Sadly Over-hyped

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Wackiki Wabbit (1943)*** 1/2 (out of 4)Delightful short has two men lost at sea when their prayers are answered. They finally spot some land and once on the island they see Bugs Bunny and plan on a rabbit dinner.If you're a fan of Bugs Bunny then you'll find plenty to enjoy here as there are some nice supporting characters, some good laughs and plenty of nice action. I thought both supporting characters were very fun and especially the early scenes at sea where they're looking at each other as food. Bugs is in fine form as he creates some chaos between the two including a very good scene where he replaces himself in their stew.

If you thought that you'd seen every stranded-on-an-uncharted-island scenario, think again. When a pair of castaways (voiced by and resembling Tedd Pierce and Michael Maltese) wash up on an island and find Bugs Bunny, they quickly try to turn him into a meal, only to have him play every possible trick on them. As with many of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons, not only do the cast members break character in one scene, but there's a twist at the end. Oh, and Bugs cross-dresses in one scene.One thing that's worth mentioning about the translation. I think that they implied that it was Hawaiian, but it couldn't have been, as some of the words featured F sounds, of which the Hawaiian language has none (to be certain, it only has about twelve sounds). I don't know whether or not any of the other Pacific island languages have F sounds.But let's not dwell on that. "Wackiki Wabbit" is truly a classic. It'll never be Aloha Oe as long as we have the classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons.

Bugs Bunny lives on a tropical island paradise and meets two castaways voiced by Mike Maltese and Tedd Pierce, who are also renowned writers of Bugs' cartoons. I loved the part where Bugs is speaking some island language to them and then doing some crazy hula dance!!! These cartoons are ageless. They are far funnier today than anything new!!!

If you're a stranded castaway on a desert island and you find your nearest neighbor is Bugs Bunny...maybe it's time to build a getaway boat.The two seagoing saps in "Wackiki Wabbit" don't take the hint, though, and make the mistake of trying to make Bugs part of their regularly balanced diet after days of starvation and considering each other as main courses ("...and hold the onions", one mutters).Bugs holds his own well as if there were a doubt, and the big and little castaways make like a disheveled version of Abbott and Costello (even looking the part) and are voiced by Bugs' regular writers Maltese and Pierce (hey, at least they didn't have to hire out for new voices!) with a penchant for sing-songy tunes of joy ("We're gonna have roast rabbit!" and "We're going on a boo-ooat!" are their favorites).Chuck Jones again proves why he is such a pro at this kind of thing with the breath-taking island vistas and Mel Blanc makes smart-aleck repartee a work of art. And creating a marionette out of a roast chicken never looked so easy before.Ten stars and an authentic hula dance from Bugs for "Wackiki Wabbit". You can't get more "Wackiki" than this.