Knighty Knight Bugs
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
King Arthur is sitting with his Knights of the Round Table, complaining about hard times that have befallen the kingdom ever since the Black Knight stole the Singing Sword. He asks his knights—among them Sir Osis of Liver and Sir Loin of Beef—for a volunteer to get the sword back. The knights complain that the Black Knight is invincible and has a fire-breathing dragon guarding the sword. King Arthur angrily demands to know if the knights are all chicken, and is dismayed when he hears clucking and sees chicken feathers flying. Bugs, dressed as a court jester, dances in and tells King Arthur that "only a fool" would be crazy enough to go after the Singing Sword. The King agrees ("A good idea, fool."), and tells Bugs that he has to get the singing sword, or else face being executed ("Put to the rack, burned at the stake, and beheaded"). Bugs at first laughs at the idea, but then starts crying when he realizes that the king is serious.
At the castle of the Black Knight—shown to be Yosemite Sam dressed in black armor—there is a fire-breathing dragon that belongs to Sam, but the dragon has come down with a cold from allowing its fire to get low, and thus, is prone to fits of sneezing, causing jets of flame to shoot from its nostrils. Sam feeds the dragon some coal to fuel the dragon's internal fire, and then goes back to taking a nap on his chair. Bugs sneaks in to the castle, past Sam and the dragon and to the chest where he pulls out the singing sword. He openly wonders why it's called a "singing sword" and finds out when it starts vibrating, via a musical saw, to the tune of "Cuddle up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine". Sam wakes up and chases Bugs, but Bugs slams the door in Sam's face, causing his armor to fall off. Sam then wakes up the dragon ("Wake up, you fire-breathing lizard!"), who unintentionally breathes fire on him ("And stop breathing on me, you idjit!").
Bugs runs outside the castle, chased by Sam on the dragon. Bugs ducks into a hole, and Sam slides off the dragon when trying to stop. Bugs then runs back to the castle and raises the drawbridge as Sam approaches, causing Sam to fall into the moat. When Sam demands that Bugs lowers the drawbridge, Bugs lowers it right onto Sam's head, who yells in a muffled voice to raise it back up again. A flat Sam shouts: "Okay, rabbit! You've forced me to use force!" Sam then uses the dragon to pull a catapult in place, gets on it and launches himself to the castle, but misses the window Bugs is looking out of, flattening his front (In a "cramped" voice, Sam declares: "You'll pay for this, varmint!"). Next, Sam lassos a rope around one of the battlements of the castle, but as he is climbing up, Bugs whacks Sam on the head with a mallet ("Now, let's see if I remember. Head down, left arm stiff."), causing Sam to slide down the rope outside of his armor.
Thinking the coast is clear, Bugs sneaks out of the castle. Sam and his dragon are hidden behind a rock waiting for Bugs, but the dragon sneezes on Sam again, alerting Bugs to their presence. Bugs then runs back into the castle, followed by Sam and the dragon. Bugs runs into a room, Sam and the dragon follow, then Bugs sneaks out and locks the door to what is now shown as an explosives room. Surrounded by all kinds of explosives, Sam tries to keep the dragon from sneezing again ("Aagh! Don't sneeze, you stupid dragon, or you'll blow us to the moon!"). As Bugs walks away from the castle, the dragon sneezes again, and the tower Sam and the dragon are in takes off like a rocket, flying towards the moon (Sam glares at the befuddled dragon and says, "Dragons is so stupid!"). Bugs waves goodbye, saying: "Farewell to thee". The singing sword picks up on this and starts humming "Farewell to Thee" as Bugs walks out of sight, ending the cartoon.

Review: Rabbits of a round table..
We all know King Arthur, but what if Bugs Bunny was his court jester?
Quite simply, the king - disappointed at his knights chickening out (in more way than one) - would send Bugs to fetch the Singing Sword kept by the Black Knight, aka Yosemite Sam. And that's just what happens in "Knighty Knight Bugs".
Specifically, when Bugs finds the Singing Sword, it literally starts singing, and Sam comes after him with his pet dragon.
But Bugs tricks them and takes over the castle, leading Sam to pull several embarrassing stunts attempting to re-enter.
I really liked Sam's plan to "sail over the wall".
All in all, they created another classic cartoon here..
"Don't sneeze you stupid Dragon, or you'll blow us to the moon".
