He gives Ryder an insulting poem whose last line is censored. He doesn’t catch on.) The horse glues him to the saddle and they’re off! Bugs trips the two and then disguises himself as a telegram deliverer. (Best part of the short is his horse coming back and angrily waiting for him to discover he’s not moving. Ryder however just hopped on a fence post and is yet to discover he’s not moving. He gives Ryder phony directions to go after the Marauder and he heads back to his horse. And it’s not just carrots this time, but tons of war time luxuries like meat, gas and a color changing can of pineapple. He fakes the whole thing, but then he still has loot when he comes back.
But he has to excuse himself to rob a train. (Ooh! That looks painful!) Red confirms that that is the guy. Including the pin of Red’s diaper, (wait, wasn’t he wearing ladies underwear before? I don’t get it.) and all the filings of Red’s teeth. (Bugs without his mask) Bugs asks if the guy is the one who not only wears a mask like his, but robs him like so! Well, this time he takes more. He asks a stranger if he’s seen the bandit.
(I’m pretty sure those coins shouldn’t have been magnetic, but toon magnets don’t have to follow our world’s logic) Only after Bugs leaves does Ryder catch on to his identity. Using a magnet, he robs Ryder of all his coins, bullets, sheriffs star and belt buckle causing his pants to fall down. He begins hunting for “The Masked Marauder.” Bugs is not fazed and decides to play along with him. (That’s not a complaint, its just an observation) His horse won’t stop for him, so he has to club it unconscious. (Why does that bother me? Well, why did anyone think he’d be a match for Bugs? What has he done to deserve such credit? Is everyone who knows him even dumber than him?) Appearance wise, it looks like someone made a clone out of Yosemite Sam and Captain Ollimar. Rabbits are not rodents! They are lagomorphs.) Ryder is sad to say, not my favorite opponent for Bugs. (By the way, the narrator calls Bugs a rodent. (The fiend!) Only one person can stop him! (No, not Cecil Turtle.) Brooklyn’s own cowboy: Red Hot Ryder. What’s his crime? He’s stolen all the carrots out of people’s victory gardens.
We’ve seen him be a trickster before, but I think this might be the only time where he is the antagonist. A short where Bugs is the straight up villain. If the title wasn’t a dead enough giveaway, Bugs’ face shows up before the title card) (By the way, I love how the short feels the need to inform us that this short stars Bugs. Gould Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc Musical Direction by Carl W. Directed by Robert Clampett Story by Lou Lilly Animation by M.