Memorable, crazy movie

Just what I expected

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Written by John Dunn, directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble, with a music score by Bill Lava, "Transylvania 6-5000" is one of the later Bugs Bunny cartoons made at Warner Bros., and not a bad cartoon at that. It may not be the funniest Bugs cartoon ever made, but it still contains plenty of verbal & visual gags as Bugs (who has lost his bearings) visits a spooky haunted house in order to telephone his travel agency. (Don't read any further if you have not yet seen this cartoon.) Bugs at first has no idea of the power of the magic words "abracadabra" and "hocus pocus"; often he'll sing these words to the tune of "It's Magic". The utterances of these magic words causes the majordomo Count Bloodcount to transform into a bat, or vice versa, which becomes a problem for gravity. This is what I like best about "Transylvania 6-5000". Good for Halloween or any old time!

Like so many Bugs Bunny episodes, the biped grey rabbit arrives in the middle of nowhere, where he does not want to be - and this time he has arrived in Transylvania! Here he meets Count BloodCount and the strange man lets him stay the night. Tremendous plot-turns and gags follow...I may prefer the early Bugs Bunny (the rabbit in "Porky's Hare Hunt" and "Prest-O Change- O"), but I also like him in his later episodes. In this period of the 20th century Bugs was nice, but Daffy was absolutely horrible. I feel quite "safe" to watch Bugs Bunny episodes from any time in his episodes, especially one without the annoying Daffy of the 60's. I personally thought the gags were not quite as good as they could have been, but there is still lots of good work in this episode. Also, this was Chuck Jones's last episode...I recommend this to anyone who is a particular fan of Bugs Bunny, people who would like to see just Bugs Bunny and some new side characters in an episode and do not mind pretty bad animation in a cartoon. Enjoy! :-)

You (and Bugs Bunny) never know where Bugs is going to wind up when he goes for one of his occasional underground trips. He usually winds up saying, "I must have made a wrong turn at Albuquerque." Here, Bugs winds up on top of a stone mountain in "Pittsburghe, Transylvania" (actually spelling in the cartoon.) The first "person" Bugs meets is a two-headed female vulture (named "Emily" and "Agatha") who has two hats on! "Doesn't he look delicious," says one of the heads to the other. Bugs decides to scram and to "head up to that hotel over there," a big haunted house where "Count Bloodcount" resides.From that point on, there are some great sight gags such as noose for a doorbell ringer, a picture on the wall of "mother" as an upside-down bat and all the Gothic-bizarre "interesting decor" (as Bugs puts it) in the castle. This cartoon is a great feast for the eyes! Check out the titles of all the books on the shelf about Bugs' bed. The artwork and colors in this restored cartoon are fabulous; some of the best I've ever seen. So, with the tons of fun sights and dialog by Bugs and beautiful artwork, it all adds up to one of Mr. Bunny's best cartoons for sheer enjoyment.

This Bugs Bunny is one of the better Bugs shorts done in the 1960s, when Warners cartoons were starting to vary greatly in terms of quality. This one is reasonably good and can actually compare favorably with the earlier work. Having Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble helps. Cartoon fans may notice slight but notable similarities to a later Inspector Clouseau short, Transylvania Mania. The similarities can be explained by the fact that both shorts were written by John Dunn, who wrote for Warners, MGM and Depatie-Freleng in the 1960s! He was definitely kept busy. More verbal jokes than usual but a fair number of sight gags. Worth Watching. Recommended.