This is an above decent cartoon, but it is not the best Bugs cartoon.
I do agree with everyone here that while this is very enjoyable, I am not sure whether the Oscar was deserved or not.
Personally the chief weakness for me was the dragon, while relevant to the story, he turned out pretty useless.
The dialogue is good, but Yosemite gets the best lines somehow, and Bugs while on top form as well is a little underplayed here.
That said, the animation is consistently excellent, the gags particularly with the drawbridge were very funny and the music is wonderful.
And so are the vocals from Mel Blanc, who pretty much immortalises the Looney Tunes cartoons.
Overall, not the best, but definitely one I'll see again.
8/10 Bethany Cox. Solid Effort, But Was Academy Making Up For Lost Time?.
I agree with the reviewers here: this was good, but "the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to win an Academy Award?" That is ridiculous.
I can only surmise that it was similar to what has happened to many famous actors.
They had never won an Academy Award so near the end of their careers, the Academy gives them them on Oscar to make up for past omissions.
Here, "Bugs" gets rewarded for years of service, in reality.
By the end of the 1950s, Bugs' great career wasn't far from being over.This is a funny, beautifully drawn cartoon worthy of praise; it's just not exceptional.
In a nutshell, court jester Bugs Bunny makes a fool out of the Yosemite Sam a.k.a. The Black Knight, the latter guarding the treasured "singing sword." Bugs has to get past the knight, his dumb dragon - who has a cold and a sneezing problem!
- to get the sword and return it to the good guys.Some of the jokes are inventive, some are old, but the story entertains all the way.
It's also 30 seconds shorter than most LT Bugs Bunny episodes.
Overall, it's still a solid effort..
The Oscar Winner.
I think this cartoon truly did deserve an Oscar it was hilarious.
I especially like when Yosemite Sam/The Black Knight shoots himself out of a cannon and crashes into the wall and when he gets flattened by the drawbridge.
Classic line:  Sam:  "Don't sneeze, you stupid dragon, or you'll blow us to the moon."  Sure enough, that's what happens.
Highly recommended..
Looney tunes classic.
This cartoon (Oscar winning animated short for that year) is just out and out hilarious.
I have a weakness for Yosetime Sam, here as the Black Knight trying to get into Bugs' castle.
Of course he fails with hilarious results.
If this doesn't make you chuckle, check your pulse..
A good cartoon, but an Oscar-caliber effort?
I'm not so sure about that.
This short is the only Bugs Bunny short to grab an Oscar.
While it's a good cartoon, I don't think it was the best cartoon of 1958.
It wasn't even the best Bugs Bunny of 1958 (Hare-way To the Stars was).
This is a very good cartoon, of course.
It's just that there were much better ones released in 1958.
At least Bugs got an Oscar, even if it was for something that wasn't among the better of "his" work.
The same can be said for some acting winners.
Recommended..
"Ok, rabbit.
Ya forced me to use force.".
This is the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to win an Academy Award.
This may seem strange to a lot of people because there were so many better Bugs shorts that weren't even nominated for Oscars, let alone won.
But we have to keep in mind this was only up against the rest of the animated shorts from 1958 and the competition that year might have been pretty slim pickings.
As a matter of fact there were only three nominees that year instead of the usual four so it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.
I've seen all three nominees and I can say, for my money, this is the best of the three.
I can't readily think of another 1958 cartoon but I do know that the quality of animation across the board was declining by the late '50s.
There would still be some great stuff to come but the best days of WB, MGM, and even Disney shorts were behind them by this point.Oscar talk aside, this is a very good Bugs Bunny cartoon.
It takes place in the time of King Arthur, here represented as a silly old man.
Arthur asks for a volunteer among his knights to retrieve the Singing Sword from the evil Black Knight (Yosemite Sam) and his fire-breathing dragon.
All of the knights are chicken so King Arthur orders court jester Bugs to retrieve the sword.
If he refuses, he'll be tortured and beheaded!
Bugs goes to the Black Knight's castle to complete his task and Sam obviously tries to stop him.
Now, reading back over what I just wrote, this sure doesn't sound like a funny cartoon, does it?
It actually has a lot of clever bits and great gags.
The idea of Arthur and his knights being cowardly is pretty funny, I thought.
But the short's strength lies in the Bugs vs Sam stuff.
