Episode Title:
Buckaroo Bugs.
Episode Description:
The film is set in a small town of the "San Fernando Alley" (San Fernando Valley). According to the narration, "Our story begins when the West was young, and early pioneers settled down to never more roam, and made the San Fernando Alley their home." Despite its Western setting, the short makes references to World War II rationing. A pretend train robbery, lists as "valuable cargo": butter, gasoline, sugar, shoes, and tires – all of them items for which there was a shortage in the War due to rationing. The short also has Bugs stealing all the carrots from a victory garden, which is another World War II reference. Unlike in most shorts, Bugs Bunny serves as an antagonist. In the cartoon, he plays a carrot thief called the Masked Marauder, whom Brooklyn's "Red Hot Ryder" must bring to justice. The cartoon portrays Red Hot Ryder as a dimwit who cannot distinguish Bugs Bunny from the Masked Marauder, his black horse named Horsey with a mind of its own, and his good-natured slowness is consistently mocked: When Bugs Bunny as the Masked Marauder threatens to shoot Red Ryder, saying, "Stick 'em up, or I'll blow your brains out," the latter treats it like a choice, replying, "Well, now, that's mighty neighborly of you."
