November 9, 1946 –
Another classic, yet surprisingly controversial Bugs Bunny outing, Rhapsody Rabbit, premiered on this date (We’ll talk about the controversy later.)
Franz Liszt’s 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody music was first used in 1941’s Rhapsody in Rivets. A long-standing controversy exists between the previous cartoon and the Tom and Jerry short, The Cat Concerto.
Both MGM and Warner Bros. accused each other of plagiarism, after both films were shown in the 1947 Academy Awards Ceremony. Technicolor was accused of sending a print of either cartoon to a competing studio, who then plagiarized their rival’s work. This remains uncertain to this day, though Rhapsody Rabbit has an earlier MPAA copyright number and release date. The massive similarities could be coincidental, and are considered as such by those who don’t believe that there was any plagiarism to start. Since the animators at Warner Bros. and MGM were experienced in making cartoons, it could be likely that they all thought of similar concepts and expanded them, not knowing that similar situations resulted in each cartoon (as is the case with a lot of creative works regardless of genre and medium).
The Haus of Dcaligari 