If you've ever seen a Bugs/Sam cartoon before (and I'm sure you have), then you know how much fun these two going toe-to-toe can be.
It's very funny with good animation, lively music, and solid voicework from the always reliable Mel Blanc.
The scenes of Black Knight Sam trying to get back into the castle are hilarious.
Funny stuff with the dragon, too ("Dragons is so stupid!")..
A decent cartoon that somehow won an Oscar.
Friz Freleng's 'Knighty Knight Bugs' is an Oscar winning cartoon which, though a tad overrated, is solidly entertaining throughout.
Jester Bugs Bunny is sent to recover the Singing Sword from Black Knight Yosemite Sam. The set up and ensuing antics immediately bring to mind two other cartoons, Chuck Jones's 'Knight-mare Hare' and Freleng's own 'Sahara Hare'.
While Jones's cartoon shares the same medieval setting, 'Sahara Hare' features a similar storyline as Sam pursues Bugs and finds himself attempting to gain entry to a building in which Bugs has barricaded himself.
'Knighty Knight Bugs' is an improvement on both its forerunners, offering a far more charming depiction of medieval times than in Jones's feeble effort and improving on the gags in 'Sahara Hare' with some consistently amusing if hardly uproarious sequences.
Also reminiscent of 'Sahara Hare' is Sam's relationship with his beast of burden, a camel in the former cartoon and a dragon in this case.
In both cartoons, this relationship is one of the best elements and results in some very funny lines and animations.
All in all, 'Knighty Knight Bugs' is an enjoyably pedestrian cartoon in which being able to see the gags coming doesn't hinder the viewer's enjoyment of their good timing.
Surely not worthy of its Oscar but certainly worthy of being viewed by any cartoon fan..
Not really deserving of being Bugs' sole Oscar winner but still quite enjoyable.
Bugs Bunny comes across a great castle where he finds the treasure of a singing sword.
He attempts to get away with it only to find that the castle is protected by Yosemite Sam and his fierce (?) fire breathing dragon.
When Bugs gets control of the castle, Sam has to try and take it back - without too much success.This cartoon is the only Bugs Bunny effort to have won an Oscar and, while I believe he deserved to have one of his shorts win such an award I don't think that this is the one that he deserved it for.
The plot is fairly usual for Bugs fair and is pretty enjoyable all told - he outsmarts Sam as always and it is generally pretty funny.
The animation is bright and colourful but the material is not as sharp as one would have hoped and Sam actually hurts himself more often than Bugs causes it directly by being smarter.Having said that Sam is still a good foil for Bugs and he makes him a stronger character.
Bugs is as enjoyable as ever even if he is less active and tricky than he usually is.
The dragon is pretty much a non-event and isn't really that good - acting more as a thorn in Sam's side than anything else.
Overall this is still an OK cartoon but it is far from Bugs' best and it doesn't deserve to be the one that he won his award for..
This won an Academy Award?.
All right, it's not totally surprising this Looney Tunes episode won an Academy Award - what is surprising is that it has been the only Bugs Bunny episode to have an A.A!
I agree with ccthemovieman-1, it was silly to rate only this an A.A and not other episodes.
Episodes like "Mad As a Mars Hare" and "Bugs and Thugs" deserve an A.A more than this.Despite what I said in my previous paragraph, I do think this is a good episode.
It has good humour and surprisingly good slapstick (the timing is very good), the King Arthur theme works well and gives a good setting to the episode and the "quest" theme for Bugs also gives a good tone to the episode, amid all the slapstick there is indeed a brave quest being done here.
This short also has one of my favourite Looney Tunes endings, it is quite calm and peaceful (this is NOT a spoiler).A singing sword has been stolen from the Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur wants to send one of his knights to go and recover it.
None of them are brave enough to face the Black Knight (Yosemite Sam) who stole it and turn, literally, chicken.
Then Bugs Bunny, a jester, turns up on the scene and there is a funny plot turn...
I recommend this to people who like Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam teaming up and becoming different characters and to people who like a King Arthur theme in a Looney Tunes episode.
Enjoy!
Knighty Knight Bugs.
It is quite surprising that only five of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies films won Academy Awards, and even more surprising that only one starred Bugs Bunny.
Most people would hope and assume that What's Opera, Doc?
would have been nominated for and won an Oscar, but it doesn't matter, this medieval themed cartoon is a good choice.
