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8 high-rolling facts about "Barbary-Coast Bunny"
Some real hare-raising stakes!
LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI
Fans of high-rolling hares are in luck. Barbary-Coast Bunny sees Bugs betting it all in an old-timey casino. It's a toon for the ages; everything we love about Bugs is here from frame one.
Even the most eagle-eyed fan is sure to miss a detail or two. So here are some facts you may not have known about Barbary-Coast Bunny. Or, maybe you're an expert. Maybe this is all a refresher, and you already know everything there is to know about the 1956 short. In that case, let this list serve as a reminder of what makes Barbary-Coast Bunny so special. Let us know in the comments what you knew, what we missed, and what you love about Bugs!
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One Full Hour
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*available in most MeTV markets1. "Barbary-Coast"
LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI
The "Barbary-Coast" in Barbary-Coast Bunny refers to a Gold Rush-era nickname for San Francisco. The name was derived from infamous pirates, as the Gold Rush turned the area into a nearly-lawless red-light district where vice abounded.
2. A Twist on a Familiar Favorite
LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI
Bugs Bunny has some of the best catchphrases in the game, one of which is paraphrased and switched up in Barbary-Coast Bunny. Typically, whenever a character bests him in the first act of a cartoon, Bugs Bunny will respond, in kind, by saying, "Of course, you do realize... dis means war!" He subverts that oft-repeated threat here and hits us with, "You realize that this is not going to go unchallenged."
3. A Change in Diet
LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI
Barbary-Coast Bunny is one of very few Bugs Bunny shorts in which the hilarious hare does not chomp a carrot. If you're freaked out about that one, buckle up for another shock: Bugs also does not say "What's up, doc?" in this cartoon!
4. Nasty Canasta
LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI
Bugs' foe in this toon is the aptly-named Nasty Canasta, a greedy, money-hungry slob who ruthlessly takes advantage of our main character. This is Nasty's third appearance overall, and his first outing where he's not voiced by Mel Blanc. Instead, to give him a more slovenly persona, Nasty is here voiced by Daws Butler.
5. Anachronisms Abound
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In a clever ruse, Bugs pretends to mistake the casino's slot machine for a new-fangled "tele-o-phone." However, neither the phone nor the slot machine had been invented during the California Gold Rush. The slot machine came a full forty years later, invented right there in San Francisco!
6. "A Pair of Ones and another Pair of Ones"
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When Bugs shows his hand, claiming to have "Two pair, a pair of Ones and another pair of Ones," what he actually has is referred to as a "Quad of Aces." This is the third-best hand a poker player can draw. Bugs' hand could only lose to a Royal Flush or a Straight Flush.
7. Smarter Than Your Average Casino-owner
LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI
If Nasty Canasta's voice sounds familiar, that's because you've definitely heard it before. Daws Butler was a prolific voice actor who lent his vocal talents to iconic characters like Elroy Jetson, Huckleberry Hound, and (most famously) Yogi Bear!
8. Early Retirement
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This is Nasty Canasta's third of three appearances in the original run of Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts. The villain wouldn't reappear for almost another 40 years when he showed up on Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries. Unfortunately, he lost his entire retirement savings to a certain rabbit.
9 Comments
The tele-o-phone bit was PURE GENIUS!
One of the Barkely brothers had a run in there.
In Tales of the City, the apartment is onBarbary Lane
