Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944) User Reviews

Funny, especially the time it was made

[rbverhoef · 7/10 · 29 August 2004]

When this cartoon starring Bugs Bunny was released the United States were in a war with Japan and that is something you must keep in mind while watching it. Every couple of seconds the cartoon makes fun of the Japanese and I must admit it is very funny, although very discriminating.

Bugs Bunny floats somewhere in the pacific when he sees land. He thinks it is a quiet island but it is filled with Japanese warriors. First a small soldier, who keeps talking 'Japanese' the entire time, wants to kill Bugs and after he fails a very big one tries to do the same. Of course Bugs will win. After this he faces an entire army but with a smart plan he wins that battle as well. Especially this part is not very nice to Japanese people, although it will make you laugh. Again, the United States were in a war with Japan and even now people make fun about others when they are in war with them.

about as offensive as one can expect

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 8 July 2007]

"Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" is one of the many cartoons that you would have to watch not as straight-forward entertainment, but rather so as to see the sorts of stereotypes that pervaded during WWII. In this case, the world's most famous rabbit washes up on a Pacific island and has to battle a whole slew of stereotyped Japanese people (and at one point even goes so far as to use the derogatory term for a Japanese person). He goes to some rather ugly extremes.

Yes, it's totally racist, but definitely worth seeing as a reference. I wonder whether or not the Axis governments commissioned propaganda movies portraying Americans as ignoramuses; I know that the Japanese government showed its troops Abbott & Costello movies and claimed that all Americans were like that.

Bugs in Japan

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 28 May 2018]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. Actually appreciate it even more through young adults eyes, due to having more knowledge of it, various animation styles, studios, directors and how it all works.

'Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips' is not one of Friz Freleng's best cartoons by any stretch, in a period where he had hit his stride and in one of his better periods. It is far from bad, but it's not one of Freleng's funniest, most imaginative, cleverest or wildest. He did do better than 'Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips' before, during this period and since, but it is a long way from a lesser effort. The presence of Bugs Bunny alone is enough to elevate the cartoon's quality.

It has been argued that some of the content is not for the easily offended. It is not hard to see why. It is stereotypical in its depiction of the Japanese and not in a subtle way and a way that is rather questionable and offensive. It is sometimes heavy-handed as well, an easy trap for "propaganda" cartoons and such and has been known to be fallen into.

Also it is a cartoon that is a product of its time and while interesting from a historical perspective, even when trying to judge it as that, it doesn't hold up so much now. The ending is a bit pat and silly. The story is slight and the pace is not always razor sharp.

However, Bugs shows why he is one of the best and most justifiably popular and famous characters in animation and ever, with such a great personality. The support character amuse sometimes.

The animation is bright in colour, fluid and rich in detail and smooth in movement and design. Ever demonstrating why he has always been my personal favourite of the Looney Tunes composers, Carl Stalling provides yet another energetically characterful, beautifully orchestrated and cleverly action-enhancing music score.

Furthermore, there is very amusing and witty dialogue. Same with the gags, there are many and they are funny, sometimes hilarious, clever and well animated but there are more hilarious and more inventive around. Mel Blanc's voice work is terrific as always.

Overall, a bit conflicted on 'Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips' but interesting and fun enough if not for the easily offended. 6/10 Bethany Cox

A period piece, but..

[simpfann · 16 February 2001]

"Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips". A Bugs Bunny cartoon produced in 1944, during the second World War.

The film features grotesque Japanese stereotypes.

That "definition" aside, I've seen a lot of these "politically incorrect" cartoons, and I say that this sort of thing should not be hidden.

People of Japanese descent may find it offensive, but if this cartoon is to be shown on television at all, there's a simple solution: put a disclaimer on the screen before airing it! That is much more reasonable than hiding the truth completely. Aside from the Japanese stereotypes, this cartoon, IMHO, is very amusing. The current generation of children who watch these cartoons on television have a right to know what's behind their backs.

