Racketeer Rabbit (1946) User Reviews

I watched the remake of this first...

[Mightyzebra · 8/10 · 18 August 2008]

... My favourite Bugs Bunny episode ever is "Bugs and Thugs" and having watched this before this, some of the jokes in "Racketeer Rabbit" were not too much of a surprise for me, so it was not as humorous as it could have been.

I did like this episode quite a deal because of the animation, some of the jokes (which I was not expecting) and the character of Bugs Bunny in this episode.

The reasons this was not quite up to my standards is because some of the jokes are quite "scary" (like the one where one of the robbers is constantly shooting a gun) and that I was expecting quite a few of the jokes (as I have said before as I am very boring and repetitive).

Anyhow, in this Bugs Bunny cartoon, it starts with the famous grey rabbit spending the night inside a big house. He is disturbed by robbers coming into the house, which is their home and he decides to make sure that they do him no harm...

I recommend this episode to people who like Bugs Bunny, to people who have not yet watched "Bugs and Thugs" and to people who like WB in general. Enjoy "Racketeer Rabbit"! :-)

Bugs Bunny channels Scarface, Peter Lorre, Tom Powers, George Raft, and all the rest of the miscreants . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 30 September 2017]

. . . from America's sordid, crime-infested past to flesh out Warner Bros. urgent Extreme Early Warning to We Americans of (The Then) Far Future about the threat posed to us by the Rump\Kushner Crime Cartel. In one sequence early on, Bugs dons a plethora of disguises to collect multiple unearned shares of "Rocky's" ill-gotten loot, by which device Warner's Animated Shorts Seers division (aka, The Looney Tuners) aptly demonstrate how the many "shell corporations" of the Rump\Kushner Money-Laundering Vice Syndicate skimmed billions of dollars from the Russian Oligarchs, led of course by Crime Lord Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "Mad Dog" Putin. This, of course, helped Mad Dog turn the screws on Rump, famously recruited as a Future Fifth Columnist Quisling Mole-to-be as a Reform School Malcontent by Putin's KGB predecessors, in terms of eliminating Puerto Rican Disaster Relief, Planned Parenthood, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, ObamaCare, America's National Parks and Monuments, and the Veterans' Administration all the better to loot the U.S. Treasury and send shiploads of Gold Bullion from Fort Knox directly to the Kremlin in clear violation of the Jones Act. Don't complain that Warner Bros. did not try to warn you of all this through RACKETEER RABBIT!

"Its curtains for ya Rocky... curtains, see!"

[horseloverab · 10 May 2003]

Bugs stars with Robinson and Lorre in one of the finest gangster cartoons ever!

As our story begins we find Bugs making himself at home in a large, deserted house. No sooner does he get to sleep than he is awaken by two mobsters returning from robbing the bank, Rocky and Hugo, who have claimed the old house as their hideout.

After they ward off the police through the use of a revolver and machine gun (Hugo appears to be having a little trouble), they count out the money. When Bugs seems to get the biggest cut of the doe, Rocky gets mad and grills him to make sure he hasn't witnessed anything that may get them into hot water. He soon decides that Bugs knows too much and asks Hugo to "take him for a ride", in other words, to do away with him. But surprise, surprise- Bugs returns from the outing instead of Hugo!

After some hilarious antics between the two (including an amusing scene where tough-guy "Bugsy" threatens to give an intimidated Rocky "the curtains") Bugs fools the mug into thinking that the cops have tracked him down and are coming to take him away. But after begging Bugs to hide him and going through several painful trips up and down the stairs while locked in an old trunk, Rocky realizes that he's better off with the coppers and runs into town, yelling for them to take him away from "that crazy rabbit!"

One of my all-time Bugs Bunny favorites and highly-recommended viewing for all!

Bugs and Rocky make a great duo!

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 8 May 2010]

Utterly hilarious and absorbing from start to finish, Racketeer Rabbit is a must see for any Looney Tunes fan. Bugs is on top form, as is Rocky, and the two make an unmistakeably great duo, making the most of some truly juicy dialogue, hilarious sight gags and an interesting story. Also superb is the animation, the backgrounds are very nice and both Bugs and Rocky are drawn really well. The music is also great, rousing, jaunty, tongue-in-cheek yet beautiful as well. The pacing is just right, and Mel Blanc's vocal characterisations are nigh-on perfect, is there anything this immortal voice actor cannot do, he never fails to impress me. Overall, hilarious and a must-see! 10/10 Bethany Cox

Eh, ya wacky loony cahtoon. I'll put one in ya for every second I ain't laughin', see?

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 14 January 2007]

One of the things that I like most about the Looney Tunes cartoons - aside from their full-scale irreverence - is how they play off of the popular culture of their eras. "Racketeer Rabbit" features gangsters Rocky and Hugo (resembling Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre, respectively) hiding out in a house where Bugs Bunny is staying. As soon as the rascally rabbit meets the thugs, he makes their lives a living hell. I think that my favorite scene is when they make Bugs talk; if only we all had the courage to do that! And then of course, there's the handing over of the dough.

