The scenario of Devil May Hare was essentially repeated
in "Bedevilled Rabbit" in 1957,
the only significant difference being that instead of the Tasmanian Devil wreaking
havoc in Bugs' territory, this time Bugs is in Tasmania, airdropped there in a
crate of carrots. In a brochure Bugs reads: "Beware of the Tasmanian Devil.
A vicious ravenous brute with powerful jaws like a steel trap.
Eats aarvarks, ants, bears, boars, cats, bats,
dogs, hogs, elephants, antelopes, pheasants, ferrets, giraffes, gazelles, stoats,
goats, shoats, ostiches, lions, jackals, muskrats, dingoes, zebras, foxes, boxes,
octopus, penguins, people, wartogs, yaks, newfs, walrus, gnus, wildebeest, moose,
mice, males, snipes, elk, wapati, tartaise, road runner, elands, foxes, wolves,
guineatten, vultures, eagles, humming birds, squids, salamanders, water buffalo,
bison, kangoroos, pingeons, daws, unicorns, vixens, octopus, ox, penguins, widgeons
and especially rabbits". And, indeed, the Tasmanian Devil, in his native
habitat, is just as ferociously hungry.
The first two films established the short-lived, very formulaic series, in which
nearly every cartoon involves panic of animals or men, all fleeing the on-the-loose
Devil, Taz encountering Bugs and craving the bunny as a meal, and Bugs outwitting
the not-very-astute beast, usually by appealing to his gastronomic urges for other
types of fauna.
The three-year time passage between the first two films was due to the fact that
"Devil May Hare" did not attract the hoped-for enthusiastic laughter
from theatre audiences, and general producer Eddie Selzer, who among other things
did not approve of gags involving bullfights, camels, or French-speaking skunks,
ordered McKimson not to make any more cartoons with the bizarre Tasmanian creature.
But in 1956, Selzer was asked by studio mogul Jack Warner what had become of the
Tasmanian Devil, and Selzer replied that Taz had just been a one-cartoon character.
Warner commanded Selzer to produce more films with Taz, and Selzer passed the
edict to McKimson, who, with writer Tedd Pierce, resumed Taz's career with "Bedevilled
Rabbit" and shortly thereafter with "Ducking the Devil" (1957),
pairing Taz with Daffy Duck.
| |
|
| Title |
Bedevilled
Rabbit (1957) |
| Story |
Ted Pierce |
| Animation |
George Grand Pré, Ted Bonnicksen,
Keith Darling |
| Layouts |
Robert Gribbroek |
| Backgrounds |
Richard H. Thomas |
| Filmeditor |
Treg Brown |
| Voice Characterization |
Mel Blanc |
| Music |
Milt Franklyn |
| Directed by |
Robert Mc Kimson |
This text is an edited version of the original text of Kevin
McCorry.
