Knights Must Fall (1949) User Reviews

Knights Must Fall was pure hilarity of a Bugs Bunny cartoon

[tavm · 8/10 · 26 July 2010]

Just watched this very funny Bugs Bunny cartoon on YouTube. In this one, Bugs is a knight who accidentally upsets one of his mates by using the posterior of his suit as a garbage can (of all the...). So a joust is planned between the rabbit and Sir Pantsalot. Plenty of funny gags abound in this Friz Freleng outing including the appearance of a band that sounds familiarly hilarious of you know what I mean. There's also a few anachronistic gags that should keep one on one's toes and a kissing one that probably contributed to a public question of what team Bugs was playing during the '90s (as Jerry Seinfeld would say on an episode of his TV show, "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"). Anyway, on that note, Knights Must Fall is highly recommended.

"What's up, Sir Doc?"

[utgard14 · 8/10 · 6 March 2016]

Bugs is in 'Ye Old England' times, where he ticks off a surly knight named Sir Pantsalot of Drop Seat Manor (ha!), leading to a spectacular jousting match between the two. It's a hilarious short, directed by Friz Freleng with a story by Tedd Pierce. Most of the humor comes from modern Bugs being in this medieval setting, making references to Errol Flynn, baseball, and Dick Tracy, and using things like jackhammers that shouldn't exist at the time. That final contraption he builds is pretty cool; I wouldn't mind having one of those myself. It's a beautiful-looking cartoon, with well-drawn characters and backgrounds and rich colors. Wonderful voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. Exciting music from Carl Stalling. Really fun stuff. One laugh after another. I can't imagine anyone who likes Bugs not getting a kick out of this one.

Watch the Original 1949 Cartoon!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 10 June 2008]

"Knights Must Fall" was re-issued in 1964 to tie in with MGM's remake of "Night Must Fall". The cartoon was re-edited to include additional material, including supplementary animation by Ken Washam. Keen-eyed viewers will notice evidences of xeroxing. Also that some scenes (the one with the announcer, for example) differ in style and appear to have been lifted from another cartoon.

Bugs has visited the world of joust and chivalry on three or four previous occasions to greater effect than here. "Knights Must Fall" consists mostly of elemental and somewhat familiar slapstick, but it's nonetheless directed with a vigor that makes it all seem fairly amusing.

"Hey, that Threadbare Palooka is making a Trump out of me . . . "

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 7 November 2017]

. . . Bugs Bunny decries a fate worst than Death as he jousts with the Black Knight, standing in for Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin's White House Sock-Puppet-in-Chief--Don Juan Rump--3:05 into this prophetic offering from Warner Bros.' Animated Shorts Seers (aka, The Looney Tuners) aimed at We Americans of (The Then) Far Future, KNIGHTS MUST FALL. The Benighted Creatures in question are those Racist Confederate Nazi Dupes, Putin's Fifth Columnist Quisling Fellow Travelers Guilty of High Treason, the Black Knights epitomized by "Sir Pantsalot of Dropseat" here. Bugs, representing We True Blue Patriot Loyal Normal Average 99 Per Center Silent Majority Progressive Union Label Citizens, demonstrates how it is vitally urgent to destroy Putin's Black Knights of the KKK by Any Means Necessary. That's why Bugs feels no qualms in resorting to an Iron Horse Steam Engine to reduce ALL of Sir P's fellow miscreants to rubble (along with the ringleader himself, of course) at the close of KNIGHTS MUST FALL. The operative word in Warner Bros.' warning from the World War Two generation to We, Their Posterity, is "MUST," as in it's up to us--and us alone--to take out the Pathetic Cheating Losers following the Pied Piping MANCHURIAN CANDIDATES. Why, just today I noticed a vehicle with one of those infamous Rumps\Scents Bumper Stickers pulling up next to me in a parking lot. Since I always carry extra heavy ceramic toilet tank covers in my transportation, you can guess what happened next!

Forsooth! Friz Freleng hath created another hilarious cartoon!

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 30 October 2006]

Halt thee, knave (or wench)! I shall tell thee a story of a classic Looney Tunes cartoon. OK, I'll cut the Medieval talk, but my point is that "Knights Must Fall" is just great, as Bugs Bunny torments Sir Pantsalot in a Medieval jousting contest. As you may imagine, there's a dynamite gag, but Bugs also does lots of stuff with various kinds of metal. He makes jousting look as fun as "A Knight's Tale" made it look, maybe more so.

All in all, this is one of many cartoons showing that they don't make 'em like they used to. It's a pleasure watching these time and again. Forsooth!

Bugs vs. Sir Pantsalot

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 13 September 2012]

A lot of fun, that's for sure. Bugs is his usual witty self, and the hilariously named Sir Pantsalot is a great foil. The animation is lushly coloured with fluid backgrounds and both Bugs and Pantsalot are skillfully drawn. The music has the right rousing energy, while the story is crisply paced and while slightly routine is still fun. There is some great humour as you would expect from a Looney Tunes short, the dialogue is hilarious, Bugs as ever gets the best lines here, and the gags imaginative and making their mark. Mel Blanc was always a versatile and terrific(if not always subtle) voice actor, and again he proves it with another sterling vocal. All in all, not the best or my favourite Bugs cartoon but still lots of fun. Highly recommended. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Perfectly serviceable cartoon, just not my favorite.

[lukeneedssand · 8/10 · 21 August 2021]

I really enjoy this one, the animation is perfect, beautiful, and awesome. The gags in this one......I dunno, is it just me or does it seem way too similar to Baseball bugs in the way its set up? I mean I know Friz liked to reuse things a lot, so It can't be any coincidence. Just my two sense. However I absolutely love the characters in this one, this is your perfect madcap bugs bunny adventure, and I also can't really fault any of the storywriters on this one either, they're quite talented!

And of course, despite my criticisms, this is still a largely favorable cartoon, from start to finish.

8.3/10.