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m →‎Depiction of Middle Easterners: Added a Warner Bros statement from 1991 responding to criticisms about the timing of it coinciding with a time when the Arab world was a major western focus in the news. Also deleted the lines "In these shorts, Muslim men are never depicted as intelligent, kind, rational, or wise. Some may have harems, but they are otherwise familyless and friendless figures." as it applies to most golden age animation adversaries.
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==Depiction of Middle Easterners==
==Depiction of Middle Easterners==
⚫
{{One source|section|date=July 2015}}{{Relevance}}This short was the earliest in the Bugs Bunny series to be set in either the [[Middle East]] or [[North Africa]], and the first to feature [[Arab people|Arabs]] or [[Islam]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}} In this case, the setting is [[Baghdad]], depicted with [[Las Vegas]]-style flashy signs and desert-like streets. Also depicted is the [[used car|used rug]] lot of Mad Man Hassan, where people can sell their [[magic carpet]]s.<ref name="Sensoy">Sensoy (2010), p. 113-123</ref> The scene soon shifts to the palace of [[Caliph]] Hassan Pfeffer, built on a [[G.I. Bill|G.I. loan]], a [[mortgage loan]] for [[veteran]]s guaranteed by the [[federal government of the United States]].<ref name="Sensoy" />
{{One source|section|date=July 2015}}


⚫
The caliph is depicted as a [[laziness|lazy]] man, reclining on [[pillow]]s and smoking a [[hookah]].<ref name="Sensoy" /> When he discovers the magic lamp of [[Aladdin]], his expression turns to "child-like glee" and his motive for the rest of the short is [[greed]]. His facial expressions during the pursuit of the lamp tend toward the [[grotesque]], while he is waving a big [[sword]] and [[growling]].<ref name="Sensoy" /> As do Middle Eastern [[villain]]s in other Looney Tunes shorts, he has bushy [[eyebrow]]s, [[moustache]] and [[beard]] which enhance his physically intimidating presence.<ref name="Sensoy" />{{Vague|date=April 2019}}
⚫
This short was the earliest in the Bugs Bunny series to be set in either the [[Middle East]] or [[North Africa]], and the first to feature [[Arab people|Arabs]] or [[Islam]]. In this case, the setting is [[Baghdad]], depicted with [[Las Vegas]]-style flashy signs and desert-like streets. Also depicted is the [[used car|used rug]] lot of Mad Man Hassan, where people can sell their [[magic carpet]]s.<ref name="Sensoy">Sensoy (2010), p. 113-123</ref> The scene soon shifts to the palace of [[Caliph]] Hassan Pfeffer, built on a [[G.I. Bill|G.I. loan]], a [[mortgage loan]] for [[veteran]]s guaranteed by the [[federal government of the United States]].<ref name="Sensoy"/>


⚫
Such shorts reinforce stereotypes concerning Muslims and Middle Easterners, depicting them as lazy, [[hedonism|hedonistic]], [[pleasure]]-seeking, easily angered, and indiscriminately and irrationally violent. Punishments for various offenses are depicted as too severe, [[Draco (lawgiver)|Draconian]] in favoring [[capital punishment]] for the most minor of offenses. "Death is the default punishment" is a concept used to reinforce such stereotypes.<ref name="Sensoy" /> The G.I. loan that financed the building of the caliph's palace fits another stereotype: that of Muslim men deriving their power from the support of the [[Western world]].<ref name="Sensoy" /> These shorts tend to make no distinctions among [[Arab people|Arabs]], [[Muslim]]s, and [[Persian people|Persians]], terms which in popular culture tend to be depicted as "interchangeable".<ref name="Sensoy" />{{Relevance inline|date=April 2019}}
⚫
The caliph is depicted as a [[laziness|lazy]] man, reclining on [[pillow]]s and smoking a [[hookah]].<ref name="Sensoy"/> When he discovers the magic lamp of [[Aladdin]], his expression turns to "child-like glee" and his motive for the rest of the short is [[greed]]. His facial expressions during the pursuit of the lamp tend toward the [[grotesque]], while he is waving a big [[sword]] and [[growling]].<ref name="Sensoy"/> As do Middle Eastern [[villain]]s in other Looney Tunes shorts, he has bushy [[eyebrow]]s, [[moustache]] and [[beard]] which enhance his physically intimidating presence.<ref name="Sensoy"/>


⚫
For all the menace of their weapons (often swords), they are inept in using them and easily manipulated by the "Western hero" Bugs.<ref name="Sensoy" /> Also lacking are depictions of [[diligence]] and [[productivity]] in the Middle East, thus portraying the Middle East as being a cultural backwater, unaffected by [[modernity]].<ref name="Sensoy" />{{Lopsided}}
⚫
Such shorts reinforce stereotypes concerning Muslims and Middle Easterners, depicting them as lazy, [[hedonism|hedonistic]], [[pleasure]]-seeking, easily angered, and indiscriminately and irrationally violent. Punishments for various offenses are depicted as too severe, [[Draco (lawgiver)|Draconian]] in favoring [[capital punishment]] for the most minor of offenses. "Death is the default punishment" is a concept used to reinforce such stereotypes.<ref name="Sensoy"/> The G.I. loan that financed the building of the caliph's palace fits another stereotype: that of Muslim men deriving their power from the support of the [[Western world]].<ref name="Sensoy"/> These shorts tend to make no distinctions among [[Arab people|Arabs]], [[Muslim]]s, and [[Persian people|Persians]], terms which in popular culture tend to be depicted as "interchangeable".<ref name="Sensoy"/>


In 1991 when the short was one of 120 [[Looney Tunes]] being shown in [[AMC Theatres]] nationwide prior to, and during, the [[Gulf War]]; Warner Bros. responded to criticism from [[Casey Kasem]], voice artist and radio personality of Arab descent, by issuing the following statement:<blockquote>"To see the short is to recognize it as simply a classic cartoon, produced 43 years ago, satirizing a classic children’s fairy tale, intended - as all our cartoons are - only as good-natured fun".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/fe5cb781cc4ddd286e9474784ec700d9|title=Bagdad Bugs Bunny Cartoon Tickles Funny Bone, Also Offends|last=Wilson|first=Jeff|website=AP NEWS|access-date=2019-04-27}}</ref></blockquote>Vivian Boyer of Warner Bros. further clarified that "it was never intended to be a racist cartoon".<ref name=":0" />
⚫
In these shorts, Muslim men are never depicted as [[intelligence|intelligent]], [[kindness|kind]], [[rationality|rational]], or [[wisdom|wise]]. Some may have [[harem]]s, but they are otherwise familyless and friendless figures. For all the menace of their weapons (often swords), they are inept in using them and easily manipulated by the "Western hero" Bugs.<ref name="Sensoy"/> Also lacking are depictions of [[diligence]] and [[productivity]] in the Middle East, thus portraying the Middle East as being a cultural backwater, unaffected by [[modernity]].<ref name="Sensoy"/>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 07:01, 27 April 2019

A-Lad-In His Lamp
Directed byRobert McKimson
Story byWarren Foster
Based onOne Thousand and One Nights
by Czendze Ormonde
Produced byEdward Selzer
StarringMel Blanc
Jim Backus
(uncredited)
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Animation byCharles McKimson
Phil DeLara
Manny Gould
John Carey
A.C. Gamer
(effects animation)
Layouts byCornett Wood
Backgrounds byRichard H. Thomas
Color processTechnicolor
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
October 23, 1948 (USA)
Running time
7 minutes
LanguageEnglish

A-Lad-In His Lamp is a 1948 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and featuring the Genie and Caliph Hassan Pfeffer who is after Bugs and the Genie in his lamp. The voices of Bugs Bunny and Caliph Hassan Pfeffer are voiced by Mel Blanc and the voice of the Smokey the Genie is played by Jim Backus in one of his first professional roles. The cartoon is a takeoff of the story of Aladdin's Lamp. Elements of this short would later be re-used for the Arabian Era in Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters.

Plot

Bugs finds Aladdin's lamp while digging a rabbit hole; believing it is junk, he starts to clean it so he could use it for an ashtray, and a genie appears and tells him to make a wish. Calling him "Smokey", Bugs reluctantly starts to make multiple wishes, only to be interrupted by the genie each time; Bugs ultimately requests two carrots, which the genie produces. Smokey remarks that he wants to return to his home in Baghdad and Bugs, imagining how fabulous it must be, remarks to himself that he wishes he could go to Baghdad. Interpreting it as an actual wish, Smokey then puts Bugs in the lamp and fires him it like a cannon, as the two fly off to Baghdad, with Bugs flying like an airplane ("Hey, look fellas, I'm a 'hare-plane'!"). Before they arrive in Baghdad, the aerial view depicts two bodies of water named Veronica Lake and Turhan Bay; when in the city, the view includes places such as "The Brown Turban", the Temple Bell telephone company with a sign for Persian to Persian calls, and Mad Man Hassan's used magic carpet lot.

