Director: Friz Freleng
Release date: September 7, 1963
Stars: Bugs Bunny
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
In the 1960s the quality of the Warner Bros. Cartoons rarely reached the heights of the best of the 1940s and 1950s, but there were a few which did so.
‘The Unmentionables’ surely is one of them. The cartoon obviously parodies the television series ‘The Untouchables’, with Bugs Bunny as Elliott Ness (or Elegant Mess, as he’s called in the cartoon). Luckily, ‘The Unmentionables’ doesn’t rely much on the parody element, but has many gags of its own, like silly gangsters (a series of gags harking all the way back to ‘The Great Piggy Bank Robbery’ of 1946) and a great example of Friz Freleng’s timeless lightswitch routines.
The cartoon also sees the welcome return of that infamous gangster duo Rocksy and Mugsy, who make their final appearance here. And then there’s Bugs as a flapper girl! Even the opening shots are wonderful, with some nice 1920s scenes drawn in a retro-1920s art deco style. The whole cartoon is a delight and one of the studio’s final best moments.
Watch ‘The Unmentionables’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Bugs Bunny cartoon No. 162
To the previous Bugs Bunny cartoon: Hare-Breath Hurry
To the next Bugs Bunny cartoon: Mad as a Mars Hare
‘The Unmentionables’ is available on the Blu-Ray-set ‘Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Edition’
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January 2, 2025 at 04:26
Silver Screenings
So much to enjoy here, especially Mel Blanc’s character voices. He was a genius.
November 18, 2024 at 18:09
Tony Perodeau
Yes! When Friz Freleng wanted a cartoon to be good he let his designer Hawley Pratt (co-director in this case) craft noir-ish or art deco designs. Pratt and background artist Tom O’ Loughlin studied the work of John Held Jr. carefully, and Freleng put extra energy in his direction, making this cartoon far superior to his other 1963 releases.
Art Davis is missed on the animation team, but Virgil Ross fills in very nicely when Bugs is in flapper disguise. Among the other credited animators is the multi-talented Art Leonardi.
In the early 2000s the Termite Terrace Trading Post ran an online poll on most popular of the last ten Bugs Bunny releases (1962-4). The Unmentionables had by far the most positive comments, and in number of votes its only serious competitor was Chuck Jones’ Transylvania 6-5000.
November 20, 2024 at 17:54
Gijs Grob
Thank you for your insightful additions!