Before I start this review, I'd like to say that I saw this when I was 2 on WKBHK TV-44 San Francisco. It came after SESAME STREET (read my SPRINKLE ME PINK comment). I found it funny not only to see Bugs Bunny as a conductor but also seeing him clown around. Usually Bugs gets chased around, or runs into trouble, but here trouble comes to him in a for a a small fly. The ending is a funny gag, I cannot spoil any information for you. You have to see it (perhaps on YouTube) to believe it.I highly recommend it! That and the DUCK RABBIT DUCK cartoons where it is Bugs vs. Daffy vs. Elmer Fudd.

"Baton Bunny" is an elegant musical Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and Abe Levitow. How inconceivable it is to imagine Bugs standing on the podium in front of the Warner Bros. Symphony Orchestra! But that's exactly what he does as he takes the helm of this noble musical ensemble. And what an unorthodox conductor he turns out to be!My favorite moments from "Baton Bunny" include the following. Before the piece begins, Bugs has to hold up a sign that reads "Throw the bum out!" when a man in the audience coughs loudly; the succeeding sound effects confirm the man's ejection. Bugs merely lifts a finger or toe from underneath the podium in order to cue a few "pianissimo" two-note motifs. When the piece finishes, Bugs hears the ever-present cricket sounds to indicate an empty house, when suddenly a minuscule little fly is polite enough to give him a round of applause, to which he takes his bows."Baton Bunny" is genuine proof that Bugs Bunny always feels the need to throw humor into something very serious & elegant: in this case, orchestral conducting. Even something as subtle as a wry facial expression on Bugs can be quite funny, and subtlety is one of the essential elements that make director Chuck Jones one of the most outstanding in the animated cartoon industry.

After the Termite Terrace crowd had used classical music to great effect in "A Corny Concerto", "Rhapsody Rabbit", "Back Alley Oproar", "Long-Haired Hare", "Rabbit of Seville" and "What's Opera, Doc?", it came out a little flat in "Baton Bunny". This short has Bugs Bunny conducting an orchestra while his suit keeps going awry and a fly keeps getting in his way. The cartoon's not terrible, but it seems like they should have had accomplished more; then again, maybe they'd done everything that they could with classical music by this point. OK in a pinch. Available on Disc 3 of the Golden Collection, where it's placed among far better cartoons.So who exactly is this Suppe guy?

Not every Bugs Bunny cartoon can be a classic, and this one isn't. Not bad, but a mediocre effort. The video (probably out of print as I write this) called "Overtures to Disaster" uses "Baton Bugs" as a framing device for 2 Bugs classics, "Rabbit of Seville" and "What's Opera, Doc", plus a few other good sequences, which highlights the difference in quality levels better than I could possibly describe in words.