Foxy by Proxy (1952)

" . . . and cut his tail off," the would-be fox-hunting sheep dog tells Bugs Bunny again and again during the course of this animated short, FOXY BY PROXY. To spite this mutt and his pack of hounds house-mates, Bugs digs out his fox costume from the previous Halloween and tries to lead the canines astray on a merry chase. The longer this "kid's cartoon" continues, the darker its story gets. Though the "real" fox is never shown here, Bugs inexplicably risks life and limb to "save" it. After several close shaves, Bugs succeeds in offing the herd of hounds by tricking them to run off a cliff, like lemmings. But his moment of triumph is cut short--along with his tail. The butt of Bugs' running jokes truncates the joker's own butt decoration, a development likely to confuse if not frighten some of its boy viewers, it not the girls. But Bugs simply echoes the over-achieving eunuch's comment to the harem: "Well, okay, just call me 'Stubby.'"

Awakened by a fox hunt, Bugs Bunny turns his attention to the dumbest dog and proceeds to play a series of tricks on him. Well, either the dog was just a plain old idiot, or he somehow became one upon meeting Bugs. Either way, Bugs plays some great - and even nasty - tricks on the guy. Once I saw the log, I knew what was going to happen, since that trick has appeared in other cartoons.OK, so how many times can Bugs pull these gags on his enemies, none of whom really has a noticeable IQ level? Who cares? The point is that it's funny! "Foxy by Proxy" definitely is. I'm certainly not one to throw away Halloween costumes either.Stubby indeed.

It's a shame that this classic Bugs Bunny short is not aired on TV much anymore. To me, it's one of Bugs' best films! With all issues about fox hunting set aside, this cartoon is extremely funny! Bugs starts out just wanting to tease a group of hunting dogs in the classic "Elmer Fudd/Looney Tunes" style. The main object of Bugs' trickery is a big, dopey looking hunting dog. This pooch is the classic cartoon "idiot" that Bugs really loves to pester and pester he does! However, this is one of the few times that Bugs' tricks actually backfire on him. The first time my son saw this cartoon, he was very shocked at the ending. A laughfest from start to finish!

One of my personal favorites, as Bugs is awakened to the sound of a fox hunt, and decides to get in on the act. Best scene is the whole train-track scene, makes me howl with laughter however many times I see it. Non-stop action, with a surprise finish, as Bugs for once gets it in the end(literally).