RABBIT PUNCH (1948)
Article 4789 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 3-29-3015
Directed by Chuck Jones
Featuring the voices of Mel Blanc and Billy Bletcher
Country: USA
What it is: Bugs Bunny cartoon

When Bugs heckles a brutal boxing champion, he finds himself tossed in the ring and forced to go several rounds with him.

Though I have a slight preference for the partial remake (BUNNY HUGGED), this is still an example of prime Bugs Bunny. As usual, Bugs is up against an all-brawn no-brain adversary (whose name is McGook if I heard the opening announcement correctly) who finds himself befuddled by Bugs’ stratagems. Oddly enough, Bugs doesn’t always come out on top in this one, but he proves far more competition than the champ ever expected. One gets the sense this cartoon could have gone on forever if it didn’t make a bizarre detour into a surreal world in the final round, where it turns from a parody of a boxing match to something that looks like it was out of an old time serial and ends with a gag worthy of Tex Avery. This one is great, solid fun.