I noticed the similarities to the current feature film LITTLE MAN to a particular Bugs Bunny cartoon when I first saw the trailer back on May 3rd – and many critics have mentioned it in their reviews. I have no interest in seeing the flick. But thankfully our pal Art Bininger scored a free ticket and reports back that the film is even closer to the cartoon than we thought:

LITTLE MAN, from the Wayans Brothers, is an unmistakeable rip-off of BABY BUGGY BUNNY, which you mentioned in Cartoon Brew a while back. As comedy misfires go, this one does have a few chuckles sprinkled throughout. There are at least three lifts from the Bugs Bunny

cartoon:1. The couple discovering a military tattoo on the tyke.

2. John Witherspoon (“Pops”) giving the “baby” the old “upsy daisy” against the ceiling.

3. The lights-out gag, where little Calvin clubs a henchman (in cartoonish silhouette) every time the lights are turned off. The henchman then leans over the sleeping baby, says “Click” and gets whomped again.I stayed through the closing credits, hoping that maybe there would be a reference to Chuck Jones or Michael Maltese but no such luck.

Based on the opening weekend grosses, and the success of Disney’s Pirates of the Carribbean, perhaps the Wayans brothers should have studied BUCCANEER BUNNY instead!