If My Friend Rocky Was in There

A lot of cartoons used the idea of crooks giving up to police so they wouldn’t be abused any more by the main character. None did it better than Bugs Bunny’s “Bugs and Thugs” (released in 1954), which was a reworking of the earlier “Racketeer Rabbit”. It’s the one with the famous scene where Bugs hides the crooks in an oven, turns on the gas and then pretends to be an Irish cop, asking “Would I throw a lighted match in there if my friend was in there?”

Friz Freleng’s animators could produce really subtle expressions and there are some fine ones in this scene. But my favourite part is the brushwork and the multiple eyes as Bugs changes places as he switches roles. Give credit to Art Davis and his assistant.

You know the scene. The “cop” is at the door. Bugs races to the oven to play himself.




Here he is changing spots to be the cop again. These are consecutive frames. They take up less than a second of screen time.












Bugs finishes his line as the cop and backs up, getting set to twirl into position as himself.












Bugs always has a great look of joy when he’s pulling a fast one.

We can’t skip the match part. See Bugs’ expression and how he anticipates the explosion. The drawings start on twos, the last three last only one frame each.











The animators may be Freleng’s best crew, even with Gerry Chiniquy gone. They’re Davis, Virgil Ross, Manny Perez and Ken Champin.