Why so much hype?

Best movie of this year hands down!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.'A-Lad-in His Lamp' from personal opinion, and quite a few others it seems, is one of the best cartoons from Robert McKimson during a period where he had not just hit his stride but also was in his prime. A director who isn't one of the greats in animation but was responsible for his fair share of good to classic cartoons (though he was not immune to average and less ones), meaning that he is deserving of more credit than he gets. Bugs is true to his very likeable, witty and hilarious persona that he is most famous for, while being just as much at home in a serious dangerous situation that he is here. The genie, wonderfully voiced by Jim Backus, is a riot, and while the villain is a less than subtle archetype he is great fun and a suitable threat. Mel Blanc as always is stellar in the usual multiple roles, that he shows the masterly and unequalled ability to give individuality to each of them.Animation is excellent, it's fluid in movement, vibrant in colour and very meticulous in detail. The story may be predictable, but it's beautifully paced with never a dull moment and strongly structured. Carl Stalling's music is typically superb. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.It's a very funny, often hilarious actually, cartoon too, with well-engineered gags, a great premise made the most out of and done inventively, witty dialogue and non-stop liveliness.Overall, a McKimson and Bugs classic. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Lackluster, I disagree. Jim Backus' genie did steal the show from Bugs in this one. It did have the required caricature of the Caliph and the Genie. Remember the 40's, PC was not heard of then.Too bad joke are no longer seen as jokes. As far as the portrayal of Iraqis, Iraq wasn't a country during this make believe era. Smokey had the best lines, "3 cheers and a tiger for me".Bugs correcting the caliph with, "bugs bunny's lamp". True wise guy Bugs Bunny. Who can resist those lines, and the standard, 'be-whoop" sound of the Warner Bros. I have them as .wav files for mail delivery and just fun. Smokey bathing in the lamp and romancing the harem girls were great scenes and Bugs and Smokey played off each other rather well. My all time favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon. Beats the later 70's and 80's Bugs hands down. Some of the great Mr. Backus' finest work. I think this cartoon also stands the test of time. I've tested it on my kids, all born in the 90's and they loved it and couldn't believe it's almost 60 years old.

Bugs stumbles upon a magic lamp and finds a somewhat annoying genie, voiced by Jim Backus. While the genie is able to grant wishes, he's also a bit snippy and after a while tells Bugs to leave him alone OR ELSE--even though through the genie's own ineptitude he's put Bugs into harms way with the dangerous Hasan, who is intent on killing Bugs. Again and again Bugs tries to get help but the genie tells him to go away (he's taking a shower or on a hot date, etc.). Finally, after receiving his last warning, Hasan inadvertently bothers the genie--who responds by pulverizing him! A cute cartoon with very high production values and a lot of laughs.

Robert McKimson is an often overlooked Warner Brothers Cartoon director, but he created some of their funniest hits, such as "Ham in a Role", "A Fractured Leghorn" (easily the best of the Foghorn Leghorn series), "It's Hummer Time", and "Early to Bet". McKimson's use of Bugs Bunny was sometimes disappointing ("Rabbit's Kin") but he more often used Bugs to good effect. Instead of the too-clever Bugs who is smarter than anyone else in the room, McKimson's Bugs got into real jams. "Hillbilly Hare" (where Bugs finds himself caught in the midst of a feud); "Hot Cross Bunny", where a doctor tries to change Bugs' brain with that of a chicken; and "Easter Yeggs", where Bugs is conned by his good heart to help out the Easter Bunny, are three of Bugs' greatest hits. Another McKimson gem is "A-Lad-in-His-Lamp", where Bugs Bunny happens across the famous lamp of Aladdin and finds himself caught between a ruthless potentate who wants the lamp (an early Saddam) and an increasingly unhelpful genie. Another plus to this nearly-perfect cartoon with non-stop action and laughs is Jim Backus doing an uncredited turn as the voice of the genie.