Piker's Peak

Last updated
Piker's Peak
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Produced by Edward Selzer
Starring Mel Blanc
Music by Carl Stalling
Milt Franklyn
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
Arthur Davis
Virgil Ross
Layouts by Hawley Pratt
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • May 25, 1957 (1957-05-25)
Running time
7 minutes
LanguageEnglish

Piker's Peak is a 1957 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short directed by Friz Freleng. [1] The short was released on May 25, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. [2] The title is a pun on Pike's Peak, although that respected mountain summit is in North America rather than in Europe (a "piker" is a small-time gambler, in North American slang).

Contents

The film is a mountain film. It features a mountaineering competition about the first person able to climb an unconquered mountain peak in the Swiss Alps. The mountain featured is fictional, but its name is based on the Matterhorn.

Plot

In the Swiss Alps, when the mayor [nb 1] announces a competition with a prize of "50,000 kronkites" [nb 2] to the one who can climb the Schmatterhorn [nb 3] first, Yosemite Sam quickly volunteers.

When he starts climbing, Bugs Bunny emerges from a rabbit hole on the mountain, hearing a band playing the send-off tune and a crowd cheering. He inquires about the sounds, to which Sam brags about his dare and the prize. Bugs decides he wants in, and climbs up the mountain an easier way than Sam. Realising that Bugs now plans on winning, Sam tries to pull him back down ("Get down, ya long-eared mountain goat!") In the process, he causes Bugs to pull down a boulder, which chases Sam back down the mountain and flattens him.

Sam climbs back up and pretends to form a partnership with Bugs. He climbs up with a rope tied to him, and another rope tied to Bugs, which he throws up to Sam. Bugs then shouts his "What's up, doc?" catchphrase, to which Sam replies "Not what's up, what's down!" revealing that he has double-crossed Bugs, tied his rope to another boulder and is about to push it over. However, it turns out that the rope around the rock is also tied to Sam! Despite his attempts to free himself with a Swiss army knife, he is pulled to the bottom of the mountain with the rock. As he prepares to try again, the band and crowd also sound again.

Sam runs back up and struggles to climb over a ledge. Bugs "helps" him over it, but Sam ends up sliding back down the mountain (Music and crowd again).

Sam runs back up to a cliff, which Bugs is climbing up. Sam tries to push another boulder over the cliff, but as soon as he lets go, it rolls after him, chasing him off another cliff. When he lands, the impact causes the boulder to fall after him, crushing him through the ledge onto the ground below.

Sam catches Bugs under a pile of snow. Bugs attempts to warn him to be careful to prevent an avalanche. Sam attempts to use this to his advantage by shouting and shooting his pistol, hoping the avalanche will get rid of Bugs. Instead, all the snow falls on Sam. A St. Bernard pulls a frozen Sam out of the snow, makes and drinks a cocktail, then runs off hiccuping.

Sam chases Bugs all the way to the top of the mountain. Once Bugs states that they have reached the top, Sam pushes him off, then starts celebrating. However, it turns out that he is on top of the Eiffel Tower, and Bugs says "Well, as long as he's happy, why tell him?" The band (who is at the base of the tower) plays the same song one last time, continuously into the "That's all Folks!" end titles. [nb 4]

Soundtrack

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ who bears a resemblance, visual and vocal, to German-American character actor Sig Ruman
  2. ↑ a pun on Walter Cronkite, and a reference to famed vaudeville comedians Smith & Dale's famous Dr. Kronkheit sketch. Krankheit, pronounced cronk-hite, means "sickness" in German.
  3. ↑ a pun on the Matterhorn
  4. ↑ This is one of the rare post-1937 Warner Bros. cartoons to have music from the cartoon playing past the iris-out or fade out through to the end card; this was common in MGM cartoons, but rare in Warner

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friz Freleng</span> American animator, cartoonist, director, and producer (1905–1995)

Isadore "Friz" Freleng, credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from the 1930s to the early 1960s. In total he created more than 300 cartoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yosemite Sam</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Yosemite Sam is a cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park in California. He is an adversary of Bugs Bunny and his archenemy alongside Elmer Fudd. He is commonly depicted as a mean-spirited and extremely aggressive, gunslinging outlaw or cowboy with a hair-trigger temper and an intense hatred of rabbits, Bugs in particular. In cartoons with non-Western themes, he uses various aliases, including "Chilkoot Sam" and "Square-deal Sam" in 14 Carrot Rabbit, "Riff Raff Sam" in Sahara Hare, "Sam Schultz" in Big House Bunny, "Seagoin' Sam" in Buccaneer Bunny, "Shanghai Sam" in Mutiny on the Bunny, "Von Schamm the Hessian" in Bunker Hill Bunny, "Baron Sam von Schpamm" in Dumb Patrol, and many others. During the golden age of American animation, Yosemite Sam appeared as antagonist in 33 animated shorts made between 1945 and 1964.

