Elmer's Pet Rabbit
Lobby card
Directed byCharles M. Jones
Story byRich Hogan
Produced byLeon Schlesinger
Starring
Edited byTreg Brown (uncredited)
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Animation by
Layouts byJohn McGrew (uncredited)
Backgrounds byPaul Julian (uncredited)
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • January 4, 1941 (1941-01-04)
Running time
7:45
LanguageEnglish

Elmer's Pet Rabbit is a 1941 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones.[1] The short was released on January 4, 1941, and features Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny.[2]

This is the first cartoon in which the name Bugs Bunny is given (on a title card, edited onto the end of the opening title following the success of 1940's A Wild Hare), but the rabbit is similar to the prototype version of him seen and heard in Elmer's Candid Camera (though his voice is different) and other prototype-Bugs Bunny shorts. This is Chuck Jones' first cartoon featuring the recognizable Bugs Bunny, and it was written by Rich Hogan. Voices are provided by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger.

Plot

Bugs Bunny has a chat with Elmer. Animation by Bob Cannon.

Elmer buys Bugs Bunny in a pet shop (for 98¢). When they get home, Elmer builds an enclosure for Bugs, and then serves him dinner (a bowl of vegetables) which Bugs acts angrily towards. Then Bugs is seen grumbling in the night and he eventually takes Elmer's bed as his own. Throughout the short, Bugs irritates Elmer in various ways—from dancing to attempts getting in the shower, etc.—which culminates when Elmer brutally attacks Bugs (in a dark room with humorous fireworks exploding) and sends him out of the house. However, Bugs somehow manages to get back inside and reclaim Elmer's bed, and the short ends with Elmer clicking the light off.

The song

The music in the cartoon includes a variation on "While Strolling Through the Park One Day," arranged by Carl Stalling, performed by Elmer and the rabbit. Elmer, of course, has trouble with many of the words, due to his "rounded L and R" speech impediment.

Home media

Although the short was included on three VHS compilations in 1985, 1990 and 1999, as well as a 1992 Golden Age of Looney Tunes LaserDisc release, it was not issued again until 2020, when HBO Max included the cartoon in its collection of other Looney Tunes shorts.

References

  1. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 111. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.