Broom-Stick Bunny
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| Broom-Stick Bunny | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny) series | |
 Witch Hazel, about to make Bugs Bunny the final ingredient in her witch's brew |
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| Directed by | Chuck Jones |
| Produced by | Eddie Selzer |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc June Foray (uncredited) |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by | Richard Thompson Ken Harris Ben Washam Abe Levitow |
| Layouts by | Ernie Nordli |
| Backgrounds by | Philip De Guard |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | February 25, 1956 (USA) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7 min (one reel) |
| Language | English |
Broom-Stick Bunny is a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes short released in 1956 and directed by Chuck Jones.
[edit] Plot
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This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (November 2009) |
As the short opens, it shows a plaque which states that Witch Hazel is a member of the Malevolent Order of Witches, an "AF of Elves" union, which is a poke at the American Federation of Labor prior to its then-recent merger with the Congress of Industrial Organizations on December 4, 1955, which resulted in today's AFL-CIO. The American Federation of Labor was commonly referred to as the "AF of L."
It's Halloween, and Witch Hazel is busy brewing a magic potion ("A cup of wasp knee, a spider, some glue..."). As she goes about her business, she pauses at her magic mirror and asks it who's the ugliest of all. The genie in the mirror replies that she, Witch Hazel, is the ugliest ("By my troth, I will avow: there's none that's uglier than thou"). As an aside to the audience, Hazel says that she is "deathly afraid of getting pretty as I grow older" (a fear which is fully justified at the end of the short).
Meanwhile, Bugs Bunny is out trick-or-treating dressed as a witch, his face hidden by an ugly green mask. He calls on Hazel who, seeing his disguise, mistakes him for an actual witch ("I don't remember seeing her at any of the union meetings"). After remarking on Bugs being the ugliest little thing ("My, isn't she the ugliest little thing?"), realizing she said "ugly", she dashes to her magic mirror and asks it again who is the ugliest, to which the mirror-geie replies he finds Bugs far uglier ("Thou wert the ugliest one, 'tis true, but that creep is uglier far than you"). The jealous Hazel hatches a plot.
She invites the disguised Bugs in for tea, and prepares a brew containing various beauty enhancers. Bugs is about to drink the tea when he remembers he's still wearing the mask, and removes it. Seeing her "rival" is really a rabbit, the witch dashes off to consult her potion book. Sure enough, the last ingredient for the potion she was brewing earlier is a rabbit's clavicle (a bone in the shoulder). While she's gone, Bugs suspects trouble's afoot and tries to leave ("You know, my delicate inner sense of danger warns me that there's something faintly unhealthy in the atmosphere of this cottage"), but he's stopped at the door by Witch Hazel brandishing a meat cleaver. Bugs flees after stating: "Uh, pardon me, auntie, but uh, I've got a lot of trick-or-treatin' to catch up on so I'll bid you a civil adieu", with the cackling witch chasing him through the house. She dashes into her magic broom closet to get her flying broomstick to try to keep up with him, but she grabbed the wrong one which starts sweeping with her on it before she lets go: "Crazy me. That was my sweeping broom!" she says to the audience. As Bugs hides ("Wow! That old bag means to do me serious hoit"), she finally traps him using a carrot on a fishing line.
Back at her cauldron, Hazel prepares to kill Bugs and use him in her potion. She's about to bring her cleaver down on the trussed-up rabbit, but he plays to her sympathies, gazing back at her with tear-filled doe eyes (as Charlie Dog noted in Jones' Often an Orphan (1949), "'Big soulful eyes' routine. Gets 'em every time"). Hazel then bursts into tears, claiming his innocent face reminds her of Paul, her pet tarantula (it's unknown if he died naturally or if she used him as an ingredient in a past potion). Bugs tries comforting her by bringing her the cup of beauty potion/tea, which she unknowingly drinks. She instantly changes into a young and shapely woman (naturally, Milt Franklyn strikes up Oh, You Beautiful Doll), which of course horrifies her (it's unknown if Bugs did this on purpose or by accident). She dashes to the magic mirror once again to ask (in a softer and sexier voice) who's the ugliest one of all. The genie in the mirror, seeing her sexy new appearance, instantly falls in love with her and gives a Bob Hope-like "ROWR, ROWR", then lunges to grab her. Hazel flees on her actual flying broomstick with the genie chasing her on his magic carpet, slowly gaining on her. Bugs, who's still at her house, promptly calls the local air raid headquarters to report "a genie with light brown hair chasing a flying sorceress!".
| Preceded by Bugs' Bonnets |
Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1956 |
Succeeded by Rabbitson Crusoe |