WWII was an awful thing, but the children may find it interesting to learn about that period of time and see the cartoons and movies produced in that time, to get an idea of the political views of the time. It would make them curious. I am only 14 years old, but we have been weaned on Looney Tunes for decades. The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons have been virtually everywhere in the public since 1930, and this is one of them. WB may be ashamed to be associated with this cartoon, but like it or not, it's there and it was made more than 50 years ago. They act as though these "offensive" cartoons don't even exist! They may have the legal control to ban this cartoon from the air, but then what? Delete all references to WWII from history books? Historical truth should not be shielded and stood behind. There's nothing that can be done about the past, so the past might as well be acknowledged to the people of the present. So as a final word, I say this cartoon is not offensive if you can put yourself in the timeframe in which it was made. Thanks for taking the time to read my discourse, for I have strong opinions about things like this.

He no fool me!

[TheOtherFool · 4/10 · 26 May 2004]

Our favorite looney tune is cruising somewhere on the pacific ocean, finally hitting some beautiful peaceful island... until a Japanese soldier comes up and they have a fight, first on the ground, then up in the air. Bugs gives him some heavy bomb (at least that's what I think it was) so the crazy Japanese guy falls down. Bugs: 'Happy landing'!

Then he takes on a sumo wrestler and in the end serves grenade-filled icecreams to, as he puts it, 'Japs, hundreds of them!'.

As you probably understand, this is propaganda and nothing else. Some would call it racist or whatever but you probably have to consider the time it was made in. There are better propaganda movies though as this is just a bit of a silly one...

4/10.

Horrible!

[gavinwrivera · 1/10 · 17 September 2017]

This episode of Bugs Bunny is nothing but racism. Racism is everywhere in this episode. Basically what happens is Bugs Bunny is in Japan. Then the Japanese people start fighting the United States. (I love Japan, but in WWII, Japan went crazy. However, I don't think you should make an animated short like this.) He then decides to give them ice cream with grenades in them, and then they explode. Come on Warner Brothers, you can do better than this. This episode of Bugs Bunny makes me want to leave the United States.

Controversial but not when taken in context.

[rikyates · 10/10 · 28 December 2000]

It's obvious that this type of material is unlikely to be produced today. But the ridiculous sensitivities of the past decade should not preclude us from viewing that which has been produced in the past. Warner Brothers has seen fit to make it difficult to near impossible to see any of the controversial cartoons within it's vault. This includes this and several other classic Bugs Bunny cartoons. Frankly this kind of forced censorship should not be allowed. I was able to get a hold of this cartoon and I must say that it is quite funny. One just needs to be aware of it's context and it's time frame. Many of the Bugs Bunny cartoons have either been removed from any type of circulation or edited to the point of unwatchability. The latter because of supposed excessive violence for children. Well Bugs was always on a level beyond children anyway. When the twenty mallet hits to Pete Puma's head is reduced to just one hit ... it's not funny anymore. It's the twenty that made it funny in the first place. Back off WB and allow us to watch what we want to watch and to be intelligent enough to discern the context in which it was made!

A good short that has been shoved in the closet

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 9 June 2002]

You have to remember that, at the time this was made, the United States was engaged in a war with Japan. Thus, the stereotypes found here need to be placed in context. Properly explained and appropriately handled exposure is of greater value than pushing this back in the closet and hoping it will go away. It's a well-done short and well worth watching. Worth the trouble to locate. Recommended.

Best Bugs Bunny Cartoon you never saw

[NYGuy322 · 10/10 · 27 February 2002]

I managed to find this cartoon at a video store that had many rare videos on it shelves, this was on a video along with a few other Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons, I must say, besides the horrible stereotyping of Japanese, this cartoon is not that bad. If you can look past these stereotypes, what you will get at the end is a brilliant and funny cartoon from Bugs Bunny. My personal favorite gag for this cartoon is when Bugs fools the soldiers by disguising himself as the Good Humor man and giving out Popsicle sticks with explosives in them, then one soldier comes back, at first the audience might think he is on to Bugs's tricks, but never fear folks, the soldier only comes back to inform Bugs that his popsicle stick says he gets another free popsicle, classic stuff.

