imported>The Media Expert: /* 3-Dimensional Gimmick */

2025-04-03T19:36:29Z

3-Dimensional Gimmick

New page

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Lumber Jack-Rabbit
| image = Lumber Jack-Rabbit Poster.PNG
| caption = Theatrical poster
| director = [[Chuck Jones|Charles M. Jones]]
| story = [[Michael Maltese]]
| animator = [[Abe Levitow]] [[Ken Harris]] [[Richard Thompson (animator)|Richard Thompson]] Lloyd Vaughan [[Ben Washam]]
| layout_artist = [[Maurice Noble]]
| background_artist = Philip De Guard
| starring = [[Mel Blanc]] Norman Nesbitt (uncredited)
| editing =
| music = [[Carl Stalling]]
| producer = [[Edward Selzer]] (uncredited)
| studio = [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]]
| distributor = [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] [[The Vitaphone Corporation]]
| released = {{Film date|1953|9|25}}
| color_process = [[Technicolor]]/[[3-D film|3D]]
| runtime = 7 min. (one reel)
| language = English
}}
'''''Lumber Jack-Rabbit''''' is a 1953 3-D [[Warner Bros.]] ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon short directed by [[Chuck Jones]] and written by [[Michael Maltese]]<ref name=Beck>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |last2=Friedwald |first2=Will |title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons |date=1989 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0894-2 |page=266}}</ref> The cartoon was released on September 25, 1953, and stars [[Bugs Bunny]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/60/mode/2up |pages=60–62}}</ref>

It was notable as the first [[Warner Bros.]] cartoon short produced in [[3-D film|3-D]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schneider |first1=Steve |title=That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation |date=1988 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0889-6 |page=122}}</ref> It premiered with the Warner Bros. 3-D feature ''[[The Moonlighter]]'' and the 3-D Lippert short, ''Bandit Island''.<ref>"Starts Tomorrow, both Paramounts (Downtown and Hollywood), The Moonlighter, Bandit Island and Lumber Jack-Rabbit." Movie section, LA Herald and Express. 24 September 1953.</ref>

== Plot ==
[[Image:Bugs and Smidgen.PNG|thumb|left|170px|Bugs Bunny survives after nearly been eaten by Paul Bunyan's dog Smidgen]]
The narrative opens with a contemplative reflection on [[Paul Bunyan]], casting doubt upon his existence while inviting the audience to seek confirmation from an unlikely witness, Bugs Bunny, who once found himself inadvertently traversing the vast terrain of Bunyan's domain.

As Bugs stumbles upon the colossal vegetable garden of Bunyan, mistaking the towering asparagus for peculiar trees and a mammoth carrot for a boulder, his whimsical exploration leads him to believe he has unearthed a "carrot mine," initiating a fervent excavation.

Meanwhile, Paul Bunyan, accompanied by his diminutive canine companion Smidgen, departs on his daily endeavors, leaving the loyal dog to safeguard the garden. Bugs' spirited mining activities draw Smidgen's attention, triggering a chain of comical events as Bugs grapples with the realization of his precarious predicament atop Smidgen's nose.

Undeterred by fear, Bugs devises a resourceful escape plan, utilizing Smidgen's own physiology to outmaneuver the oversized canine. Through a series of clever maneuvers and ingeniously orchestrated distractions, Bugs narrowly evades Smidgen's pursuit, ultimately leading to a climax involving a misidentified redwood tree.

The narrative concludes with Smidgen, ever faithful yet easily misled, bounds toward the towering tree.

==Home media==
''Lumber-Jack Rabbit'' is available on the ''[[Looney Tunes Super Stars' Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire]]'' DVD. However, it was cropped to widescreen. This was later released in its original aspect ratio on the ''[[Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection]]'' Blu-ray set.

==3-Dimensional Gimmick==
[[Image:WB Shield 3-D.PNG|thumb|right|150px|As the short was in 3-D, the WB shield was animated especially to appear as if it zoomed up close to the audience.]]

The only obvious concession that ''Lumber Jack-Rabbit'' made to the 3-D format was at the very beginning of the cartoon, where the zooming "WB" shield overshoots its mark and nearly crashes into the screen, before pulling back to its correct position. This is complemented by a slight variation on "[[The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down]]" theme, wherein the opening twanging sound is more exaggerated and reverberant. While this effect can be attributed only to this one short, the shield overshooting its mark has become a common motif in tributes and reboots to the Looney Tunes franchise, including in the opening sequence to the 2011 sitcom ''[[The Looney Tunes Show]]''.

The closing sequence is modified as well, with the "That's all Folks!" script fading in rather than being written out.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{IMDb title|0047196}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Bully for Bugs]]
| title = [[List of Bugs Bunny cartoons|Bugs Bunny Cartoons]]
| years = 1953
| after = [[Duck! Rabbit, Duck!]]|}}
{{s-end}}

{{Bugs Bunny in animation}}
{{Chuck Jones}}

[[Category:1953 films]]
[[Category:Looney Tunes shorts]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films]]
[[Category:Short films directed by Chuck Jones]]
[[Category:1953 3D films]]
[[Category:American 3D films]]
[[Category:Paul Bunyan]]
[[Category:Animated films about dogs]]
[[Category:Films about lumberjacks]]
[[Category:3D animated short films]]
[[Category:Bugs Bunny films]]
[[Category:1950s Warner Bros. animated short films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese]]
[[Category:Films scored by Carl Stalling]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:English-language short films]]
[[Category:1953 animated short films]]

Lumber Jack-Rabbit - Revision history

imported>The Media Expert: /* 3-Dimensional Gimmick */