All This and Rabbit Stew (1941)
A hunter stalking Bugs Bunny through the woods is repeatedly outwitted — tricked into felling his own tree, disarmed by his own gun, chased by a bear he mistakes for his prey — before losing everything to Bugs in a rigged game of dice.
All This and Rabbit Stew is one of the Warner Bros. “Censored Eleven,” pulled from all distribution in 1968 over its racial caricature of the hunter and never restored since, even though the cartoon itself had already entered the public domain in 1969 when its copyright went unrenewed.
Background
Tex Avery directed All This and Rabbit Stew for Warner Bros. in 1941, a Merrie Melodies short in which Bugs Bunny outwits a hunter. The cartoon is one of the Warner Bros. shorts known as the ‘Censored Eleven’, which the studio withdrew from distribution in 1968 because of their racial caricatures, and it has rarely been shown officially since. The hunter is drawn as a racial stereotype, and that caricature is the reason the short was pulled. It is discussed here as a document of 1940s studio animation, not as a comedy to recommend.
What to watch for
The cartoon is a tight run of gags in which the hunter’s traps and weapons turn back on him, from a felled tree to a bear he mistakes for his quarry. Avery’s timing and his use of exaggerated reactions are the craft to notice. Viewers should watch with the caricature in mind. The humor relies on the hunter’s humiliation, and the depiction of him is offensive by modern standards and was the basis for the studio’s decision to withdraw the film.