It should be seen as a document of its time

[macross_sd · 26 May 2000]

We are in a time now in which it is socially correct to "sweep under the rug" any material which may be uncomfortable. "Bugs Bunny Nips The Nips" certainly fits this bill. The stereotypes of Imperial Japanese soldiers are vicious, with depictions of Japanese as coke-bottle-glasses-wearing "Mr. Motos." It goes without saying that in this day and age this treatment is by no means pleasant, proper, called for, or tolerable from anyone calling themselves a thinking person. That having been said, We shouldn't discard this document as casually as we would anti-foreigner canards from the far right today. "Bugs Bunny..." was produced during the Second World War, at a time in which the United States was battling against Japan. It should be shown in classes to foster discussion on the origins and dissemination of racial stereotypes during a time of war.

Animation Tour de Force

[buzzdav4 · 8/10 · 29 November 2005]

Aside from all the hand-wringing over offending Japanese, a few features of this crazy cartoon should be mentioned: the fabulous planning of "takes" (frames with the artwork stretched to absurdly weird extents to lend realism to rapid movement). When Bugs battles the big soldier in a sumo match, freeze-frame the action for some surprises.

Bugs was a character who could afford a little sexual ambiguity (I guess) and often appeared camping it up as a female (What's Opera Doc was probably the best) and he makes a cute geisha in this 'toon.

I admit: listening to Bug's racial pejoratives as he hands out grenade-laced "Good Rumor" bars to the Japanese soldiers makes me wince a little, but I simply remember the context in which it was created. My father-in-law, a veteran of the Pacific Theater, will be happy to explain.

It depends on how you look at it

[Wizard-8 · 20 January 2010]

There are two ways to look at "Bugs Bunny Nips The Nips". The first and most obvious is that it is an extremely racist cartoon, with the worst Japanese stereotypes (bad teeth, glasses, and acting crazy) and the attitude towards Japanese people (such as when Bugs Bunny starts referring to the Japanese as "Japs", "Monkey Face", and "Slant Eyes".

The other way to look at it is as a reflection of its time. You have to understand the United States was at war, and cartoons like this no doubt boosted the morale of both soldiers and the people in the home front. If you understand cartoons like this provided a need at one time, and that it was a reflection of the times, then it's a lot easier to watch. In fact, there are several non-racist gags in the cartoon that can be enjoyed. Some viewers may also find that the cartoon is so over the top in its depiction of the Japanese that they won't be able to take it seriously.

I don't think Warner Brothers should have withdrawn this cartoon. Certainly not market it to impressionable children, but marketing it towards mature adults (perhaps on a collection of the other withdrawn Warner Brothers cartoons) would probably result in healthy sales. Well, at least the cartoon is currently available on YouTube for those wanting to see it.

I'm just sad that this never made it to DVD

[cartoonnewsCP · 10/10 · 17 June 2016]

If the Japanese want to complain, let them, MGM has the right to do nothing. Just don't watch it, how hard is it. Other people want to see the short, like me, in a restored form. Remember that we were enemy with japan during the 2nd war and propaganda was very important during 1944. Too bad Japanese, if WB decides to release it again, your gonna complain again. it doesn't work like that, you just have to accept that people want to see the film in a good form and you don't have to watch it.

the film is funny and its funny that people actually die here.

cartoons are out of this world. 10/10

"Oh, business is booming . . . "

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 9 September 2017]

