Wackiki Wabbit
| Wackiki Wabbit | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Bugs Bunny) series | |
 |
|
| Directed by | Charles M. Jones |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Voices by |
Mel Blanc (uncredited) Michael Maltese (uncredited) Tedd Pierce (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Animation by | Ken Harris |
| Layouts by | Bernyce Polifka |
| Backgrounds by | Gene Fleury |
| Studio | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 3, 1943 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7:00 |
| Language | English |
Wackiki Wabbit is a 1943 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, starring Bugs Bunny. It was written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Chuck Jones. Voices were provided by Mel Blanc (Bugs), Tedd Pierce (the tall, thin man), and Michael Maltese (the short, fat man - the two men's appearances are rough caricatures of the actual men). The musical score was conducted by Carl Stalling.
Wackiki Wabbit contains an experimental use of strongly graphic, nearly abstract backgrounds. The title is a double play on words, with "Wackiki" suggesting both the island setting (as in "Waikiki") as well as suggesting "wacky" (crazy) along with the usual Elmer Fudd speech pronunciation of "rabbit", although Elmer does not appear in this picture.
This cartoon has fallen to the public domain after United Artists (successor to Associated Artists Productions) failed to renew the copyright on time. The cartoon can be found, restored, on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3.
The cartoon opens with two castaways adrift on a small raft in the middle of the ocean, underscored with "Asleep in the Deep". Delirious from hunger, they start imagining each other (or even their own limbs) as food. They spot an island in the distance and rush ashore, underscored by "Down Where the Trade Winds Play", a song used several times in the cartoon (and in others, such as Gorilla My Dreams), where they meet Bugs Bunny, who is munching on his carrot as usual. To his friendly, "What's the good word, strangers?" they answer "FOOD!" and start after Bugs, who leaps away on a vine with a Tarzan yell.
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