Anyway, it's totally hilarious. You just might laugh yourself sick. A veritable classic. Of course, I didn't get the cultural references when I was really young.

And don't worry about not laughing: you'll probably spend the whole time in laughter.

"Rocky's Mad Now!","Take This Guy for a Ride" "He's Funny, He Makes Me Laugh, Ah-hah!" "Open Up Rocky, It's The Cops!",".....and Me, Boss!" &#

[redryan64 · 10/10 · 16 September 2007]

Busby Berkely Musicals, Big Screen Biographies, Gangster Movies and Cartoons from 'Termite Terrace' all get together and spell out WARNER BROTHERS! If you combine the last 2 you've got our next victim, RACKETEER RABBIT(1946).

The Story: Starts out with 2 rival gangsters' cars driving a slick, wet highway with one being in obvious pursuit of the other, with the guns afirin' anda shootin' at each other.

The guys in the first car ( an Edward G. Robinson and a Peter Lorre caricature) pull in to what looks like an abandoned farm house, and their enemy pursuers leave.

The abandoned house is being occupied by Bugs, who sort of accidentally bumps into the lawless pair. After a Magical Bugs Bunny moment, The Edward G. type, 'Rocky'and 'Hugo'(the Peter Lorre type)decide to "take him for a ride!" Upon hearing that, a jubilant Bugs leaves frame, only to return immediately saying,"Oh good, I just love going for a Ride!", only now he's wearing an "Old Fashioned"driving gear, Hat and Coverall. This all being accompanied with a brief musical quotation of "IN YOUR ROCKET OLDSMOBILE" playing in the score.

This is Warner Brothers Cartoon Unit at its very best! The Colors, the backgrounds, the music, the non-sequitor situations all add up to a Cartoon that everyone should have in their own collections.

And speaking of Music, Warners/LOONEY TUNES/MERRIE MELODIES cartoons benefited from having Carl Stalling as Musical Director. Every one of his soundtracks are a mini work of Art in themselves. Warner's Animation Department also made use of the Music Publishing Company that Warner Brothers owned. Hence, a short 'quotation' of "LOOK OUT FOR JIMMY VALENTINE" in the score, at the opening credits. (An Old Song about an Old Time Bad Dude!) Please, let us not forget Director I."Fritz" Freleng, Writer Michael Maltese and the whole darn great Animation Crew from "Termite Terrace" for turning in yet another Great, Classic Cartoon.

And just one more name to Credit, and it's Mel Blanc. 'Nuff said! It is an additional treat in using the caricatures of Mr. Peter Lorre and Edward G. Robinson, both of whom did a lot of their best work at Warner Brothers.

For a "Symulated Motion, Illustrative Representational Surrealistic Mood Conveyance and Emotion Propagator",* this one is really Tops!!!

NOTE: * It's a 6 Bit Name for a Cartoon! C'mon, Schultz, get with it!

Where's Your Messiah Now??

[erichyoung · 10/10 · 29 August 2001]

Of course, I'm referring to Billy Crystal's Edward G. Robinson routine which refers to "10 Commandments". Yep, you get to see "Little Ceasar" here with Peter Lorre as a sidekick. And bugs outsmarts 'em, of course. Look for a "Bugsy" cameo. Pure fun, ya see!

Nice little Bugsy Siegel parody!

[blanbrn · 6/10 · 26 June 2021]

This 1946 looney tunes cartoon from Warner Brothers really was one that tried to capture pop culture and the current times of the Gangster era. Called "Racketeer Rabbit" the story involves Bugs going away to a hotel to get a night's sleep or rest only two gangsters show up on the run and you guessed it the rabbit is clever as he outsmarts the two and keeps the pressure on them! The gags and jokes are just right and Bugs does a little parody by being a wise guy himself in the form of the famous Bugsy Siegel! Overall fun cartoon that's clever with good backgrounds and animation a highly memorable one.

Now on DVD!

[amazeika · 10/10 · 25 February 2009]

The bad news? This classic send-up of gangster movies and long-time Warner Brothers stars Edward G. Robinson (who the Motion Picture Academy never saw fit to award an Oscar)and Peter Lorre is NOT available among the SIX volumes of the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection".

How "Racketeer Rabbit" missed that cut is mind-boggling, especially after viewing some of the very late 1950s "declining years" cartoons that WERE deemed worthy of inclusion on volume 6. Even worse, it's been announced that Volume 6 is the last of the Golden Collection Series. What's up with that, Doc? The GOOD news is that RACKETEER RABBIT IS available on DVD as a bonus feature with the documentary PUBLIC ENEMIES: THE GOLDEN AGE OF GANGSTER FILMS which also includes the 1953 reworking of the Bugs/Gangsters subject, BUGS AND THUGS.

PUBLIC ENEMIES... is included as part of the boxed set WARNERS GANGSTER COLLECTION, VOLUME 4 but I picked it by itself on eBay. The DVD is worth the 9.95 I paid for just to have the 2 cartoons discussed.

Rocky: "What a minute, coppers, come back! Don't leave me here with that crazy rabbit!"