Bugsy and Mugsy

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Bugsy and Mugsy
BugsyandMugsy Lobby Card.png
Lobby card
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Produced by Edward Selzer
John W. Burton [1]
Starring Mel Blanc
(all voices)
Edited by Treg Brown [1]
Music by Carl Stalling
Milt Franklyn
Animation by
Layouts by Hawley Pratt
Backgrounds byBoris Gorelick
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Vitaphone [1]
Release date
  • August 31, 1957 (1957-08-31)(USA)
Running time
7 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Bugsy and Mugsy is a 1957 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. [2] The short was released on August 31, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny, with Rocky and Mugsy. [3] Bugs discovers that two robbers are hiding out on the floor above him, and plays them off against each other. The cartoon is a remake of the 1950 Merrie Melodies short Stooge for a Mouse , in which a mouse pitted Sylvester and Mike (a bulldog) against each other in the same way.

Contents

Plot

Bugs has relocated his home due to heavy winter rains; he now lives under the floor of a condemned building. All of a sudden, Rocky and Mugsy burst into the room, on the run from the police. Bugs, having heard the commotion and from the radio that they have just committed a jewelry robbery, "all 14-carat" (which Bugs mishears as "carrot"). The rabbit vows to take care of the two while they rest for the night.

What follows is a series of plans organized by Bugs to trick Rocky into thinking Mugsy is out to get him:

  1. Bugs takes a candlestick telephone, places the receiver near Rocky's ear and whispers from the other end in his hole that Mugsy is not so very trustworthy and is coming up with ideas. Rocky gets out of the chair and confronts Mugsy by slapping him in the face. Mugsy has no idea what is going on, while Rocky warns him not to get any ideas.
  2. Bugs sneaks out and places an ax in Mugsy's right hand. Then, in his hole, he whispers through the phone and informs Rocky that Mugsy is not called "the Detroit Butcher for nothing". Rocky once again confronts Mugsy, seizes the weapon and slices one of the couch's arms cleanly (and his partner's hat in the process). Mugsy, still confused, nervously laughs, thinking Rocky is joking.
  3. After Mugsy briefly snaps awake from a nightmare and laughs it off, while looking at Rocky, Bugs, in the attic, begins unscrewing the ceiling light over Rocky's head with a screwdriver. Mugsy sees the screws coming loose and tries to stop them, knowing that Rocky will blame him if the light falls on him. Mugsy grabs his own screwdriver and a ladder to screw the light back in. He is too late, and the light falls right on Rocky, with Mugsy looking as if he did it when the latter sees him. Rocky angrily kicks him several times in the air despite Mugsy vainly trying to explain himself.
  4. Bugs switches Rocky's cigarette with a dynamite stick, then walks over to Mugsy and imitates Rocky's voice asking for a light. The unaware Mugsy gladly does, inadvertently blowing him up. Rocky finally snaps, gives Mugsy a thorough beating and tosses his tied-up partner into another room, ordering him to go to sleep and hits him over the head with a bat to ensure he does.
  5. Bugs saws a circle around Rocky's chair, causing him to come crashing down. As Rocky fires wildly, Bugs slips the saw into Mugsy's hands and hides, just before Rocky heads to the room Mugsy is in. The furious Rocky accuses Mugsy (despite him being tied up) of doing this and violently attacks him yet again.

Finally, Bugs pops out from under the floor, and puts Mugsy (somehow untied) up on his feet with a pair of roller skates and a powerful magnet and drags it down with him. A confused Mugsy skates around the room, with Rocky ordering him to remove the skates. Then, Bugs and Rocky cause Mugsy to crash from wall to wall (and in Bugs' case, straight into Rocky). Soon, the police arrive and arrest the crooks.

On the way to jail, Rocky, still angry with Mugsy, thinks he gave them away to the police and promptly beats him up yet again. They are unaware that it was actually Bugs who notified the police by putting a flashing neon sign reading "ROCKY'S HIDEAWAY" on the front of the building. Bugs remarks: "Isn't it wonderful what you can do with some wire and a few electric bulbs?"

Music

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Webb, Graham (2011). The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences (1900-1999). McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 58. ISBN   978-0-7864-4985-9.
  2. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 301. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  3. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved June 6, 2020.
Preceded by Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1957		Succeeded by
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