Monday, January 02, 2006

"Well, That's That"

Has anyone ever made a list of all the Bugs Bunny cartoons where he says "Well, that's that?" You can't help but notice, watching a bunch of Bugs Bunny cartoons in succession, that there's a whole bunch of cartoons where he says "Well, that's that" after avoiding some peril or defeating some enemy.

Of course, as soon as he says "Well, that's that," something else comes along instantly to threaten him. The line "Well, that's that" is Bugs Bunny's equivalent of "It's over" in a horror movie; as you know, once the survivors in a horror movie say "It's over," the killer, apparently dead a few seconds ago, will spring up and try to kill someone.

Another cartoon variation on the "Well, that's that" principle was "Batman: The Animated Series" and the line "It's over, [fill in name of villain]." There must have been something like twenty episodes where Batman would tell the villain "It's over, Joker/Scarecrow/Penguin/Other Guy in Silly Costume," only to be hit on the head with something half a second later.

The moral: if you hear a character say it's over, it is never over.

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