<i>Hare Trigger</i> 1945 film by Friz Freleng

Hare Trigger is a 1945 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon was released on May 5, 1945, and features Bugs Bunny. The short featured the first appearance of Yosemite Sam, as well as the first short to credit (almost) the whole animation staff who worked on the short.

<i>High Diving Hare</i> 1949 film by Friz Freleng

High Diving Hare is a 1948-produced Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. Released to theaters on April 30, 1949, the short is an expansion of a gag from Stage Door Cartoon, which was also directed by Friz Freleng, and co-stars Elmer Fudd. High Diving Hare can be seen in the third act of The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, and a segment can be seen in the special Bugs Bunny's Wild World of Sports.

<i>Ballot Box Bunny</i> 1951 film by Friz Freleng

Ballot Box Bunny is a 1951 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The cartoon was released on October 6, 1951, and features Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.

<i>Bugs Bunny Rides Again</i> 1948 film by Friz Freleng

Bugs Bunny Rides Again is a 1948 Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on June 12, 1948, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.

<i>Bugs Bunnys Christmas Carol</i> 1979 animated Christmas film by Friz Freleng

Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol is an eight-minute animated film produced by Warner Bros. Television and DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, and aired on CBS on November 27, 1979 as the first segment of the Christmas special, Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales.

<i>The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie</i> 1981 animated feature film directed by Friz Freleng

The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie is a 1981 American animated comedy package film with a compilation of classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and animated bridging sequences produced and directed by Friz Freleng, hosted by Bugs Bunny. The new footage was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It was the first Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies film with a compilation of classic cartoon comedy shorts produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

<i>Buccaneer Bunny</i> 1948 animated short film directed by Friz Freleng

Buccaneer Bunny is a 1948 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on May 8, 1948, and features Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.

<i>Sahara Hare</i> 1955 film by Friz Freleng

Sahara Hare is a 1955 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on March 26, 1955, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.

<i>Captain Hareblower</i> 1954 film

Captain Hareblower is a 1954 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. The short was released on January 16, 1954, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.

Hare Lift is a 1952 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on December 20, 1952, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The title is a play on the term "air lift," as expressed in the plotline.

The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special is an animated television special that was broadcast on CBS October 15, 1980. Presented by Porky Pig as an Alfred Hitchcock-style whodunit, the plot is modeled after those of North by Northwest and The Fugitive.

<i>Hare Do</i> 1949 film

Hare Do is a 1949 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon. The short was released on January 15, 1949, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

<i>A Star Is Bored</i> 1956 American film

A Star Is Bored is a 1956 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on September 15, 1956, and stars Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. The cartoon expands upon the rivalry depicted between Bugs and Daffy, in such films as Chuck Jones' 1951 short Rabbit Fire, this time placing the action in a show-biz setting. In this 7-minute short, Daffy must double for Bugs in any slapstick that Warners deems too dangerous for its top star. After each disaster, Daffy shouts "MAKEUP!". The director directing the scenes has an Erich Von Stroheim accent.

<i>This Is a Life?</i> 1955 film

This Is a Life? is a 1955 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, written by Warren Foster, and produced by Edward Selzer, with music directed by Milt Franklyn. The short was released on July 9, 1955, and stars Bugs Bunny. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc, Arthur Q. Bryan, and June Foray in her first work for Warner Bros. This is one of the few Bugs Bunny cartoons whose title does not contain Bugs, bunny, rabbit/wabbit or hare.

<i>Devils Feud Cake</i> 1962 Merrie Melodies animated short

Devil's Feud Cake is a 1963 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on February 9, 1963, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.

The Fair-Haired Hare is a 1951 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. Released April 14, 1951, the cartoon was directed by Friz Freleng. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc.

<i>Prince Violent</i> 1961 film

Prince Violent is a 1961 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng and Freleng's longtime layout artist Hawley Pratt. The short was released on September 2, 1961, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The title is a pun on "Prince Valiant", a long-running comic strip at the time.

Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court is a 1978 animated television special directed by Chuck Jones. The special is based on Mark Twain's novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and features the Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam. It marks the first use of Sam in a Jones-directed short or special, before From Hare to Eternity 19 years later in 1997.

References

  1. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 298. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
Preceded by Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1957		Succeeded by
Preceded by Yosemite Sam Cartoons
1957		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.