Knighty Knight Bugs

Knighty Knight Bugs is a 1958 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, The short was released on August 23, 1958, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.

Knighty Knight Bugs is the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, which was awarded in 1959. The short was later included in the 1981 compilation film The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie. The cartoon's title is a pun on the phrase "Nighty Night".

Plot
In the realm of King Arthur, trouble ensues when the Singing Sword is stolen by the infamous Black Knight Yosemite Sam. King Arthur, along with his loyal Knights of the Round Table, seeks a volunteer to recover the stolen artifact. Reluctantly, court jester Bugs Bunny is assigned the mission by King Arthur, facing considerable consequences if he fails.

Upon infiltrating the castle of the Black Knight, Bugs encounters a dragon, companion to Yosemite Sam, suffering from a cold-induced sneezing fit. Taking advantage of the situation, Bugs retrieves the Singing Sword from the castle's chest. As Bugs asks why it's called the Singing Sword, it begins to magically vibrate, making it sound like it's singing, causing Sam to wake up. As Bugs escapes, Yosemite Sam gives chase on the dragon, leading to a series of comical encounters. Bugs outsmarts Yosemite Sam by utilizing the castle's defenses against him, causing various mishaps including Sam falling into the moat and being flattened by a failed catapult launch. Despite Sam's persistent pursuit, Bugs ultimately traps him and the dragon in an explosives stockade within the castle.

As Bugs departs with the Singing Sword, the dragon's sneeze triggers an explosion that propels Sam and the dragon towards the moon. Bugs bids them farewell as the Singing Sword emits a melody.

Awards
Knighty Knight Bugs is the fifth Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes entry to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1959. In doing so, it beat out cartoons Walt Disney Studios' Paul Bunyan and Terrytoons' Sidney's Family Tree. It was the third Oscar-nominated Bugs Bunny cartoon, after A Wild Hare in 1941 and Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt in 1942. The Oscar was presented to John W. Burton, the producer of this cartoon. After Burton's death, the Oscar was handed to the director, Friz Freleng.

In the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Who Bopped Bugs Bunny?", the Oscar win of Knighty Knight Bugs is a major plot point. Mirroring the real-life loss of the Terrytoons short at the Academy Awards, a character named Sappy "Slaphappy" Stanley (a parody of "Silly" Sidney, here voiced by Jonathan Winters) was defeated for the Shloscar Award. As a result, Stanley scorned the U.S. film industry and relocated to France, where despite becoming a national star still nursed a bitter grudge against Bugs, culminating in the episode's plot.

Home media
This cartoon is featured uncut on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 DVD set, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection, and The Essential Bugs Bunny. It is also available in the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 Blu-ray and DVD.

Attractions
Bugs' White Water Rapids is a Hopkins Rides log flume themed to Knighty Knight Bugs that opened in 1998 at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, Texas.