Even if you're not totally familiar with gangster movies from the '40s and '50s, "Bugs and Thugs" still comes out quite funny. When Bugs Bunny accidentally enters a gangster car while crook Rocky is robbing a bank, Rocky decides that Bugs knows too much (e.g., 2+2=4, Carson City is the capital of Nevada, George Washington was our first president), so they take him hostage. As always, Bugs is ahead of everyone. But it's not until the end, during a trick involving the cops - Irish, natch - that Bugs shows his true, normal colors. I probably would have done what Rocky and Mugsy did.
It's just always great how the Looney Tunes cartoons played off of the popular culture of their era. Rocky was probably a parody of James Cagney, and Mugsy just seems to be a big excuse to be dimwitted. Anyway, it's a really funny cartoon, even if we have to wait a little while until Bugs does his usual stuff.