#there was no Technicolor backlog. surely these shorts dropped the moment they were conceived. surely.)

[ducktracy]

Can I ask why you dislike Bugs and Daffy shorts?

it’ll probably be repeating myself since i know i’ve made mention of this before but DISLIKE ISN’T REALLY THE WORD… i guess “frustration”, and a frustration that is more directed towards myself for not being able to enjoy them more. because i really do hold an immense respect for them! i genuinely think they are all classics and sincerely some of the most iconic cartoons ever made. Chuck Jones especially was on a hot streak with them—i rewatched The Abominable Snow Rabbit and was way surprised at how much i enjoyed it and LAUGHED at it, both because of my previous aversions and my general aversion to the ‘60s cartoons.

it’s just entirely personal taste. the Bugs and Daffy team-ups don’t portray the characters the way in which i get the most out of either of them, and that is entirely 100% my tastes rather than an objective shortcoming. i’ve gone on enough tangents about my Philosophies of Daffy (and will continue to) so i’ll save that, but i’m likewise lukewarm at best to Chuck Jones’ later rabbit—as much as i hate to say it. there are quite a few exceptions to this! Baby Buggy Bunny, Forward March Hare, To Hare is Human and The Hasty Hare are all some i really enjoy. THiH is especially heavy on the Bugs Domesticity i don’t gel with particularly well, and FMH is a bit of an odd casting choice too! but i still got a huge kick out of them watching them for the first time last year.

but, of course, my tastes for Bugs skews towards a much towards the wily, inciting heckler of the ‘40s. i was just having this discussion the other day; i won’t repeat the title becaaaause it is full of slurs! WWII propaganda how we love ye. but at the end of this short, Bugs has a breakdown because he got the peace and quiet he wanted—“AND IF ‘DERE’S ONE T’ING I CAN’T STAND, IT’S PEACE AN’ QUIET!!!! I HATE IT!!!!!” which completely sums up his ideal character to me. i think, as far as ‘50s shorts go, Friz Freleng does a really nice job of maintaining that sort of playfulness and still maintains his street smart Brooklyn roots, at least in comparison to his competition. (conversely, i LOVE McKimson’s ‘40s rabbit. Rebel Rabbit is the epitome of Bugs Bunny to me and falls in line with that same quote. Easter Yeggs is another)

that’s really it… i just don’t want to give the impression that i am some HATER OF BUGS AND DAFFY CARTOONS AND MUST BE ON A LIST. because that is not at all true. i am so persnickety and neurotic with my tastes and am constantly contradicting myself. ‘tis nothing new. as far as my tastes go at this moment, i just don’t get a lot out of those cartoons and tend to even disagree with them for more semi-objective reasons outside of personal taste (i do think they make Daffy a bit too transparent beyond their intentions of caricature, and i do think there is some objective truth in that Bugs is just. boring. in them…) but i still hold a great deal of respect for them and would likewise disagree with anyone who calls them straight up bad. they’re not. they’re masterpieces! they’re iconic for a reason! and therein is the root of my frustration with not being able to appreciate them to my full potential. i likewise don’t discuss them as much since i figure there are more dedicated fans of those cartoons who have more interesting takeaways and more dedicated takeaways that are better candidates to talk about them. i am not above my biases, but do try to make a point to call them out as much as i can for this reason.