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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’