Bugs Bunny: Big Top Bunny [VHS]
Since his first appearance in 1938, Bugs Bunny has amused audiences  young and old. Even after repeated viewings, it's still amazing how funny and clever both Bugs and his creators were. Bugs battled Elmer, Bugs battled Daffy, Bugs battled witches and evil scientists. Bugs even battled the Abominable Snowman. That last episode (as well as the evil-scientist one) is among the featured cartoons inBugs Bunny: Big Top Bunny, which offers up a nice little collection of Bugs's adventures that include 'toons from the legendary animators Robert McKimson and Chuck Jones. For adults, these cartoons are interesting in how they show the evolution of Bugs in both literal and figurative animation. "Big Top Bunny" (1951) originally part of Merrie Melodies and done by McKimson, pits the hare-brained (translation: smart) bunny against an egotistical and envious circus acrobat. "Water, Water Every Hare" (1952) is a Looney Tunes/Chuck Jones offering that finds the intrepid rabbit lost in the lab of a mad scientist (don't worry, Bugs outwits him). "Rabbit Rampage" (1955), another Looney Tunes/Jones collaboration, is a particularly clever short featuring a petulant Bugs battling an unseen animator. Meanwhile, Daffy and Bugs highlight "Abominable Snow-Rabbit" (1961). Bugs is the imp in the shorts "Rabbit's Skin" and "Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid" (1942).--N.F. Mendoza