Southern Fried Rabbit (1953) User Reviews

Bugs Bunny Takes on the South

[texashisbuff · 8/10 · 14 February 2006]

This is a hilarious short which many find offensive. In one sequence Bugs imitates a black slave in the "Uncle Tom" or "Sambo" tradition. It also pokes fun at southerners male and female. I have heard several people of various ethnic groups comment on this and most reacted negatively including some Caucasians. None however were ever upset with Bugs (et.al.) for making fun of the Southern soldier or the southern bell. Early in the cartoon Bugs comes up to the Mason Dixon Line - the line which supposedly separates the North from the South. The north is pictured as desolate while the south is lush and beautiful. People who are upset with this need to remember part of the story is that Bugs is going south because there is a famine in the North. It's a cartoon people: if you can't laugh at yourself don't watch it.

Critters and Yankees

[TheOtherFool · 7/10 · 10 June 2004]

Amusing little banned Bugs Bunny episode in which he goes to the south, as all the big carrots are to be found there. On the 'border' of north and south he has an encounter with Yosemite Sam who has to defend the border, as he thinks the two sides are still at war at each other.

Bugs dresses up a couple of times (as Lincoln and Scarlet O'Hara, among others) to subdue Sam.

There are a couple of hilarious scenes, in particular one including a bomb and the end scene, when Sam takes on 'The Yankees', unaware that a base-ball team is carrying this name nowadays.

In short: very funny and not as offensive as other banned cartoons. 7/10.

the old version of the Civil War

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 8 January 2007]

"Southern Fried Rabbit" contains a scene that we probably wouldn't want to show nowadays: Bugs Bunny in black-face pretending to be a slave. But other than that, it's a really funny cartoon, as that carrot-chomping rascal ends up in Alabama and meets Yosemite Sam, a Confederate colonel under orders to kill Yankees. Sure enough, Bugs knows how to avoid getting hurt...especially if it involves Sam getting maimed.

So, if we can understand that the black-face scene (plus "war between the states", a pro-Confederate description of the Civil War) were pre-conscious manifestations of things, then this is one really hilarious cartoon. Another piece of classic animation. Abraham Lincoln would be proud.

I've long wondered how they were able to get the cross-dressing scenes past the censors.

Apart from one gag that doesn't work, Southern Fried Rabbit is great...

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 22 August 2012]

That is my opinion of course. I do agree that the gag with the slave doesn't work at all and is rather offensive, but other than that I enjoyed Southern Fried Rabbit and don't get why it is banned when there have been more offensive stuff in animation and elsewhere. The rest of the gags are very clever and funny, especially the ending, the gag with the bomb and the rest of Bugs' other guises. The dialogue is fresh and witty. The animation is what you'd expect for a Looney Tunes cartoon, lavish colouring and fluid, detailed backgrounds. The music and sound effects have always added much to the cartoon and the quality of the humour, and Southern Fried Rabbit with its energetic orchestration and hummable songs is no exception to that. Bugs is characteristically arrogant and intelligent, and while Sam is not as greedy as in other collaborations he is still amusingly abrasive and relishes his "I hate you rabbit". Mel Blanc's vocal characterisations are superb. Overall, one poor gag is still not enough to dismiss a funny and underrated short. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Who said the Civil War was over? Not Yosemite Sam!

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 29 June 2002]

This short is absolutely delightful! Yosemite Sam is a Confederate officer (looking remarkably youthful for someone who would be well over 100 years old) assigned to keep Yankees from coming South. Enter our intrepid hero, Bugs, stage left and much hi-jinks ensue. The close is great and probably is every Red Sox fan's secret wish. Well worth watching. Recommended.

"Why, the War Between the States ended almost ninety years ago!"

[slymusic · 23 April 2007]

"Southern Fried Rabbit" is a very good Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam cartoon under the helm of Friz Freleng. When Bugs hears about a record carrot crop in Alabama, he pays a visit to the Cotton State, where Sam, a Confederate soldier, awaits to take care of anyone who dares cross the Mason-Dixon line.

