Sunday, June 25, 2006

Hmmm... Where have I seen that before?

I've been seeing a lot of ads for that new movie Little Man on TV. If you aren't familiar with the premise of the movie, basically Shawn Wayans is a jewel thief/bank robber who is very small and over the course of the movie, ends up being adopted (disguised as a baby) by a loving family who have a piece of his ill-gotten goods which he wants back.

After seeing these ads, I was struck by how similar the premise and seeming execution of the idea was to a cartoon I used to see all the time when I was a child. I was a little Warner Brothers Bugs Bunny toon called:

Baby Buggy Bunny
Baby Buggy Bunny



And luckily, youtube had a copy of said toon so I could both refresh my memory and you could all see it for yourselves.

I wonder if Warner Brothers has cause for a lawsuit over this? Though come to think of it, Bugs Bunny also dressed up as a white girl too... I guess the Wayans are just making a living off ripping off Bugs Bunny.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember this cartoon well…

My all-time favourite Warner Brothers cartoon was Three Little Bops (the Three Little Pigs story with a Jazz twist), I can’t remember the year I first saw it but it would have been mid 60’s or so. It was my first exposure to Jazz and I loved it. In fact I think it had a lot to do with keeping me away from ‘pop’ music as I went through my teenage/early adult years.

Thanks MC for the memories.

MC said...

I remember that cartoon well myself. Too bad the wolf had to get really hot before he got really cool though.

I think one of my favorite cartoons ever was the vastly underrated "From A to Z-Z-Z-z-z-z" from 1954. Maybe there are some memories in there for you as well.

Anonymous said...

Ah yes I remember this one, but it was quite some years before I gained an understanding of the final character and his statement.

Another fond memory: Sometime in the eighties I went to a theatre restaurant in my hometown (Melbourne Australia) with a group of friends and the show was a young ‘cabaret troop’ called The Castanet Club. One of the songs they played and acted out was Three Little Bops. It was expertly played and very funny.

Anonymous said...

Even before the Bugs cartoon, I remember a similar episode on "The Little Rascals," aka "Our Gang." They had a couple of midgets who were attempting to burglarize a house where the Gang was playing.

MC said...

Angry: I would have liked to have seen that.

Karl: I think the element that put the two items together was the image of the little Wayans shaving... because a very similar image was used in the cartoon as well, though I will try to find that Our Gang episode you mention.

Anonymous said...

I suppose the real difference between these two versions is that the Bugs Bunny cartoon was funny.

MC said...

I think that I would agree with you on that Jeremy...

Anonymous said...

That is such a lear rip-off of the story line. I do think the movie "Little Man" will be awesome but its definetly alot like the cartoon.

Anonymous said...

I don't know how well the joke will last over 90 minutes though.

MC said...

Well, CW, people have done more with less. Comedy doesn't have to be complicated to work.

But given the people involved, I think they may have some problems.