Baby Buggy Bunny

Baby Buggy Bunny is a 1954 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.
== Plot ==
Ant Hill Harry, alias Babyface Finster, a thirty-five-year-old man who resembles a baby, makes a successful robbery of the Last National Bank disguised with stilts, dark clothes, a carriage, and baby clothing.
Finster loses his money down Bugs' rabbit hole and poses as a foundling in order to gain it back, pinning a “Please take care of my little baby” note to himself. Multiple attempts to grab it are interpreted as a baby's typical grabbiness. Finster even pulls and fires a gun, but this still does not fully register with Bugs. Finster beats Bugs with a baseball bat; he assumes the baby is having a nightmare.
Later, Bugs finds Finster is in the bathroom shaving himself, smoking a cigar, and wearing a tattoo reading "Maisie, Singapore, 1932". A brief news story on Bugs' television makes the rabbit realize what's going on. He takes the time to torment the man, before trussing him up like a baby. Finster reaches his boiling point and tries to stab Bugs with a large butcher knife, but stabs himself in the rear instead and murmurs inaudible obscenities. An angry Bugs repeatedly spanks him, weapons falling out with each blow of Bugs' hand. "We'll just HAVE to learn NOT TO PLAY WITH KNIVES and NOT to use NAUGHTY WORDS! And BELIEVE me, Finster, this hurts you MORE than it does ME!", Bugs berates him, then leaves Finster, still in baby attire but tied to the basket, on the doorstep of the local police station in the basket, along with the returned stolen money and a "please take care of my little baby" letter, which also describes Finster's crimes. Finster is sent to the state prison and is locked inside a playpen within his cell; he does not take it well, throwing a wild tantrum, to which a visiting Bugs says through a barred window, "Don't be such a crybaby. After all, ninety-nine years isn’t forever."
== Censorship ==
* On ABC, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and the syndicated version of Merrie Melodies: Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends, the part where Finster draws a gun on Bugs and Bugs thinks it's a toy (until he gets shot in the face) was cut. Even though the scene doesn't change during this edit, the cut is fairly obvious due to a jump in the audio track.http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-b.aspxchomikuj.plarchive.org
* ABC's version also cut Bugs shaking Baby Finster, admonishing him about playing with dirty money, sticking him in a washing machine, then hurling him into the ceiling, realizing that he has forgotten his fudge, and letting Finster fall to the ground. The ABC edited version just shows Bugs catching Finster climbing the bookshelf and the "Oh, dear, I do believe I've forgotten my fudge"/falling scene, making it look like Finster just fell off the bookshelf.
* Some syndicated versions shorten the part where Bugs shakes Finster, though the other scenes of alleged child abuse (the washing machine and hurling Finster into the ceiling) were left intact.
== Notes ==
* The 2006 film Little Man employs a similar storyline, and on 22 January 2007, was given a Razzie nomination for "Worst Remake or Rip-off" for shamelessly ripping off this storyline, which it went on to 'win'.Golden Raspberry Award Foundation
* Finster's tall, dark, stranger disguise was used throughout The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special with footage of the bank robbery reused. At the end, it was revealed that Porky Pig was wearing the disguise to get the story going.
*Despite being used in the Looney Tunes series, this is the first use of the 1954-1964 Bugs' mugshot in Merrie Melodies.
== Television ==
* Warner Bros. Syndicated package (1964–1990)
* Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends [Syndication] (1990–1992)
* Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon (1992–1995)
* The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (1995–2000)
* The Bugs and Daffy Show [Cartoon Network] (1999–2004)
* The Chuck Jones Show [Cartoon Network] (2001–2004)
* The Looney Tunes Show [Cartoon Network] (2001–2004)
* Looney Tunes on Boomerang (2003–2005; 2013–present)
* Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network (2009–2015)
* Bugs Bunny and Friends [Me TV] (2021–present)
* Toon In with Me [Me TV] (2021–present)
== Availability ==
GUFFAW AND ORDER.jpg|(1994) LaserDisc Guffaw and Order: Looney Tunes Fight Crime
Golden Collection box 2.jpg|(2004) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2, Disc One
Lt cbobb2.jpg|(2005) DVD Looney Tunes Collection Best of Bugs Bunny Volume 2
Lt spotlight 6.jpg|(2008) DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 6, Disc 1
Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny Golden Carrot Collection.png|(2020) DVD Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny Golden Carrot Collection, Disc 2
Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection.jpg|(2020) Blu-ray Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection, Disc 2 (restored and HD)
=== Streaming ===
Lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang (2017 - )
Lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022)
Lt max.jpg|Max (2024 - )
File:Lt itunes.jpg|iTunes ( - ) (restored)
== Gallery ==
BabyBuggyBunnyCredits1.png
BabyBuggyBunnyCredits2.png
Baby buggy bunny-1.png|Finster holds a pistol at an unsuspecting Bugs in an oft-censored scene. ("We'll play some nice games before beddy time. Oh, goodness! Hopalong Finster's gonna shoot the big bad guy rabbit with his toy pistol! (fires pistol) Some toy.")
Baby buggy bunny-2.png|"Have you seen this man? He is Ant Hill Harry, alias Babyface Finster. Notorious bank robber believed to have perpetrated the daring Last National Bank holdup this morning."
Baby buggy bunny-3.png
BabyBuggyBunny2003Restoration.png|Cropped screenshot of 2020 re-restoration
BabyBuggyBunnyLobbyCard.jpg|Lobby card
8x10 bugs bunny repro lot of 8 HP03573 L (5).jpg|Lobby card
=== TV Title Cards ===
Screenshot 2021-01-27 at 9.35.17 AM.png|The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show
== References ==
== External links ==
* Baby Buggy Bunny on the SFX Resource
Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones
Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:1954
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese
Category:Cartoons with music by Milt Franklyn
Category:Bugs Bunny Chuck Jones
Category:Cartoons animated by Abe Levitow
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Ernest Nordli
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Philip DeGuard
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer