Backwoods Bunny

Backwoods Bunny is a 1959 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.
== Plot ==
Bugs is traveling underground, and he runs into a tree. When he pokes his head out of the dirt, he wonders where he is, and looks over at a sign that says, "Y'all's in the Ozarks". As he decides to stay where he is and clean out his hole, the scene turns to a small cottage placed atop a tall bare tree occupied by a father buzzard named Pappy and his son Elvis.
Pappy and his son are dirt poor, flies are buzzing around him and the shack they're living in is apparently run-down. Pappy smells something unusual and calls for Elvis to bring his "long distance seein' glasses". He says, "My nose is twichin' like there's eatin' vittles a'movin' around down thar." As Elvis brings the binoculars, Pappy tells him to look through them, and as Elvis goes out onto the porch and looks around, he spots Bugs cleaning out his hole. Elvis plans to catch Bugs by luring him with a carrot. Bugs spots Elvis and says, "Uh oh, looks like I got company". Elvis places the carrot by the entrance to his hole, and Bugs says, "Well, here we go with the carrot bit."
Bugs puts his hand out to feel the carrot long enough to lure Elvis to the hole entrance, and Elvis tries to catch him but misses. We see Bug's arm come out of the hole again and Elvis grabs it and takes off toward the tree. We now see that the 'arm' is a long hose (ironically in the same colour as Bugs's fur, with a white glove on the end of it). Bugs attaches the other end of the hose to a water tap and turns on the water. The force of the water exiting the hose is strong enough to knock Elvis off of his feet and knocks him back and forth between two trees. Bugs turns off the water and Elvis falls to the ground. Bugs walks over chewing a carrot, and asks Elvis, "What are you gonna do with that snake, Doc?". Elvis panics and yells, "Snake?? Get 'im off me boy! Get 'im offa me! Here, y'all hold on to 'im and I'll fetch my shootin' iron and help you kill it," and flies off toward the cottage. Bugs says, "Hmph. He may be a buzzard to his pappy, but to me he's a foist class pigeon."
Elvis re-appears, shootin' iron in hand looking for the snake, and Bugs says there aren't any snakes around. "Now, if you're hunting snakes --". Elvis interrupts and remembers that he's hunting a rabbit and realizes that Bugs is that very rabbit he's been hunting, and points the gun right at Bugs' nose. "I'm goin' fix you good, that's what I'm gonna do!" he threatens. Bugs takes the end of the rifle barrel and moves it onto the top of his head. As Elvis shoots, the barrel is aiming too high and misses Bugs entirely. Bugs tells Elvis, "Ooops, you missed me Doc, I better get a little closer." Bugs inches closer and Elvis backs off and tells Bugs to stop that, and as Bugs inches closer the end of the barrel edges further away. Inching further, he backs Elvis up toward a cliff. Soon Elvis is forced off the edge of the cliff and falls to the ground. Bugs says, "Now that's what I call making a good impression!"
Back in the tree top cottage, Pappy asks Elvis if he caught the "eatin' rabbit" yet. At the bottom of the tree, Elvis states, "I almost got 'im Pappy!" We hear a feminine voice coming from off-screen that says, "Hello there, y'all!" Elvis's tongue hangs out of his mouth as he goes nuts for Bugs, who is dressed in a hillbilly woman's dress with his ears pulled back like long hair, swishing his hips to appear more provocative. "Be ya'all lookin' for someone, Sugar?", he asks. Elvis pants and howls like a dog at the strange girl's beauty. She asks, "Who y'all lookin' for, honey?" Elvis says, "Du-uh, y'all" as he removes his hat and appears smitten toward the girl. As he's telling Bugs that he is purdy, and has pretty eyes and a real purdy dress, then realizes that it's Bugs, the rabbit he's been fixin' to shoot. "And now I'm aimin' to do it, you purdy little thing!" He raises his gun and Bugs takes off for the safety of his hole, where upon entering, jumps up in the air, leaving his hillbilly girl costume floating in the breeze as buckshot penetrates the material.
Elvis points his musket into the hole and demands, "All right now, come on outta there, hear?" From the safety of his hole, Bugs says, "Naw, naw, that's not the way it's done, Doc! You gotta say 'If you're not outta there by the time I count to four, I'm gonna shoot ya!' Get it?" Elvis replies, "I sho-nuff do. I'll counts to four and then I'll shoot you." As he starts counting, he has some difficulty with the numbers which gives Bugs ample time to attach some pipes to the end of Elvis's musket that lead all the way to where Pappy is lounging in his tree-top cottage. Pappy takes no notice of the pipe coming up through the floor, the end of which leads directly in front of him.
Elvis gets to 'three' with some help from Bugs, but can't remember what comes after that. He yells up to Pappy, "What come after three in countin' Pappy?" Pappy replies, "Four, Elvis." "What'd y'all say?" asks Elvis. Pappy repeats, "I said, four!" A soon as Elvis hears the number four, he shoots the gun and a blast comes out the end of the pipe, shooting Pappy in the face. Excitedly, Elvis thinks he plugged the rabbit. Pappy corrects Elvis and says, "Elvis, boy, y'all didn't plug no rabbit critter, y'all plugged your pappy! Now what'd y'all wanna do that FOR?" Elvis hears the word "FOUR" again and shoots, sending another blast of bullets up the pipe, which plug Pappy a second time. Pappy, face full of holes from the blasts yells down to the ground, "Now Elvis, ya've gone too FAR" (but it comes out sounding more like the word "four"). Yet another blast comes from the end of the pipe. Pappy yells, "I said FAR, not FOUR", and another blast blows more holes into Pappy. "Now you done it, Elvis! Just wait till I get my two-by-FOUR!" Another blast shoots holes into Pappy's face.
Bugs is now wearing a golfing outfit and acts as if he's ready to hit an imaginary golf ball with a driver. Just as he's just about to yell "FORE", he says, "Nahhh, why should I get in the act?" He turns and starts walking away, singing, "I'm lookin' over, a FOUR leafed clover, that I over looked beFORE! Be-FORE! Be-FORE! Be-FORE!"
== Music ==
* "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover", (uncredited). Music by Harry M. Woods, Lyrics by Mort Dixon
* "Arkansas Traveler", (uncredited). Music by Sanford Faulkner
* "Oh, You Beautiful Doll", (uncredited). Music by Nat Ayer
== Availability ==
lt vs4.jpg|(1982) VHS The Looney Tunes Video Show, Volume 4
Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection.jpg|(2020) Blu-ray Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection, Disc 3 (restored)
=== Streaming ===
Lt warner bros discovery ride.png|Warner Bros. Discovery RIDE (2021 - 2023) (restored)
== Notes ==
* This is the first of two cartoons featuring the hillbilly buzzards Pappy and Elvis, alongside "The Dixie Fryer", a Foghorn Leghorn cartoon, the following year.
* This is the latest Merrie Melodies cartoon to get a Blue Ribbon reissue, and the penultimate latest cartoon overall to be reissued. However, as was standard with reissues released by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, the opening and closing titles were not altered.
== Gallery ==
BackwoodsBunnyCredits1.png
BackwoodsBunnyCredits2.png
Backwoods Bunny title card panorama.png
BackwoodsBunnyLCsm.png|Lobby card
Tumblr nh682uTPqd1s92nono1 1280.jpg|Color guide, circa 1958
People Are Bunny Bonanza Bunny Backwoods Bunny Lead Sheets.jpg|Part of the animator draft along with drafts for "People Are Bunny" and "Bonanza Bunny"
Category:1959
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson
Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons
Category:Bugs Bunny Robert McKimson
Category:Shorts
Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce
Category:Cartoons animated by Warren Batchelder
Category:Cartoons animated by Tom Ray
Category:Cartoons animated by Ted Bonnicksen
Category:Cartoons animated by George Grandpré
Category:Cartoons with music by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by William Butler
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Daws Butler
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons produced by John W. Burton
Category:Blue Ribbon reissues
Category:Re-released cartoons whose original titles are known to exist