Edgar Allan Pooh . . . about BOTH "tackle" football AND Alvin Chipmunk flicks with this brief seven-minute animated short, RABBIT'S KIN. Bugs Bunny has to take an irritating cousin under his wing while resisting the natural urge to try out his extensive collection of hammers, gavels, and mallets on this trying tyke, who Jibber-Jabbers like a helium sucker (but fortunately lacks the two brothers necessary to equal ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS for the sheer ability to annoy). Following this easy but maddening prey into Bugs' lair is Pete Puma, who talks like all the one-time "gridiron heroes" who've taken one (or one hundred) lumps too many on behalf of their "sport," and are now playing out the string on their shortened lives by commentating on "the dog that bit them," or making Public Service Announcements on behalf of all the football dorms housing ex-players in the final throes of game-induced dementia. Masochistic by nature, Pete finishes RABBIT'S KIN amid an orgy of self-concussing blows (something called "football practice" by Real Life Brain Trauma Aficianos). Though Will Smith's CONCUSSION is just around the corner as of this writing, that live-action feature film will probably take a lot longer to get to its point that football is a tragic waste, compared to the much briefer RABBIT'S KIN.

utgard14 Bugs Bunny rescues an adorable little rabbit named Shorty from the clutches of Pete Puma. Bugs shows Shorty how to deal with the dimwitted feline. The bad: Shorty's super speed chipmunk voice is very annoying and he seems to have no purpose other than looking cute. The story is also pretty thin and relies heavily on a repeated joke (but a funny one). The good: Pete Puma is comedy gold. Stan Freberg provides the voice and does a great job. I was in stitches every time Pete opened his mouth. The gags are pretty funny, too, with Bugs putting the poor puma through the wringer so bad you actually start to root for him to win in the end. The recurring gag of "how many lumps do you want" never got old to me but others may disagree. Not one of the best Bugs shorts but a fun one.

TheLittleSongbird Rabbit's Kin is an amusing if unexceptional Bugs Bunny cartoon. The storyline is mediocre mostly, Shorty is cute but he does have an irritating voice as well and the pacing was a little too quick. That said, it is amusing, with some amusing sight gags like Pete Pumas's semi-dance and some razor sharp dialogue. The animation is vibrant and colourful, and the character designs are excellent, and the music is lovely to the ears. Shorty aside, the characters are fine. Bugs is great here, a little underplayed compared to other times I have seen him, but Mel Blanc voices him marvellously. My favourite character though was Pete, he was absolutely hilarious and quite likable, with a scream/howl that you just love to imitate with a brilliant vocal performance from Stan Freberg. Overall, not absolutely superb, but definitely worth the watch. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Lee Eisenberg Not every Bugs Bunny cartoon was a full-scale masterpiece, and "Rabbit's Kin" is an example. It has Bugs protecting a small rabbit from a hungry, slow-witted puma, whom he frequently gives lumps...on the head. It seems like the whole cartoon is sort of a one-joke premise, and the little guy tries a little too hard to be cute. My favorite scene is Bugs in puma drag (that scwooey wabbit liked to dress up in drag, didn't he?).So, this cartoon isn't terrible, just a little weaker than what we expect from the Looney Tunes cartoons. OK if there's absolutely nothing else to do (although there are far better cartoons on the Golden Collection, where you can find it).That puma just seemed like he'd been lobotomized or something.