. . . Bugs Bunny crows after blowing up hundreds of Japanese Soldiers with his "Good Rumor" Hand Grenades-on-Sticks treats. Perhaps anticipating Ichiro Suzuki's assault on Major League Baseball's hallowed season singles record set by All-American Hero George Sisler, Bugs goads these enemies Hell-bent upon destroying USA institutions with epithets such as "bow-legs," "monkey-face," and "slant-eyes." Warner Bros.' psychic prognosticators use BUGS BUNNY NIPS THE NIPS to forge a Beachhead in History; a bulwark against Rampant Revisionism established to ensure than Posterity Never Forgets the inexorable threat posed by Continents that Outnumber Us. EVERY U.S. cable news outlet here in the Fall of 2017 should be running BUGS BUNNY NIPS THE NIPS At Least twice daily, to remind Millennials of the looming perils foreseen by Warner Bros.' Extreme Early Warning System during the Dark Days of World War Two 75 years ago. This Animated Shorts Seers division (aka, The Looney Tuners) went out of their way to caution We Americans of (The Then) Far Future about our upcoming Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti. Chief among these was the prospect of the World's Far Eastern Continent breeding humans like rabbits, erasing the prospect of a so-called "MAD" or "Mutually Assured Destruction" nuclear deterrent. As I type, Red Commie China is slipping North Korea nukes through its back door. CAN the U.S. accomplish anything by Chernobling the tiny Korean Peninsula? Fat chance! China would immediately nuke us in "retaliation." Even if we managed to wipe out members of this rogue nation at a 2:1 ratio, they could murder all 330 million of us while losing only 660 million of their own (which would merely create more elbow room for the rest of these miscreants!). So what is Warner Bros. suggesting that we do to face down this Asian Threat? The last scene of BUGS BUNNY NIPS THE NIPS shows Bugs chasing down a female American bunny. Obviously, the "Baby Boom" fomented by the returning WWII servicemen from 1946 through 1964 was a mere burp in the bucket to what MUST begin immediately here in America. States such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma MUST be carpeted with new wall-to-wall generations of young Americans through Procreative Carrot-on-a-Stick incentives or Mandatory baby-a-year birthing requirements for virtually ALL females 12 through 60. My math indicates that by the year 2040 we can easily populate the land beneath America's "spacious skies" with THREE BILLON Natural Born U.S. Citizens, beating Bugs Bunny's "Yellow Peril" at their own game!

Propaganda-a definition.

[AlWaYsBOreDAgAiN · 13 March 2008]

Yes, this cartoon can be offensive to Japanese people now and then. However, please take into consideration that this cartoon was propaganda. Propaganda is not supposed to be politically correct. It is supposed to make the viewer have a certain view on a certain issue. This was made when the United States was at war with Japan. And I believe every country involved in World War II had its propaganda cartoons. Countries produce propaganda cartoons and animated things when there is a strong backing throughout the country of that view. World War II had strong backing everywhere. There has been no war since that has been so strongly backed by the public so we have not seen such racist propaganda. Do understand that this short was developed to make people dislike the Japanese. I think it was good propaganda for its time. We don't believe it now because we're not at war with Japan and we have gotten over those stereotypes. However, at the time, people believed that. I think it might be offensive if you take it as a short made with no purpose. But if you understand that its propaganda and understand what that means, its not offensive at all.

Another of the anti-Japanese War Cartoons

[theowinthrop · 3 February 2007]

TOKIO JOKIO was a black and white cartoon, supposedly a captured Japanese newsreel. BUGS BUNNY NIPS THE NIPS is a color cartoon. Bugs is seen inside a floating crate that is in the South Pacific area and that hits an island (Bugs tells us that sooner or later an island always pops up in these stories). He soon finds that the island is full of Japanese soldiers, one in particular he confronts for about half of the cartoon, being threatened by him with a samurai sword and an "anarchist" style round bomb. But he gets the better of the fellow, including wrecking a Japanese warplane the man takes off in by tying the fuselage to a tree. He also dresses up at one point as Emperor Hirohito. Later he will vamp a Sumo wrestler dressed as a geisha. In the end he also blows up several transports full of Japanese soldiers by pretending to be a Good Humor ice cream salesman - and selling ice cream pops containing hand grenades. At the tale end he finds another creature on the island who makes being on the island much more worthwhile.

Except for the stereotyping, it is not as bad a cartoon as TOKIO JOKIO (two of the Japanese show a bit more intelligence here - though not that much more). It is worthwhile to see - and that's about it. The artwork was good too (far more realistic, even with the exaggerated Japanese characteristics than TOKIO JOKIO).

I will add this - I would like to know what were the Japanese entertainments of the Second World War (such as cartoons, if they had them), and whether or not these had massive anti-American stereotypes in them. While I can understand that the Japanese protested against these cartoons by Warners (and their fellow cartoonists in the war at other studios), I can't quite believe that the Japanese film industry did not do a similar job aimed at the Americans. It would be interesting to see them, and then judge who was worse.