The story sees King Arthur saying that one of the knights of the round table should recover the Singing Sword, stolen by the Black Knight, but they have turned chicken.
The fool/jester, Bugs, comes in laughing saying only a fool would go, and the King says he will go, under penalty of death.
So we see the Black Knight, Yosemite Sam, in his castle sleeping with his dumb fire-breathing dragon, that can't help sneezing and breathing.
Bugs manages to get the Singing Sword easily, but then he has to escape, and when the knight and dragon chase him, he runs back into the castle and shuts the gates.
The Black Knight tries a catapult and rope to get into the kingdom, until Bugs sneaks out across a long plank of wood.
They spot him and chase him into a tower of explosives, where Bugs shuts them in, the dragon sneezes fire, blowing them up to the moon, and the film ends with Bugs walking away with the sword singing.
It won the Oscar for Best Short Animated Film.
Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies were number 20, and Bugs Bunny number 10 on The 100 Greatest Cartoons.
Very good!.
You can't go wrong with this cartoon!.
Directed by the wonderful Isadore "Friz" Freleng, "Knighty Knight Bugs" is an Academy Award-winning Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam cartoon set in medieval times.
King Arthur orders his court jester (Bugs) to retrieve the so-called "singing sword" from the clutches of the Black Knight (Sam).
The Black Knight has an explosive temper, but he ain't no match for Bugs!
There is one sequence from "Knighty Knight Bugs" that I find especially amusing.
Sam rides atop his fire-sneezing dragon in pursuit of Bugs.
The dragon makes a sudden stop at a moat crossing, causing Sam to bump forward on all the dragon's scales and fall into the water.
Dashing back to the crossing, Sam orders Bugs to lower the drawbridge, which he does.........right on top of Sam!
I must compliment the fine vocal talent of Mel Blanc in "Knighty Knight Bugs", not only for the voices of Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam but also for those of King Arthur and his various noble knights.
The music score of Milt Franklyn is quite commendable, too, particularly during the opening credits and the chase scenes..
Dragons is so stupid!.
Wow, what a wonderful cartoon.
Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny have always been a good pairing and make cartoons hilarious.
Friz Freleng really took it home this time with the academy award.
Friz actually won four Academy Awards.
The funniest part for me was when Yosemite Sam told the dragon not to sneeze and he did and the some castle turned into a rocket and lifted off..
Bugs in the Middle Ages.
"Knighty Knight Bugs" is a 6.5-minute short film from 1958, so this little cartoon will have its 60th anniversary soon.
World War Ii was over at this point for a long time and so Freleng Foster and Blanc were really unpolitical again with their work here.
And it was one of their biggest successes as it won an Academy Award.
Bugs is ordered to get a Singing Sword for his King, but Sam protects it and this is one of the rare occasions where I can understand Sam as Bugs is basically a thief or maybe I should say his King as what he tells Bugs will happen with him if he does not get the sword.
Add a dragon into the mix, even if he is mostly more like a horse in here and you have this cartoon in a nut-shell.
Some of the action and dialogues were funny, but I don't think it's anywhere near Warner Bros' best.
Worth a watch for cartoon fans, but the Oscars may have been a bit too much.
I recommend checking it out..
Most people have heard of Sir Percival or Sir Gawain .
. during their Medieval Literature Class, but how about Sir Osis of Liver?
Osis is just one of several new wrinkles Warner Bros.' Looney Tune folks iron on to the patchwork of the Arthurian Legends in their KNIGHTY KNIGHT BUGS outing.
Death, of course, is the Number One Theme running through the Age of Chivalry.
As Queen Guenevere qualifies her prospective escort to the Fair in CAMELOT, she asks "You'll pierce right through him?" to which Sir Sagramore replies, "I'll barbecue him!" Bugs Bunny goes Sagramore one or two better in dispatching Yosemite Sam's "Black Knight" here.
First, Bugs pounds and drowns Sam. Then he flattens and folds him.
Next Yosemite is stalled and walled.
Finally, Bugs acts as judge, jury, and executioner, blasting Sam out of the docket via turret rocket.
Since there's no screeching plus-sized ladies around to signify the conclusion of KNIGHTY KNIGHT BUGS, the Looney Tunes animators substitute a warbling broadsword for this final obligatory part of their take on the Dudes of the Round Table.