Complex sentence: Fred and Mr. Bunny are tied up with black licorice and are to be boiled alive, but they manage to free themselves by eating away the licorice and E.B. survives by dodging the blades.
Split into simpler sentences: Fred and Mr. Bunny are tied up with black licorice and are to be boiled alive. Fred manages to free himself and Mr. Bunny by eating away the licorice and E.B. survives by dodging the blades.