Bugs Bunny has been enjoying a cushy job as the mascot for flamboyant wrestler Ravishing Ronald. But when Ronald is demolished by bald brawler The Crusher, Bugs realizes his meal ticket is in trouble. So he slaps on a mask and enters the ring to challenge Crusher as the Masked Terror. Hilarious Chuck Jones short that pokes fun at pro wrestling. Wonderful animation, lively music, and terrific voicework. One of the things I like most about it is that Bugs doesn't have the upper hand the whole time. Very funny stuff with some great gags and lines ("It's about time for me to employ a little stragedy"). The character of Crusher is a hoot. Love that ending.

Directed by Chuck Jones, "Bunny Hugged" places Bugs Bunny in the boxing ring against the mean, muscular Crusher. Actually, Bugs starts out merely as a mascot for the wimpy Ravishing Ronald, but when Crusher easily overpowers him, Bugs is forced to take his place.Here are my favorite sequences from "Bunny Hugged". Ravishing Ronald trots toward Crusher to a humorously frolicsome musical accompaniment; when Crusher stuffs Ronald's body inside his own hairnet and uses him as a punching bag, Ronald extends a few signs from the net that read "HELP!", "FOUL!", and "S.O.S.!" Bugs tricks Crusher into believing he split his shorts, so Bugs masquerades as a tailor and stabs Crusher's ass with a needle. Bugs struggles in giving Crusher a headlock; Crusher goes into a "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" dance and "bowls" Bugs right into a canvas pole, with an appropriate sound effect."Bunny Hugged" is a funny cartoon! Catch it on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 Disc 1.

Bunny Hugged (1951) *** (out of 4) Spoof of wrestling has Bugs Bunny jumping into the ring after his owner is destroyed by The Crusher. Once inside the ring the rabbit is totally out of his league so he must use his brains to try and bring down the best. There's quite a bit that happens inside the seven-minutes of this short. There's pretty much action from the start to finish and most of it is very good. The best sequence is early on in the picture and doesn't even feature the hero Bugs. It's a scene where The Crusher destroys the other wrestler, a "pretty boy" type and the way he's destroyed is just hilarious. The violent action is another plus as is all of the animation, which looks extremely well.

Chuck Jones's 'Bunny Hugged' is a moderately amusing sequel to the superior 'Rabbit Punch'. In that cartoon Bugs Bunny had found himself in the boxing ring, in this one it's the wrestling ring. Pitted once again against The Crusher (hey, in cartoon land a rabbit and a hare are the same thing so it follows logically that so are a boxer and a wrestler!), Bugs spends the whole first half of the cartoon getting viciously pummeled. When he finally breaks out the heckling as his means of beating the physically undefeatable Crusher, 'Bunny Hugged' picks up a little. The jokes are fairly standard and too much faith is placed in The Crusher's dopey reactions to being clobbered but overall its adequately entertaining if largely uninspired stuff. The climactic gag, however, is one of the worst and least funny closing images of any Warner cartoon I can think of. I'm not a huge fan of 'Bunny Hugged', then, but it's an decent time passer and never sinks to the levels of tedium of, say, 'Big Top Bunny'.