Even Bugs and Porky enjoyed a good Northern once. “Bugs Bunny Finds the Frozen Kingdom” was written by an unknown author and drawn by Tom McKimson. Tom was older brother to animator Robert McKimson who did some of the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Tom also worked for Warner Bros. as well as Dell Comics. This Bugs and Porky tale appeared in Dell’s Four Color #164 (September 1947).
The tale opens with a parade. Porky tells Bugs what’s going on. Prospector “Frosty Fred” is throwing gold nuggets to the crowd as he drives by. Bugs and Porky get a nugget each, plus the idea to go to Fred’s home and talk to him.
At first the butler seems mean but allows the pair to come in and speak with Fred. Bugs asks Fred to tell them how to get gold like he did. Frosty Fred doesn’t mind since he is retired. He shows them a map so they too can go to Alaska and get rich. The only stipulation is one third of the gold goes to Fred.
Bugs and Porky leave to get ready. The butler, Red, laughs with Fred about the suckers who come to the house. They have sent many people to different parts of Alaska to find gold. Some of those people are never seen again.
Porky buys a small plane and the two fly to Alaska. They’ve brought fur overalls and plenty of dynamite. Unfortunately Bugs left the extra gasoline. The plane lands roughly and the two are stuck. Bugs loads up Porky with the supplies and the dynamite and they go looking for shelter.
While hiking Porky lets out a sneeze that starts an avalanche. The falling cliffside reveals a tunnel. The two gold miners enter, finding a passage that looks Egyptian. The columns are made of solid gold!
Strange people show up and confront the two. They have found the secret kingdom of Radiom. Their guide explains that the Radiomites have been there for thousands of years. They have a system for heating and lighting their home. “Jeepers!” cries Bugs when he sees their city of gold.
Bugs and Porky are taken to see the king. They are the first visitors in nine hundred years. The king explains he is nine hundred years old since the Radiomites have learned how to live for thousands of years. The king proves to be a friendly fellow.
Good thing because at this moment the throne room is attacked by the Men from Polaris, enemies of the Radiomites. Armed with ice guns, they freeze and kidnap the king. Bugs learns that without the king everyone will soon perish. Only the king knows the secrets of the city’s power and longevity.
Porky and Bugs volunteer to rescue the monarch. This means going down the creepy Endless Cavern. They have to squeeze through a hole in a wall to continue. They wander for awhile but find the huts of the Polarisites.
They watch for a bit then Bugs slips the guards a hotfoot. They grab the king, who is frozen like a statue. The trio are spotted leaving. Bugs uses some of their dynamite to slow down the pursuers. Bugs detonates all the dynamite to seal the hole in the wall forever.
The King rewards the boys handsomely with a box full of their most precious metal. He also is glad they will live for thousands of years as his guests. Bugs and Porky make a run for it. Another sneeze by Porky seals the tunnel to Radiom. The two gold seekers are stranded with no gas. But the army shows up in new snow tanks. It is Operation Shiver, trying out new experimental equipment. The army boys give them gas to get home.
On the flight back, Bugs opens their box of gold only to find it is lead. Unfortunately in Radiom gold is common and lead is thought of as the most precious metal. Disgruntled the boys notice their clothing from Radiom is dirty. They take it to a dry cleaner but he can’t clean them since they are made of solid gold. The boys are rich!
They return to Frosty Fred’s and give him one third of the lead. They finish off with their own parade, where they throw lead nuggets to a confused crowd.
The idea of a lost city in Alaska seems to have many sources. The Lost City, a movie serial from 1935 has a Science Fictiony feel though set in Africa. Hawk of the Wilderness was a 1938 serial based on the William L. Chester novel, that takes place in an Arctic oasis. In fiction the idea of lost cities is even older, dating back to H. R. Haggard and Alan Quatermain though in the Pulps we had Polaris of the Snows (1915) and The Dwellers in the Mirage by A. Merritt (1932) and Max Brand (as George Challis) with The Smoking Land (1937). James Hilton’s 1933 classic Lost Horizon (with a Frank Capra film in 1937) probably inspired the long-living Radiomites. The treasure turning out to be lead feels a bit like the big reveal at the end of that film. (Ian Cameron would write a popular novel, The Lost Ones on the same plan as late as 1961, filmed as The Island at the Top of the World in 1974.)
