What's Up Doc?

What's Up Doc?

Directed by Robert McKimson, United States, 1950, 7 Minutes.

What's Up Doc is Bugs Bunny's life story. The short opens up with Bugs by a pool, receiving a call from the Disassociated Press. They want his story, which he recounts for them. He knew he was different from the start, being a rabbit naturally. He turns out to be a precocious piano player and dancer, which lands him a job in the chorus on Broadway. After the star goes sick, Bugs tries to fill in and ends up getting booted off the stage. He quits but ends up being seen by Elmer Fudd who brings him into his act as a sidekick. They move up from Peoria to Buffalo to New York and Bugs decides to reverse the act. Elmer is not happy and brings out his familiar shotgun and Bugs utters his familiar lines, "What's up doc?" This gets a laugh and they move up to doing movies. The short then cuts to Bugs talking on the phone who has to get to filming for his new movie, where he is part of the chorus again.

This isn't my favorite Looney Tunes short but this is definitely a good one. It also shows the level of consistent quality output from the Warner Brothers cartoon division, despite it being from a lesser known director. The music, as usual, is great and has a really catchy song. The jokes aren't as good as some of the other cartoons, but it is still pretty funny. I also liked how this movie focusses less on one big joke at the end in favor of more of a plot. There are some allusions that would slip by most people of any age, like Bugs rejecting a script for a play on Broadway that ran from 1939-47. Besides that, I thought it was a unique and fun short.