Response: Bugs Bunny, my hero
Although we made our requisite slog to DisneyWorld when I was a kid, I have to say that the Looney Tunes characters were much more to my liking than any of those that sprang from the head of Walt. Bugs Bunny, that wise-cracking, carrot-chomping rabbit, won my admiration after I witnessed his piano-playing skills and the way he tamed a monster by using, comb, curlers and a manicure. Was there nothing he couldn't do?
His smart-aleck rejoinders, his wise-cracks, even the way he munched on carrots. Bugs Bunny was my hero, no doubt. The thing about Bugs that appealed to me was his ability to always win. Minding his own business, he'd encounter a bully who threatened him in some way. "Of course, you realize, DIS means war," he'd say, and the payback was swift and brutal. Aaahh, how often I visualized myself saying such a thing to the evil Laura Pacheco, who made my elementary school years a living hell. She even called me Bugs Bunny, a tribute to my large buck teeth and incredible overbite.
Like the Saint, I was a latchkey kid, and I do remember having a fondness for the Mickey Mouse Club reruns I'd watch after getting home from school. Lying on the black naugahyde couch, I wanted to be Annette Funnicello, but I envied Darlene's ponytail. Whoever was responsible for Annette's hairstyling should have been shot. Her hair looked worse than mine, and I had a massive cowlick! I don't remember watching it because I had a particular fondness for Mickey Mouse and company, but it was something to do. Did I find the kids appealing in their earnestness? Did I admire their musical abilities? Did I like the cartoons? Did it even occur to me that these were reruns? I have no answer. (After watching the show's intro on YouTube, Head Mousketeer Jimmy seems really creepy.)
Disney, in my opinion, ought to be called to task for a number of issues, not the least of which includes:
- Why are all the mothers dead in the feature-length animated films?
- Why are Ariel's seashells so tiny?
- Why does Snow White have such a high-pitched voice?
- Why was Malificent so much more appealing to me than Sleeping Beauty?
- Why didn't Lady and the Tramp have mongrel puppies?
I still think Looney Tunes cartoons are cleverest by far than any Disney tripe, and much better than anything I've seen today, although I admit I don't spend a lot of time watching children's programming. When my kids turn on Cartoon Network, I mostly get annoyed by the trash that I see there. So much of it is completely inane. Except for SpongeBob (for which I have a soft spot) I can't stand to look at any of the Saturday morning drivel. But if there's an old Bugs Bunny cartoon on, I'm lured to sit a while on the couch and remember the old days.
"Eh ... what's up Doc?"
Labels: Annette Funnicello, Bugs Bunny, winners
posted by Adjective Queen @ 9:49 AM,
3 Comments:
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At Monday, February 19, 2007 3:08:00 PM,
St. Fiacre said...
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The dead mothers have always bothered me, too. I almost mentioned that in my post, so glad you did! I'm sure there's some psychological reason for it.
Good work, Bugs. -
At Monday, February 19, 2007 8:58:00 PM,
Guy Gadbois said...
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Don't forgot the "Palace with the Phallus" brouhaha over the cover of the Little Mermaid home video.
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At Thursday, February 22, 2007 12:21:00 PM,
said...
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Dead mothers? I don’t think the reason is psychological as much as it is dramatic. Parents get in the way of the action, with their constant admonitions to brush your teeth and get to bed on time. I suspect that’s really why Mickey, Donald and even Goofy have nephews instead of offspring. Could Pinocchio ever have gone to Pleasure Island and learned the dangers of drinking beer, smoking cigars and shooting pool if he’d had a mother looking out for him? (That sequence, btw, was the scariest thing I saw in a movie when I was a kid. Jackass ears and tail? Freaked me completely.)
