| Bugs' Bonnets | |
| Director: | Chuck Jones |
| Story: | Tedd Pierce |
| Animator: | Ken Harris Abe Levitow Ben Washam Richard Thompson |
| Background Artist: | Richard H. Thomas |
| Narrator: | Opening narration: Robert C. Bruce (uncredited) |
| Starring: | Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan (uncredited) |
| Music: | Milt Franklyn |
| Producer: | Edward Selzer (uncredited) |
| Studio: | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Color Process: | Technicolor |
| Runtime: | 6:49 |
| Language: | English |
Bugs' Bonnets is a 1956 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce.[1] The short was released on January 14, 1956, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.[2] The film has both Bugs and Elmer constantly change social roles and personas, based on a series of hats which land on their heads. The film ends with Bugs and Elmer marrying each other, and moving to a cottage. It is a humorous depiction of a same-sex marriage.
The narrative begins with an exploration of the impact of clothing on human behavior. Illustrated through a businessman's metamorphosis into a pirate persona and Elmer Fudd's transition from mundane attire to hunting garb, the narrative underscores how attire can evoke distinct behavioral responses.
To further illustrate this phenomenon, an event occurs when a truck from the Acme Theatrical Hat Co. accidentally scatters hats across the landscape. This event leads to a series of exchanges as Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd don various hats, each triggering a corresponding shift in behavior. Amidst a chase replete with hat exchanges, Bugs adopts roles ranging from a military sergeant to a game warden, while Elmer transforms into General Douglas MacArthur and a pilgrim, among others. Each hat exchange catalyzes a temporary alteration in behavior, leading to confrontations and exchanges between the characters.
Ultimately, the narrative culminates in a whimsical mock wedding ceremony, symbolizing the capricious nature of human behavior and the enduring allure of romantic tropes. As Bugs and Elmer engage in playful antics adorned with incongruous hats, the scene is set to Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" as Bugs carries Elmer to a cottage.
Reaction to the film has been mixed. Reviews on Letterboxd were more positive than negative, in Rate Your Music they received a 3 star average rating.[3] Film Music Central also rated it very positively.[4]
Animation historian Michael Barrier said of the film in a Funnyworld magazine essay over Chuck Jones:
The preciosity that destroyed some of Jones' earliest cartoons . . . giving them a mincing, self-conscious quality . . . shows up [in] Bugs' Bonnets, a dreary exposition on the notion that the hat one wears shapes one's personality.[5]
Bugs' Bonnets is available on the four-disc DVD box set ,[6] as well as the similar, two-disc DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 5.