This later Chuck Jones effort (his last Bugs short) is, as you'll read in all of the previous reviews, meant as a tribute to Friz Freleng, who died the year before this was made. While I certainly admire that, it doesn't really soften my opinion on this cartoon any. Which is to say that, like 99% of the later Looney Tunes cartoons, this sucks. It's a corny unfunny parody of Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore with lifeless modern animation and some truly terrible voice work from Frank Gorshin. His Yosemite Sam sounds like some kind of cross between Tony the Tiger and Baloo. Greg Burson's Bugs is a decent impression. But, you know, still an impression. The jokes are really lame. I didn't laugh once. As with most of the later Looney Tunes, including the ones directed by Jones, this mostly trades on nostalgia instead of offering anything fresh. "Remember those funny old cartoons where Sam would be a pirate or a ship's captain or something? Yeah, well, we do too so here's a cartoon that tries to be like that but fails. Oh and there's a Michigan J. Frog reference because that was another thing that was funny." It's sad, really. But no one, even geniuses, stays on top of their game forever. So try to view this in the most generous spirit possible, if you must view it at all. It was made by an animation legend, even if there's nothing remotely legendary about this.

This is quite a poignant cartoon in two ways: First, it was a nice tribute to the late Friz Freleng as it featured his creation of Yosemite Sam and featured musical segments which Freleng was always good at not to mention Chuck Jones' dedication to him at the end. Second, this turned out to be Jones' last work on the Warner Bros. cartoon shorts as director culminating in almost 60 years' worth of great work he helmed at his home studio starting with The Night Watchman-give or take a few periods off on his own or at M-G-M. Sam is a pirate on the S.S. Friz Freleng looking for Captain Kidd's treasure. Bugs Bunny is attached to it when he finds it. I'll stop there and just say how funny most of the thing was especially when Bugs manages to successfully flirt with Sam once more with another of his female disguises which has the latter reacting the same way Elmer Fudd did to him in What's Opera, Doc? Another in-joke to one of Chuck's cartoons was the hilarious sound of Michigan J. Frog singing "Hello, My Baby" when Sam was digging his treasure and saying something along the lines of "Not with me, you don't!" when killing him! And what about when he said, "Never take a rabbit's advice" when nearly falling to his death toward a shark after being tricked to fall on a plank? Okay, don't want to say anymore so on that note, From Hare to Eternity comes highly recommended. P.S. Greg Burson sounds fine as Bugs while Frank Gorshin fails to sound exactly like Mel Blanc's Sam but otherwise is okay as well.

Given that Warner Brothers shorts emphasized music, Friz Freleng was one of the best at the framing of a cartoon around music and this is a tribute to him, it's quite appropriate that Bugs and Yosemite Sam (supposedly, Freleng and his temper inspired the creation of Sam) sing light operetta, selections from Gilbert and Sullivan. Brilliantly done, it does justice to both G & S and Looney Tunes. Good to see it available. Well worth watching. Most recommended.

Any cartoon dedicated to the memory of the late great Friz --as this is--would have to contain two things: music, and Yosemite Sam. So it's no surprise that this one is a classic seagoing squabble between Sam and Bugs (it's even set on board the good ship "H.M.S. Friz Freleng") with Gilbert & Sullivan parodies galore. Cross my heart, you haven't lived till you've seen Bugs sing "Sweet Little Buttercup" in sexy mermaid drag while flirting outrageously with the smitten Sam. More focused and funny than a lot of Jones' later work, and just plain sweet, besides.