"Rhapsody Rabbit" is a SUPERLATIVE Bugs Bunny cartoon written by the great Tedd Pierce & Michael Maltese and directed by a man who arguably knew how to incorporate music in his cartoons better than any other director: Isadore "Friz" Freleng. In this film, Bugs Bunny is a concert pianist performing Franz Liszt's famous Second Hungarian Rhapsody, a flamboyant piece of music that has been incorporated in probably countless other cartoons. In order to make "Rhapsody Rabbit" as brilliantly effective as it is, Friz Freleng understood that he needed to familiarize himself with the music score so as to give him & his animators a visual guide.
Bugs Bunny may seem very elegant in executing Liszt's rhapsody on the piano, but, being Bugs Bunny, he still gets a chance to show off his fun-loving nature. Before he begins, he plugs a coughing audience member! His eyebrow wiggle at the opening of the piece indicates that he is going to take the audience - both IN the cartoon and WATCHING the cartoon - for a ride. Among other gags in "Rhapsody Rabbit," Bugs uses the keyboard as a typewriter, he scoops up the piano keys, he answers a telephone call for Franz Liszt and claims he never heard of him, he flips several pages in his music book only to reveal a photograph of a scantily-clad woman, and he even takes an interlude by playing some great boogie-woogie while a mischievous little mouse provides the bass line.
"Rhapsody Rabbit" has been one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons ever since I first saw it on television during my high school days (early 1990s), and since I am a pianist as well, this cartoon is quite dear to my heart. The piano keys that Bugs strikes do not at all correspond with the proper pitches on the piano, but no matter! Friz Freleng and his crew did a commendable job with this wonderful cartoon, which you can find on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 Disc 4, featuring an additional audio commentary by a very knowledgeable music historian named Daniel Goldmark.
Bugs Bunny may seem very elegant in executing Liszt's rhapsody on the piano, but, being Bugs Bunny, he still gets a chance to show off his fun-loving nature. Before he begins, he plugs a coughing audience member! His eyebrow wiggle at the opening of the piece indicates that he is going to take the audience - both IN the cartoon and WATCHING the cartoon - for a ride. Among other gags in "Rhapsody Rabbit," Bugs uses the keyboard as a typewriter, he scoops up the piano keys, he answers a telephone call for Franz Liszt and claims he never heard of him, he flips several pages in his music book only to reveal a photograph of a scantily-clad woman, and he even takes an interlude by playing some great boogie-woogie while a mischievous little mouse provides the bass line.
"Rhapsody Rabbit" has been one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons ever since I first saw it on television during my high school days (early 1990s), and since I am a pianist as well, this cartoon is quite dear to my heart. The piano keys that Bugs strikes do not at all correspond with the proper pitches on the piano, but no matter! Friz Freleng and his crew did a commendable job with this wonderful cartoon, which you can find on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 Disc 4, featuring an additional audio commentary by a very knowledgeable music historian named Daniel Goldmark.