack Bradbury Uncredited: Gerry Chiniquy Gil Turner Richard Bickenbach Manuel Perez Phil Monroe |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date | June 12, 1943 |
Running time | 7:28 (one reel) |
| Language | English |
Plot
The film opens as if it is Jack and the Beanstalk, and finds Warner's famous "jackrabbit" (Bugs), already in the giant's lofty realm, chopping down gigantic carrots. It turns out they belong to a dim-witted giant.
The giant is incensed at Bugs invading his "victory garden" and Bugs spends most of the rest of the film trying to elude the giant. At one point he challenges him to a duel and the giant starts pacing off into the distance and is soon over the horizon. Bugs' self-congratulations ("You know, I'm so smart, sometimes it almost frightens me") is short-lived, as the giant comes toward him from the other horizon.
Finally, the giant accidentally falls from his sky-borne realm and crashes into the ground, making a huge giant-shaped hole. Instead of being dead, the hard-headed giant simply sits up, dizzy, and invokes a well-known comic catchphrase, "Duh, watch out for dat foist step - it's a lulu!".
Sources
- Zipes, Jack (2011). "Filmography". The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films. Routledge. ISBN 978-1135853952.
References
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 141. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.