Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Knighty Knight Bugs" is a 6.5-minute short film from 1958, so this little cartoon will have its 60th anniversary soon. World War Ii was over at this point for a long time and so Freleng Foster and Blanc were really unpolitical again with their work here. And it was one of their biggest successes as it won an Academy Award. Bugs is ordered to get a Singing Sword for his King, but Sam protects it and this is one of the rare occasions where I can understand Sam as Bugs is basically a thief or maybe I should say his King as what he tells Bugs will happen with him if he does not get the sword. Add a dragon into the mix, even if he is mostly more like a horse in here and you have this cartoon in a nut-shell. Some of the action and dialogues were funny, but I don't think it's anywhere near Warner Bros' best. Worth a watch for cartoon fans, but the Oscars may have been a bit too much. I recommend checking it out.

utgard14 This is the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to win an Academy Award. This may seem strange to a lot of people because there were so many better Bugs shorts that weren't even nominated for Oscars, let alone won. But we have to keep in mind this was only up against the rest of the animated shorts from 1958 and the competition that year might have been pretty slim pickings. As a matter of fact there were only three nominees that year instead of the usual four so it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case. I've seen all three nominees and I can say, for my money, this is the best of the three. I can't readily think of another 1958 cartoon but I do know that the quality of animation across the board was declining by the late '50s. There would still be some great stuff to come but the best days of WB, MGM, and even Disney shorts were behind them by this point.Oscar talk aside, this is a very good Bugs Bunny cartoon. It takes place in the time of King Arthur, here represented as a silly old man. Arthur asks for a volunteer among his knights to retrieve the Singing Sword from the evil Black Knight (Yosemite Sam) and his fire-breathing dragon. All of the knights are chicken so King Arthur orders court jester Bugs to retrieve the sword. If he refuses, he'll be tortured and beheaded! Bugs goes to the Black Knight's castle to complete his task and Sam obviously tries to stop him. Now, reading back over what I just wrote, this sure doesn't sound like a funny cartoon, does it? It actually has a lot of clever bits and great gags. The idea of Arthur and his knights being cowardly is pretty funny, I thought. But the short's strength lies in the Bugs vs Sam stuff. If you've ever seen a Bugs/Sam cartoon before (and I'm sure you have), then you know how much fun these two going toe-to-toe can be. It's very funny with good animation, lively music, and solid voicework from the always reliable Mel Blanc. The scenes of Black Knight Sam trying to get back into the castle are hilarious. Funny stuff with the dragon, too ("Dragons is so stupid!").

Jackson Booth-Millard It is quite surprising that only five of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies films won Academy Awards, and even more surprising that only one starred Bugs Bunny. Most people would hope and assume that What's Opera, Doc? would have been nominated for and won an Oscar, but it doesn't matter, this medieval themed cartoon is a good choice. The story sees King Arthur saying that one of the knights of the round table should recover the Singing Sword, stolen by the Black Knight, but they have turned chicken. The fool/jester, Bugs, comes in laughing saying only a fool would go, and the King says he will go, under penalty of death. So we see the Black Knight, Yosemite Sam, in his castle sleeping with his dumb fire-breathing dragon, that can't help sneezing and breathing. Bugs manages to get the Singing Sword easily, but then he has to escape, and when the knight and dragon chase him, he runs back into the castle and shuts the gates. The Black Knight tries a catapult and rope to get into the kingdom, until Bugs sneaks out across a long plank of wood. They spot him and chase him into a tower of explosives, where Bugs shuts them in, the dragon sneezes fire, blowing them up to the moon, and the film ends with Bugs walking away with the sword singing. It won the Oscar for Best Short Animated Film. Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies were number 20, and Bugs Bunny number 10 on The 100 Greatest Cartoons. Very good!

Robert Reynolds This short is the only Bugs Bunny short to grab an Oscar. While it's a good cartoon, I don't think it was the best cartoon of 1958. It wasn't even the best Bugs Bunny of 1958 (Hare-way To the Stars was). This is a very good cartoon, of course. It's just that there were much better ones released in 1958. Oh, well. At least Bugs got an Oscar, even if it was for something that wasn't among the better of "his" work. The same can be said for some acting winners. Recommended.