Bunny Mooning (Animated Short, 1937)

Bunny Mooning is a 1937 animated short from Fleischer Studios’ Color Classics series, directed by Dave Fleischer with animation by Myron Waldman and Edward Nolan. Running about 7 minutes, it’s a lighthearted, Technicolor cartoon centered on the wedding of Jack and Jill Rabbit, set to the catchy tune “Everybody’s Getting Ready for the Wedding.”
The plot is simple: various anthropomorphic animals prepare for and attend the bunnies’ forest wedding. The humor comes from animal-specific gags, like a goose barber shaving a porcupine’s quills, a lion getting a manicure via grindstone, a giraffe struggling with stiff collars, a hippo applying lipstick, and a bear styling a female elk’s antlers (despite female elks not having antlers). At the ceremony, a monkey rings flower “bells” with its tail, a hen sings “Love in Bloom,” and a peacock officiates, later flashing an ad for “Baby Bloomers” instead of its feathers. Wedding gifts include a series of high chairs in descending sizes, a playful nod to the rabbits’ expected large family.
Voiced by Jack Mercer and Mae Questel, the cartoon is cute but not overly sentimental, with lush backgrounds and vibrant colors typical of the Color Classics series. It’s less gag-heavy than other Fleischer works like Dancing on the Moon (1935), and some find it bland or overly cutesy. Critics note its charming animation and music but point out a dated element: a racially stereotypical depiction of the bride’s maid in blackface, common in 1930s cartoons but jarring today.
Overall, it’s a whimsical, if unremarkable, snapshot of 1930s animation, enjoyable for its animal antics and visual charm but tempered by its thin story and problematic stereotype.