What's up Doc ? 1950 (dir Robert McKimson)

I have some sort of aversion to Bob McKimson's cartoons, bar Foghorn Leghorn and some here and there, I get irritated by him. His jokes aren't funny, his characters look rubbery and the dialogue is of standard fare, oh and he overuses Raymond Scott's Power House WAY too much! Unfortunately I think his Bugs Bunny filns are rubbish bar the phenominal Rabbit's Kin ( more on that next time) and 'What's up Doc?' isnt one of my faves either but it has one gag which is great and saves the whole short.

Well the whole thing starts off with Bugs talking about his rise to fame. First he starts out as a 'rabbit in a human's world' ( a very memorable quote if there was one) and discovers that he has some musical talent.

then he tries out for vaudeville and gets stuck in a group of chorus boys singing the same song

Oh we're the boys of the chorus
We hope you like our show
We know you're rooting for us
but now we have to go

and this song/gag reappears a couple of times.

finally Bugs gets fed up and looks for better deals but fails miserably.

while he's with other 'failed hollywood Stars ( and thus some great caricatures of Bing Crosby, Al Jolson and eddie cantor) Elmer Fudd passes by and instantly hires Bugs for his vaudeville show.

togehter the duo bring the crowds, however bugs is the stooge and Elmer is the clever one. Bugs gets irritated and pies Elmer in the faces. When Elmer threatens him with a gun Bugs says 'Whats up Doc?' and basically the whole Elmer vs Bugs routine is born and it is a SUCCESS!

at the end of the cartoon Bugs is interupted by a phone call and he tells us that he has a big role. There's a 2 second pause then Bugs appears on stage singing

Oh we're the boys of the chorus
We hope you like our show
We know you're rooting for us
but now we have to go


And that makes me crack up everytime i watch this short.

'What's up Doc?' outstays it's 7 minute duration quite a bit but the build up to the chorusboy gag is worth it. Yes it does seem like McKimson (and writer Warren Foster) put everything as filler ( to be fair the song what's up Doc? is presented here in it's entirety and it works) but a good conclusion can make up for an average cartoon.