Devil's Feud Cake (Merrie Melodies)

Devil's Feud Cake (episode 912)
Even "His Hare-Raising Tale", "This is a Life?", "Feather Bluster", "Hare-abian Nights", "Tweet Dreams", and "Trip for Tat" did better jobs on the clip show short concept than this filler short.
Directed by: Friz Freleng Written by: Friz Freleng Release date: February 9, 1963 Franchise: Looney Tunes Prequel: I Was a Teenage Thumb (previous short) Sequel: Fast Buck Duck (next short)

Devil's Feud Cake is a 1963 Looney Tunes cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam and was directed by Friz Freleng. After dying from jumping off a plane, Yosemite Sam ends up in Hell and is tasked by Satan to kill Bugs Bunny so Sam can escape the underworld. More often than not, it is considered the worst Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoon, even unfavorably comparable to both "Shishkabugs" and "Dumb Patrol" (1964 short), which are arguably better shorts than this.

Why It Deserves To Be Brought To Hell

1. First and foremost, the short BARELY has any originality whatsoever, as it is entirely a filler clip show short due to the cartoon reusing stock footage from "Hare Lift", "Roman Legion Hare", "Sahara Hare" and even wrap-around segments from The Bugs Bunny Show TV episode "Satan's Waitin'".
   • The footage from each is significantly condensed, so we don't have the full context from any of them, hence resulting to countless plot holes, such as why Bugs happens to be looking at an airplane (the plane landed on top of his hole in the original short).
2. The animation in the short is notably lazier than the animation of the other cartoons during the time, even by 1962-1964 clip show short standards. Aside from the scene where Sam is falling, there is barely any new animation on this short.
   • Due to the massive difference in the animation quality between all the archive animation of "Hare Lift", "Roman Legion Hare", "Sahara Hare" and wrap-around segments from The Bugs Bunny Show TV episode "Satan's Waitin'" and the only scene of new animation of Sam falling off the plane, this causes the overall animation quality in the entire short to be extremely inconsistent in the worst possible way.
3. The entire cartoon stole the premise from the Sylvester and Tweety cartoon, "Satan's Waitin'", but it removes all of the charm and likability from it.
4. Despite being a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs himself barely appears in it and the short focuses more on Yosemite Sam instead, making Bugs more of a plot device than a character, unlike his other appearances.
   • This fact is subtly hinted by the opening Color Rings notably lacking Bugs Bunny's headshot after the zooming-in WB shield, the absence of the "BUGS BUNNY IN" credit in the opening titles, as well as the cartoon's title not containing any use of "rabbit", "hare", "bunny", or even Bugs' name.
5. The entire concept of Yosemite Sam being tasked to bring Bugs Bunny to Hell just seems very dark, since Bugs Bunny really didn't do anything to deserve it.
6. Weak music by William Lava. The soundtrack as usual, sounds ominous.
7. While Mel Blanc is very good, he never once raises his voice as Yosemite Sam, likely due to the car accident he had in January 1961.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Friz Freleng improved the concept of the cartoon in the 1981 film The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie.
2. Good voice acting by Mel Blanc as usual, despite him phoning the voice for Yosemite Sam in.
3. The ending with Yosemite Sam wanting to become the next Satan after giving up to catch Bugs Bunny was pretty satisfying.

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