Prince Violent

Prince Violent
(Prince Varmint)
Prince Violent; (Prince Varmint)
	Original issue title card
Directed by	Friz Freleng; Hawley Pratt
Story by	Dave Detiege
Produced by	David H. DePatie
Starring	Mel Blanc
Music by	Milt Franklyn
Animation by	Gerry Chiniquy; Virgil Ross; Art Davis; Bob Matz
Layouts by	Willie Ito
Backgrounds by	Tom O'Loughlin
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures; Vitagraph Company of America
Release date	September 2, 1961;
Running time	6 minutes 21 seconds
Language	English

Prince Violent (retitled Prince Varmint for television) is a 1961 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng and Freleng's longtime layout artist Hawley Pratt.^[1] The short was released on September 2, 1961, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.^[2] The title is a pun on "Prince Valiant", a long-running comic strip at the time.

Plot

A Viking named Sam the Terrible embarks on a mission of invasion, rowing towards a castle along a river. Observing his approach, Bugs Bunny, a resident of the castle's vicinity, initially dismisses Sam's attire as resembling a "broken loose electric can opener." However, upon witnessing Sam's forcible entry into the castle, Bugs resolves to confront the intruder.

Engaging Sam in a series of comedic skirmishes, Bugs employs clever tactics to outsmart the Viking. In their initial encounter, Bugs deftly disarms Sam and ridicules his costume, prompting Sam's expulsion from the castle. Subsequent confrontations see Bugs employing imaginative schemes, including painting a faux door on the castle walls and orchestrating the elephant's unwitting involvement in thwarting Sam's siege attempts.

Despite Sam's relentless pursuit, Bugs continuously outwits him, culminating in the Viking's humiliating defeat. Sam's various schemes, including catapulting rocks and mining beneath the castle, are foiled by Bugs' ingenuity and the inadvertent assistance of the elephant.

Ultimately, Sam's frustration escalates as his efforts are consistently thwarted. Vowing revenge against Bugs and the elephant, Sam departs, leaving behind a scene of chaos. As the narrative concludes, Bugs muses on the achievements attainable through resourcefulness, rewarding the elephant for its unwitting assistance.

References

^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 333. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.