Apes of Wrath
Directed byFriz Freleng
Story byWarren Foster
StarringMel Blanc
Additional voice characterization:
June Foray (uncredited)
Music byMilt Franklyn
Animation byArthur Davis
Virgil Ross
Gerry Chiniquy
Layouts byHawley Pratt
Backgrounds byTom O'Loughlin
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
April 18, 1959
Running time
6:28

Apes of Wrath is a 1959 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Friz Freleng.[1] The short was released on April 18, 1959, and stars Bugs Bunny.[2] This cartoon recycles the plot from the 1948 cartoon Gorilla My Dreams. The title is a parody of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath.

This cartoon was featured in Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales, but with a few slight changes, since the plot features Bugs and Daffy trying to sell books.

Plot

An inebriated stork loses the baby gorilla that he is delivering. Desperate to cover his mistake, he spots Bugs Bunny nearby and knocks him unconscious, then dresses him in baby clothes and leaves him at a gorilla couple's house. Elvis, the gorilla father, hands out bananas in celebration and then opens the bundle excitedly with his wife. Upon seeing Bugs he wants to club the new baby to death, but Mama shrieks and stops him. Bugs awakens, takes a moment to gather the situation, and then tries to run away. Mama spanks him then beats Elvis with a rolling pin when he refuses to kiss the baby. Unable for the moment to leave, Bugs decides to play along for fun.

Elvis reluctantly assumes the duties of fatherhood but still tries to get rid of Bugs, first by shaking him, then by drowning him when he cries for a drink of water, then by kicking him high in the air while Bugs is riding his knee. Mama catches him twice and punishes him with the rolling pin. Later as Bugs playfully hits Elvis with a baseball bat, Elvis takes the bat and breaks it in two. When Bugs screams for Mama, Elvis hands him a replacement bat rather than face the rolling pin again.

The stork brings Mama their real baby. Upon hearing the news Elvis looks fiendishly at Bugs, who flees in panic. Bugs hides in a tree trunk, but Elvis uproots the entire tree. Next Bugs crosses a rope bridge between cliffs and threatens to cut the rope if Elvis follows him. Instead Elvis uses the rope to pull the opposite cliff over to him. Bugs rounds a corner and thinks he has escaped. Overhead, Elvis prepares to drop a boulder on him. Bugs sees Mama approaching and runs, causing the boulder to land on her. Elvis stammers an explanation before she begins beating him with the rolling pin.

As Bugs watches the gorillas, the stork hands him a bundle and congratulates him. Bugs opens the bundle to find Daffy Duck, who jumps on him and kisses him.

Home media

"Apes of Wrath" is available, uncensored and uncut, on the Looney Tunes Super Stars' Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire and Looney Tunes: Unleashed DVDs. However, in both cases it was cropped to widescreen. It was also included in the Stars of Space Jam: Bugs Bunny DVD, but this time in the ratio in which it was originally animated (fullscreen aspect ratio).

References

  1. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 315. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60-62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
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