Bugs and the Genie in the lamp arrive in Baghdad, but Bugs' flying in the air sputters and conks out and Bugs and the lamp fall into the Royal Palace of Caliph Hassan Pfeffer (built on a GI Loan), first angering the Caliph, who then wants the lamp. When Bugs refuses ("Eh, correction, doc. 'Bugs Bunny's lamp!"), the Caliph threatens Bugs at swordpoint ("Just a minute, doc. Let's not start splitting hares!"); after Bugs escapes the sword, a chase starts. When Bugs hides behind a door and ladies shriek, forcing him out of the room he had just entered, Bugs points out it is a harem ("Er, uh, a 'hare-um', I tink."), which encourages Smokey to pop out and take a peek himself ("Oh, that's a harem, alright! I know a harem when I see one!")

Bugs' attempts to get the lazy genie's help fail: successive attempts find Smokey bathing ("Oh fiddle-dee-dee! Don't I even get a chance to take a bath? Now, don't bother me!"), eating ("Oh, sweet spirits of camphor! Can't a man get any nourishment around here? Now, go away!"), and beating Bugs with a stick. Bugs quickly tries to escape from the Caliph by taking a magic carpet, rigged with an outboard motor. On the magic carpet, Bugs tries again but interrupts the genie, who is kissing a female genie; her disappearance prompts Smokey to leave, but only after threatening Bugs, "Now you've done it! You've made me simply furious! If you disturb me once more, I'll beat you to a pulp!"

At this moment, the magic carpet runs out of gas, making Bugs crash land back into the palace and the Caliph has the lamp now. When the Caliph tries to get the genie out of the lamp, in spite of Bugs warning him not to (having remembered Smokey's earlier threat if he is disturbed again; "You'll be SORRY!"), Smokey erupts, larger and angrier than before and beats the Caliph to a pulp. Cheering Bugs on his victory, he grants Bugs a wish as a celebration. He whispers to Smokey, who produces a ball that ends up as a puff of smoke when dropped. The scene concludes showing Bugs as a Caliph himself, surrounded by a harem of female rabbits and wondering "what the poor rabbits are doing this season."

Home video releases

A-Lad-In His Lamp has been released on the Warner Home Video laserdisc Wince Upon A Time, and the VHS releases Bugs Bunny's Hare Raising Tales and Looney Tunes Collector's Edition: Daffy Doodles.

Depiction of Middle Easterners

[relevant?]This short was the earliest in the Bugs Bunny series to be set in either the Middle East or North Africa, and the first to feature Arabs or Islam.[citation needed] In this case, the setting is Baghdad, depicted with Las Vegas-style flashy signs and desert-like streets. Also depicted is the used rug lot of Mad Man Hassan, where people can sell their magic carpets.[1] The scene soon shifts to the palace of Caliph Hassan Pfeffer, built on a G.I. loan, a mortgage loan for veterans guaranteed by the federal government of the United States.[1]

The caliph is depicted as a lazy man, reclining on pillows and smoking a hookah.[1] When he discovers the magic lamp of Aladdin, his expression turns to "child-like glee" and his motive for the rest of the short is greed. His facial expressions during the pursuit of the lamp tend toward the grotesque, while he is waving a big sword and growling.[1] As do Middle Eastern villains in other Looney Tunes shorts, he has bushy eyebrows, moustache and beard which enhance his physically intimidating presence.[1][vague]

Such shorts reinforce stereotypes concerning Muslims and Middle Easterners, depicting them as lazy, hedonistic, pleasure-seeking, easily angered, and indiscriminately and irrationally violent. Punishments for various offenses are depicted as too severe, Draconian in favoring capital punishment for the most minor of offenses. "Death is the default punishment" is a concept used to reinforce such stereotypes.[1] The G.I. loan that financed the building of the caliph's palace fits another stereotype: that of Muslim men deriving their power from the support of the Western world.[1] These shorts tend to make no distinctions among Arabs, Muslims, and Persians, terms which in popular culture tend to be depicted as "interchangeable".[1][relevant?]

For all the menace of their weapons (often swords), they are inept in using them and easily manipulated by the "Western hero" Bugs.[1] Also lacking are depictions of diligence and productivity in the Middle East, thus portraying the Middle East as being a cultural backwater, unaffected by modernity.[1][unbalanced opinion?]

In 1991 when the short was one of 120 Looney Tunes being shown in AMC Theatres nationwide prior to, and during, the Gulf War; Warner Bros. responded to criticism from Casey Kasem, voice artist and radio personality of Arab descent, by issuing the following statement:

"To see the short is to recognize it as simply a classic cartoon, produced 43 years ago, satirizing a classic children’s fairy tale, intended - as all our cartoons are - only as good-natured fun".[2]

Vivian Boyer of Warner Bros. further clarified that "it was never intended to be a racist cartoon".[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sensoy (2010), p. 113-123
  2. ^ a b Wilson, Jeff. "Bagdad Bugs Bunny Cartoon Tickles Funny Bone, Also Offends". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2019-04-27.

Sources

External links

Preceded by Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1948 		Succeeded by
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