Here are my favorite highlights from this cartoon. Bugs merrily sings "Dixie" as he begins his sprightly walk toward Alabama, but over time he becomes virtually out of breath as he trudges through a vast desert and sings the tune much slower, with the musical accompaniment humorously accommodating the change in tempo. Bugs is very funny in his respective disguises as an African-American slave (who infuriates Sam by singing & playing "Yankee Doodle" on his banjo) and as the six-foot-four Abraham Lincoln, complete with a stovepipe hat. When a bomb explodes in Sam's hands, he hilariously fumes and shouts his familiar catchphrase, "Ooh, I hate that rabbit!" after which he amusingly acknowledges the presence of General Brickwall Jackson (another of Bugs' disguises).

Anyone who is a fan of Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam will have no difficulty enjoying "Southern Fried Rabbit." Aside from "Dixie" and "Yankee Doodle," other well-known vintage songs we hear in this cartoon (thanks to the brilliance of Carl Stalling) are "My Old Kentucky Home," "Swanee River," and "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair."

Many recent media stories have explained . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 11 June 2016]

. . . how NASCAR is polluting the North by enabling vendors to propagate the Racist "Stars and Bars" Traitor's Flag to all corners of America's Heroic True Union, which volunteered to sacrifice 300,000 Heroes' Lives to put down the South's "Peculiar Institution" for the Rabid Dog that it was, involving Rich Lazy Billionaires (adjusted for inflation)--think 19th Century Donald Trumps--sipping their mint juleps booze as they swayed in hammocks, while Black "Slaves" did ALL the work, under the duress of a Reign of Terror, with Rape, Torture, and Sadistic Murder Rituals at every turn. Bugs Bunny appears in Brownface as a representative victim of these Horrendous Crimes against Humanity during SOUTHERN FRIED RABBIT to spread Warner Bros.' warning that the South is plotting to Rise Again by spewing trillions of tons of carbon into our Pristine Yankee Air, with the ensuing Global Warming sending killer bees, venomous snakes, Zika mosquitoes, kudzu, gators, giant rats and roaches, emerald ash borers, pine beetles, big head carp, pythons, as well as the other 990 Dixie Plagues Up North, where they have no right to be. The Traitors' Flags of Hate--displayed prominently in this cartoon--are just the icing on their Treasonous Cake.

The best dark-humour based Bugs' short

[luphuchusl · 9/10 · 19 February 2019]

Bugs is at it again... down south, when he sees Yosemite Sam as a confederate soldier. Pretty good except for the horribly aged blackface gag.

Banned Bunny?!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 11 October 2006]

I saw this cartoon many times growing up and I thought it was pretty funny. However, at the time, I didn't think much about the short segment where Bugs pretends to be a slave begging Yosimite Sam not to beat him!!! Talk about offensive--very offensive! But, at the time, many of us just didn't think about this. Apart from this one horrid scene, though, the rest of the cartoon is very, very funny and it's a darn shame that Time-Warner has chosen to shelve this cartoon due to the racially offensive theme. Instead, it might make a lot more sense to show it and include a prologue talking about the offensiveness of this and understanding the context for when it was made. Or (and I shudder to suggest it), just excise the tiny segment. Banning a cartoon just seems draconian and silly. If you can find it, give it a look--you can find it on Google if you type in "Bugs Bunny banned" and then clicking the video tab.

Uninspired but worth a look for the historical significance of one of the most offensive blackface gags ever!

[phantom_tollbooth · 4/10 · 9 January 2009]

Friz Freleng's 'Southern Fried Rabbit' is a cheap-looking, unimaginative Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam cartoon. Bugs reads of plentiful carrots to be had in Alabama and heads off to fill his boots, only to encounter Yosemite Sam who has sworn to prevent any Yankees from crossing the Mason Dixon line. There follows an uninspired series of gags, most of which involve Bugs disguising himself (including one of the most offensive blackface gags of them all, as Bugs impersonates a slave begging not to be whipped!). The whole set-up quickly becomes repetitive with neither character on great form but it does admittedly culminate in a funny climactic gag. This is a classic case of too little, too late, however, and 'Southern Fried Rabbit' proves to be a rather dull experience.