Qué Pesadilla

The best thing about Robert McKimson's 'Gorilla My Dreams' are the sumptuous jungle backgrounds against which the action is set. It's a lovely setting for a so-so cartoon. Bugs Bunny is washed ashore on a tropical island and immediately adopted against his will by a broody, childless mother gorilla. Her husband, Gruesome, is less than pleased by this development and sets out to render himself childless. It is from hereon in that the cartoon starts to falter with some clumsily timed sequences (the dance with the coconut tree being the prime example) and a less than satisfactory ending. It's a shame the script is so off during the main body of the cartoon because much of the animation is extremely nice, such as the beautiful chase sequence which culminates in a striking layout which charts the lengthiness of the pursuit by showing Bugs and Gruesome's silhouetted figures in several different places at once. Despite being serenaded by Bugs with several hit songs of the day, I still always think of 'Gorilla My Dreams' as a far nicer cartoon to look at than it is to listen to.