This post has no meaning other than to get that repulsive DVD cover out of sight.
Above and below are some beautiful illustrations by Bob McKimson (backgrounds by Richard Thomas) for the 1948 Capitol Record Bugs Bunny and the Tortoise. They really need to get a CD collection of those kiddie records out. Along with the beautiful illustrations by McKimson and others, they’re a riot to see and hear how they tried to make the gritty Warner stable of characters more ‘suitable’ for children, long before the age of ‘imitable behavior’. (As in Elmer and Sam can’t shoot bullets – just gumdrops.)
I like the way Bob McKimson draws Bugs and Cecil Tortoise, but I don’t like his Elmer. Not that appealing to me. However, He could really draw. I’m always in awe of his talent. This Bugs here looks a mixture of the chubby Bugs of McKimson’s earlier cartoons with the slimmer Bugs from the later ones. Nice post. Thanks for putting this up.
A male rabbit kissing a male toitle is suitable for children?
I mean, I’d rather kids grew up accepting homosexuality than shooting guns, but I can’t imagine many people from 1948 would feel the same way.
I had long wanted to know where a screencap of Cecil sneaking past a sleeping Bugs came from.
The illustrations look like Bob did them just at the end of his “fat Bugs” period, since his and Elmer’s designs are similar to the ones McKimson used for “What’s Up, Doc?”