Friday Frolics, Volume 24: Southern Fried Rabbit

Those of you who are at least in your mid-30s probably remember the days when the Looney Tunes cartoons were a fixture on Saturday morning TV. And, there were plenty of other times you could watch Bugs, Daffy and the rest of the crew. Back in the 70s, no one seemed to worry if a cartoon was too violent or was politically incorrect (geez, that term didn't even exist back then). In the years since, things have changed mightily. First, the Looney Tunes were stripped of their playful brand of violence. Then, the more politically incorrect cartoons vanished from the airwaves. And finally, the Looney Tunes disappeared altogether from any major TV outlets. (The reasons behind that are fodder for an entirely different post.)

While being semi-comatose after a long day of work last week, it dawned on me I hadn't seen the Bugs Bunny cartoon "Southern Fried Rabbit" in years. It was one of the Bugs cartoons that disappeared sometime between the time I turned 13 and the time I graduated from college. Of course, the cartoon was both violent and politically incorrect. It starts with Bugs facing a carrot famine up north and deciding to schlep to Alabama where a record carrot harvest is taking place. I'll let you pick up the story from there when you watch the uncut cartoon which is included below.

But first, I have a related story. My cousin Tim and I lived together through most the 90s. One weekend during that time, the Cartoon Network aired a weekend long Looney Tunes Marathon. Tim taped every minute of the marathon in an attempt to get "Southern Fried Rabbit" on tape. Tim ended up finding that it aired at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday, but he was very disappointed to find that roughly half the cartoon was not aired. All the scenes of Yosemite Sam getting blasted on were gone and another minute long scene from the middle of it were gone. Once you watch the cartoon, you'll know exactly what minute I'm talking about. Then, you can make your own decision...is this cartoon a piece of art lost to political correctness or is it a product of an era that's best forgotten? I think the regular readers know what I think.