The Abominable Snow Rabbit (1961)
Article 5588 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-28-2018
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Featuring the voice of Mel Blanc
Country: USA
What it is: Looney Tunes

Bugs and Daffy get lost on their vacation and end up in the Himalayas, where they encounter an abominable snowman seeking a pet.

Warner Brothers’ cartoons were in their waning days in the early sixties, and though this cartoon is one of those from the era that is more fondly remembered, one can notice that the gags and the timing aren’t quite as sharp as they used to be, and the absence of Carl Stalling is very noticeable. Still, the reason this one is fondly remembered is that it is the most famous use of a gag they used several times over the years, in that one of the characters is modeled off of Lenny from “In Mice and Men”; in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if more people are familiar with this cartoon than with the Steinbeck story. The presence of the snowman is a catalyst for another battle of wits between Bugs and Daffy, with the usual results. Initially, the snowman was a one-off character, but would be brought back in a few attempted revivals of Looney Tunes cartoons during the seventies and eighties.