Chuck Jones's 'Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears' kicked off an hysterical series of cartoons featuring Mama and Papa Bear and their over-sized son (voiced by Stan Freberg in his debut Warner Bros. cartoons). Despite some funny moments early on, however, 'Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears' is easily the weakest of the series. The main problem is the presence of Bugs, whose character sits oddly with the bear characters. All the funniest moments are courtesy of the bears and Bugs' antics just get in the way. Not that Bugs actually does that much at all. He turns up, briefly fulfills the regular Goldilocks role and then averts a savaging from Mother Bear with some insincere charm only to fall foul of her amorous advances. It's hardly Bugs' finest hour. He gets to perform just one bit and even that backfires! Aside from these story problems, there are some detrimental differences with the bear characters. Mel Blanc voices Father Bear, a role usually performed brilliantly by Billy Bletcher. While Blanc is still very funny, Bletcher made the role so thoroughly his own that it is retrospectively odd to hear Blanc filling the role. Far more harmful, however, is the scraggy look of the bears. The Mother Bear in particular is often completely grotesque. These unappealing designs would quickly be rectified but they mar 'Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears' further. The main notable thing about this short is that it introduced the Three Bears characters who would go on to star in some truly hilarious cult cartoons. Unfortunately, this first installment is an outing I'm sure both the bears and Bugs would rather forget!