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This Is a Life?

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For the song, seeEverything Everywhere All at Once (soundtrack).
This Is a Life?
Title card
Directed byI. Freleng
Story byWarren Foster
Produced byEdward Selzer
StarringMel Blanc
Music byMilt Franklyn
Animation byTed Bonnicksen
Arthur Davis[1][2][3]
Layouts byHawley Pratt
Backgrounds byIrv Wyner[1][2]
Color processTechnicolor[1]
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation[1]
Release date
  • July 9, 1955(1955-07-09)(US)
Running time
7:03[3]
LanguageEnglish

This Is a Life?is a 1955Warner Bros.Merrie Melodiesanimated cartoondirected byFriz Freleng,written byWarren Foster,and produced byEdward Selzer,with music directed byMilt Franklyn.[4]The short was released on July 9, 1955, and starsBugs Bunny.[5]The voices were performed byMel Blanc,Arthur Q. Bryan,andJune Forayin her first work for Warner Bros. This is one of the few Bugs Bunny cartoons whose title does not contain Bugs, bunny, rabbit/wabbit or hare.

This is one of the only two Warner Bros. shorts in the original classic era ofLooney Tunes(the other beingA Star Is Bored) in which Bugs is paired with his main three antagonists. This is also the first time thatJune Forayprovides the voice ofGranny,which Foray would then reprise for nearly 60 years.

Plot

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In a parody ofThis Is Your Life,Elmer Fudd(apingRalph Edwards) is the host andBugs Bunnyis the guest of honor, much to the shock and disgust ofDaffy Duck.Granny,who is sitting next to Daffy and trying to watch the program, hits him on the head with the handle of her umbrella to keep him quiet after being irritated with him ranting about not being the "guest of honor". Daffy goes out of his way to try and sabotage Bugs by making irate comments about him and goading Elmer to throw Bugs out. Each time, Granny becomes increasingly enraged by him out of disgust that he’s being a very bad sport over not having the spotlight and irritation over the fact that he’s being very annoying until she finally hits Daffy on the head with the handle of her umbrella and angrily tells him to "Shut up!".

Meanwhile, Bugs reminisces about his childhood and then with Elmer andYosemite Samabout his previous encounters with both of them (reviewed via stock footage from the past Bugs Bunny cartoonsA Hare Grows in Manhattan,Hare DoandBuccaneer Bunny), with the last two showing Bugs getting the best of them, as usual.

Elmer and Sam plan to finally get even with Bugs by presenting him with a special "gift" — a time bomb wrapped up in a box — in appreciation of their "friendship". However, a jealous Daffy, who stubbornly refuses to accept that he is NOT the guest of honor, grabs the gift after a bout with the three of them passing it off to each other shouting “I’LL TAKE IT!”. Sam, Elmer and Bugs cover their ears as they know what the gift really is — but not Daffy, who says "After all, this should've beenmineanyway!Ireally deserve it! "(how true) — and takes the resulting explosion backstage. Naturally, Daffy angrily returns and ends up telling Bugs:" You're... You're... You're despicable! ", then leaves the stage in a huff.

Voice cast and additional crew

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Music

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The cartoon uses arranged music for the opening title card and the introductory credits before showing the title of the picture.

Home media

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This Is a Life?is featured uncut on theLooney Tunes Super StarsDVDset,Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl.However, it was cropped down to widescreen format, which caused anger among most Looney Tunes fans and collectors. It was later re-released in its original aspect ratio on theBlu-rayset-Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection.

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdWebb, Graham (2011).The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences (1900-1999)(Second ed.). McFarland & Company Inc. p. 353.ISBN978-0-7864-4985-9.
  2. ^ab"This is a Life? (1955): Cast".The Big Cartoon DataBase.Retrieved7 November2021.[dead link]
  3. ^ab"This is a Life? (1955): Main".The Big Cartoon DataBase.Retrieved7 November2021.[dead link]
  4. ^Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989).Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons.Henry Holt and Co. p. 275.ISBN0-8050-0894-2.
  5. ^Lenburg, Jeff (1999).The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons.Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62.ISBN0-8160-3831-7.Retrieved6 June2020.
[edit]
Preceded by Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1955 		Succeeded by
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