70 Years of Deviltry: A Look at Looney Tunes' Tasmanian Devil

As we all know, Looney Tunes has given us so many wild, wacky, and crazy characters in the last 90+ years; some have been highly acclaimed, while others weren't featured much, but were basically cult hits. A character that definitely belongs in the "cult hit" category is the Tasmanian Devil (or "Taz" for short). Taz is definitely quite a popular character in the Looney Tunes group, and this is despite the fact that he was only featured in five shorts during the classic era at Warner Bros. Cartoons.

We have the late, great icon Robert McKimson to thank for this character. McKimson's contributions to the Looney Tunes were definitely memorable. He gave Friz Freleng's Sylvester a son, he gave us Speedy Gonzales, he created Foghorn Leghorn, and he also gave Sylvester a different foe in the form of Hippety Hopper. Recently, Taz celebrated 70 years as a character, and in a belated tribute, let's look at the five Looney Tunes shorts that featured the Tasmanian Devil.

Devil May Hare (1954)

Taz's debut came in Devil May Hare, which was released on June 19, 1954. It was one of four shorts where he was paired with Bugs Bunny, and it set the tone for their rivalry. Bugs, while doing some spring cleaning, witnessed a bunch of animals running for their lives, and failing to get an answer from any of them, Bugs stops a turtle and asks him what's going on. "The Tasmanian Devil is on the loose! Run! Run for your life!" the turtle replies in a panic. This is followed by Bugs looking up info on the Tasmanian Devil, and reading all of the things he eats before Bugs is interrupted by his new foe.

What follows is a series of pranks and pratfalls orchestrated by Bugs to fool Taz, and after that comes my favorite part of the short, where Bugs warns a deer about Taz. "He's a mean, vicious, nasty, no-good, baggy-eyed, marble-headed ignoramorus. He's a stupid...yeeh." It's at that moment that Taz appears and chases Bugs, who makes a phone call that leads to a female Tasmanian Devil appearing, and Bugs marries them off.

Bedevilled Rabbit (1957)

On April 13, 1957, Bedevilled Rabbit was released, and the beginning matched the opening of Devil May Hare nearly bit-by-bit. I recall this was the most aired out of Taz's five classic shorts, as well as the most recognized. One funny moment included Bugs acting like a monkey, as monkeys were one of the very few animals that were part of Taz's menu. This prompted this funny line of dialogue from Taz:

"What for you say you monkey, when you got little powder puff tail like rabbit...RABBIT?!"

Taz's attempt to prepare Bugs is interrupted by the rabbit's promise to cook him "wild turkey surprise." He does so, and it's all dynamite...literally. Bugs' last gag is dressing up as a female Tasmanian Devil to fool Taz, who is later caught and handled by his wife--methinks a continuation from Devil May Hare.

Ducking the Devil (1957)

A few months later, Warner Bros. Cartoons released Ducking the Devil, which marked Taz's only collaboration with Daffy Duck. The short has Taz about to be placed in a zoo cage, only to escape and run amok all over the area. Daffy is shown reading about Taz's escape, and cringes over the fact that his favorite food of choice is wild duck. Daffy claims that he's not afraid of Taz, but the devil's appearance changes Daffy's tune and he runs off after Taz drinks up all of the water in Daffy's pond.

While hiding out, Daffy overhears a news report on Taz, and learns that a $5000 reward is offered for his return to the zoo. Of course, Daffy jumps at the chance, especially after learning that music does calm the savage beast. His attempt to use the radio falls flat after the plug is pulled, and after each attempt at playing instruments fails, Daffy resorts to his final remaining play: singing. He sings various songs while leading Taz to the zoo, with his voice giving out just as they get there; however, he reactivates those chops at the nick of time, and Taz is captured.

The funniest moment comes at the end. Daffy counts his reward money, but a bill slips inside Taz's cage, and Taz takes it for himself. Now Daffy spent the entire short fearing for his life when it came to Taz, but when money was involved, the once apprehensive duck stormed into the cage and kicked Taz's caboose, and regained the bill.

Bill of Hare (1962)

Bill of Hare was released on June 9, 1962, and pitted Taz against Bugs Bunny once again. Similar to most of Taz's first two shorts, cooking was the central theme, as we first see Bugs preparing a dish, only for Taz to interrupt things by attempting to cook the rabbit. Bugs gets Taz out of the way, but the creature pops back again just as Bugs is cooking carrots cacciatore. Taz attempts to cook Bugs again, and also makes a sandwich out of him, but during the latter, Bugs tells Taz that he should be going after moose instead of rabbit.

"How you catch-um moose?" Taz asks. Bugs takes Taz to a railroad, where Taz is run down by two trains and an actual moose, and afterwards, Bugs serves a dynamite shishkebab to Taz, which leaves an explosive impact afterwards. A final chase ends with Taz captured and taken to a zoo, where Bugs presents him with a menu. In a shocking response, Taz does something we never thought we'd see: he lost his appetite.

Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare (1964)

Taz's fifth and final short during the classic era was Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare, released on March 28, 1964. The short kicks off in the same fashion as the first two, with the animals running in a panic over Taz's incoming appearance, though unlike the first two shorts, Bugs doesn't encounter the frightened animals. Instead, Bugs is bathing in a pond before he is interrupted by Taz, who dumps a bucket of water (bucket and all) on Bugs before pouring ketchup on him.

Bugs acts like he's bleeding and tells Taz to get a doctor. This begins a series of mindfucks against Taz, which include Bugs portraying a medical doctor and convincing Taz that he's in bad shape, which leads to Tax actually taking a spoonful of nitroglycerin. Afterwards, we see Bugs as a psychiatrist (complete with a German accent), and the session ends with Taz being placed in a mailbox. After both characters trade explosives, we see Bugs as a surgeon and Taz as his helper, with Bugs celebrating the completion of his operation.

The operation is revealed as a robotic Frankenstein's monster that clobbers Taz, but in a surprising moment, the same robot does the same to Bugs. As a result, the short ends with both characters beaten and defeated, with Bugs asking if there was a doctor in the house.

Other Appearances and Taz-Mania

Taz made a return in the Looney Tunes special, Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales, which aired on CBS on November 27, 1979. He appeared in the third segment of the special, "Fright Before Christmas," which was directed by Friz Freleng and aired two years after Taz's creator, Robert McKimson, passed away. Taz also appeared in 1983's Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island as an underling for Yosemite Sam, but the character's biggest spotlight came eight years later.

In 1991, Fox Kids premiered Taz-Mania, which was Taz's own cartoon series. With this, Taz became the first Looney Tunes character to receive their own show, and this show put Taz in the spotlight for the first time since his voice actor, Mel Blanc, passed away in 1989. Taz (voiced by the legendary Jim Cummings) is portrayed in a more docile light in comparison to his classic shorts, as he is portrayed as living at home with his parents and two siblings, and is kinder and gentler (for the most part). The show boasted an impressive voice cast that also included Rob Paulsen, Maurice LaMarche, Kellie Martin, John Astin, Miriam Flynn, Debi Derryberry, and Dan Castelleneta. Taz-Mania lasted for four seasons and aired 65 episodes.

Taz remains a very popular Looney Tunes character, but he's also a bit on the underrated side. He only appeared in five shorts, but they are among the most memorable out of the vast collection of Looney Tunes cartoon shorts. If I had to pick a favorite out of the five shorts, I'd have to say it's Ducking the Devil because of the standalone pairing with Daffy Duck, though Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare was quite wild. Taz has entertained all of us for seven decades, and we have enjoyed every facet of the character's hilarity.