oscaralbert Review of The Wacky Wabbit

The Wacky Wabbit (1942)

This animated version of Edgar Allan Poe's short story . . .

[8/10 · 30 October 2016]

. . . "The Goldbug" does not shy away from ANY of the gruesome details readers will remember from the original story. Whether the initial talking skull or being buried alive; and from the yodeling sexton through explosions wilting limp over Charnel Tunnels twinkling with eerie starlight, it's all here. There are even a few echoes of other Poe masterworks, as when Bugs makes sure that Fat Elmer hears the tintinnabulation of "The Bells," or as Looney Tuners subtly remind Edgar Allan's fan base of the strangling corset that killed "Annabelle Lee" by having Bugs reveal that item of lingerie--in robin's egg blue--cinched tightly around Mr. Fudd's middle through an act of sartorial vandalism (probably the main reason why THE WACKY WABBIT uses Fat Elmer to begin with, rather than the three-times a lesser man, Regular Elmer). Of course, Gold Fever was the main character flaw for the Master of the Macabre's original Goldbug protagonist, which is highlighted by the violently gory grand finale of THE WACKY WABBIT. If a young Master Poe had seen this Looney Tune during his formative stage, his later literary output surely would have turned out even MORE warped and twisted, and that's saying something.