Friz Freleng's 'Bunker Hill Bunny' literally opens with a bang as a series of explosions frame captions informing us that it is 1776 and our setting is the battle of Bagle Heights. Two opposing forts (with the beautifully satirical identifying flags "They" and "We") exchange cannon fire. The inhabitants of these forts turn out to be Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam a.k.a. Sam Von Schamme the Hessian. So the scene is set for battle. As a child I always enjoyed these cartoons in which the characters fight from a distance and I still think it puts an interesting spin of the formula. Bugs has to do all his heckling across the constant large space between him and Sam. This results in a different style of comedy than in the majority of cartoons in which Bugs can be more hands-on. Unfortunately, it also results in a couple of lengthy back-and-forth gags involving flags and cannonballs that quickly become repetitive and tedious. These moments aside (admittedly, the cannonball routine has a very funny punchline) 'Bunker Hill Bunny' is a reliably enjoyable if unremarkable short. There's enough good lines ("I've got you outnumbered one to one") and sight gags ("He Got It!") to counter the dull or predictable jokes and keep most cartoon fans contented until the neatly wrapped-up climax.
Review of Bunker Hill Bunny
