lee_eisenberg Review of Stage Door Cartoon

Stage Door Cartoon (1944)

these cartoons had to make use of their vaudeville roots sooner or later

[7/10 · 3 October 2007]

Watching the classic Looney Tunes cartoons, one can see a definite vaudeville influence (which eventually meant old-school). So it's no surprise that "Stage Door Cartoon" portrays an actual vaudeville performance. Specifically, Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny are doing their usual stuff (Elmer hunts Bugs but Bugs makes a fool out of him at every turn), when they run into a theater where there's a vaudeville-style performance taking place. Bugs subsequently puts on a series of acts to avoid getting shot...but what happens at the end really blows everything out of the water! OK, so maybe this cartoon was a place holder in between the really famous cartoons, and people today probably don't know "Stage Door Canteen". But seriously, how can you not like Bugs's gags and Elmer's embarrassment? As far as I'm concerned, as long as these cartoons entertain us, they're doing their job. Worth seeing.