Eh... what's up, partner?
Bugs Bunny Rides Again is a 1948 animated short in the Merrie Melodies series directed by Friz Freleng, starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.Somewhere in a town in the Wild West, everyone living there is terrified by the arrival of Yosemite Sam, who is, in his own words, "the roughest, toughest he-man-stuffest hombre that's ever crossed the Rio Grande". Everyone except Bugs Bunny, that is, who is more than ready, willing and able to have a showdown with the pint-sized vaquero... and make him look like a fool in the process.
Tropes:
- Abandoned Mine: After Sam finishes his turn to dance, he tips his hat and exits to the left... straight into a mine shaft opened by Bugs. He reemerges not long after, buried in a pile of rocks.
- Anachronism Stew: As a visual gag, a hail of bullets stop at a traffic light during the beginning shot of the cartoon. Later in the cartoon, Bugs manages to build a contemporary-looking city behind the town in mere seconds, taking Sam's statement of the town not being big enough for the two of them a bit too literally. And the train to Miami in the end is full of women in contemporary bathing suits.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Bugs and Sam meet for the first time, they start trudging towards each other dramatically. As soon as they are nose-to-nose with each other, Sam whips out his pistols... while Bugs whips out a carrot and snacks on it, greeting Sam with his usual "What's up, doc?".
- Bullet Dancing: Sam does this to the skunk that randomly shows up after the people in the saloon run away, causing him to flee as well. Later, he does this to Bugs to force him to dance, and Bugs responds with a little tap dance routine.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: As he and Sam start approaching each other when they first meet, Bugs briefly says to the audience, "Heh. Just like Gary Cooper, huh?".
- Chase Scene: Bugs and Sam engage in one on horses after the former tricks the latter into falling off a cliff. Bugs' horse is normal-sized while Sam's horse, fittingly enough, is diminutive in stature.
- Covered in Kisses: At the end of the cartoon, Bugs bids Sam farewell as he boards the train to Miami, his face plastered with kiss marks from the women inside.
- The Dreaded: Yosemite Sam apparently manages to strike fear into everyone in town through just his mere presence. At the beginning of the cartoon, several people offscreen can be heard screaming right before he walks into the Gunshot Saloon, at which point the cowboys frequenting the saloon also react with pure terror and flee when Sam orders them to get out. The only resident of the town who isn't scared of Sam is, of course, Bugs.
- Fanservice: After tricking Sam into losing the card game, Bugs is about to force him into the train when they suddenly notice a group of women aboard on it, all of whom only wear bathing suits and high heels. This brings out the casanova in Bugs and Sam, who compete with each other to get inside; Bugs does so first and leaves Sam behind as the train takes off.
- Fisticuff-Provoking Comment: Bugs takes offense to Sam calling him a "doggone, long-eared galoot" and dares him to step over a series of lines drawn by his foot, eventually tricking him into falling off a cliff.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Some of the buildings in the background have signs containing the names of animators, such as Ken Champin, Gerry Chiniquy and J.C. Melendez.
- Hit Flash: After Bugs goes through a tunnel, he bricks up the other end. As Sam enters the tunnel, the screen goes black... and is briefly illuminated as Sam hits the wall.
- Literal Metaphor: Sam calls the cowboys at the saloon "skunks" as he demands them to leave. After they do so, an actual skunk carrying a bindle stick comes by and remarks, "My, weren't there a lot of skunks in here?". Sam then shoots bullets at the skunk to force him to run away as well.
- Literal-Minded:
- Bugs interprets Sam's "this town ain't big enough for the two of us" statement as the town really being too small, so he decides to go outside and get to work building a modern city behind it. In just a few seconds, no less.
- When Sam tells Bugs to cut the cards at the start of their card game, the latter does so... by swinging a cleaver down onto the deck.
- Not Big Enough for the Two of Us: Sam uses this phrase after he and Bugs first come face-to-face with each other. However, Bugs takes it literally and decides to go out to construct an entire city behind the western town. When Sam sees what Bugs has done, he exclaims it's still not big enough, making it clear that what he said was just an expression.
- The Not Catch: After tricking Sam into stepping off a cliff, Bugs races to the bottom and pulls out a mattress to break his fall... only to pull it away ("Y'know, sometimes me conscience kinda bothers me... but not this time!") and watch Sam collide hard with the ground.
- Offscreen Teleportation: After spitting a pea towards Sam's nose, Bugs runs out of the saloon and leaves him behind, only to bump into Sam again outside.
- Serial Escalation: After literally building an entire city behind the town, Bugs and Sam exchange a "No, I ain't! Yes, you are!" argument while pointing increasingly larger guns at each other. This goes on until Sam has a ten shooter pistol and Bugs has a pea shooter; the latter shoots Sam in the nose with it anyway and makes a run for it.
- Smelly Skunk: After Sam gets most of the "skunks" (the cowboys at the saloon) to leave at his request, an actual skunk shows up to leave as well and is scared into doing so by Sam, but not before making the remark listed above.
- Squashed Flat: Sam is compressed down to his feet after falling off a cliff, and during the chase scene, he and his horse are partially flattened after ramming into a brick wall set up by Bugs at the end of the tunnel.
- Standard Snippet: Gioachino Rossini's "William Tell Overture" is played in the opening credits and the chase scene between Bugs and Sam on their horses.
