Elmer's Pet Rabbit is a 1941 Merrie Melodies short directed by Charles M. Jones.
Plot[]
Elmer goes to a pet store to find a rabbit at a discount of 98¢. After purchasing it, he heads home only for the rabbit, Bugs Bunny, to peep out of the box. Bugs proves to be an inconsiderate pet, expecting to be treated as human.
When Elmer builds a pen for Bugs to reside in, Bugs hates it, and he reluctantly eats the vegetables that Elmer calls dinner while ranting his mouth off. Seeing Elmer reside peacefully inside the house, Bugs intends to find a way to claim the home as his.
Bugs first knocks on the door, then runs in and haphazardously turns on every light downstairs, prompting an angry Elmer to throw Bugs out. Bugs sneaks back in later, and takes the bathroom for himself. When Elmer realizes that Bugs is hogging the room, he busts the door open and forces the rabbit out of the shower and into the bathtub. Bugs tricks Elmer to think he drowned in the bathtub, forcing Elmer to fish him out. After being pulled out of the tub, Bugs kisses Elmer, and says to the audience, "How do you like that? He saves my life and after all the things I did to him in this picture." He offers Elmer to let him kick him in the tail. At first, Elmer didn't want to do it, but when he did anyways, Bugs turns toward Elmer and angrily exclaims, "Of course, you know! This means war!" Then Bugs removes one of his gloves and proceeded to slap Elmer in the face twice with it before putting it back on.
Bugs then flees into Elmer's bedroom, now occupying his bed. As Elmer tries to turn on the light, Bugs yells at him to turn it off. A large fight ensues, where Elmer appears to have successfully have chased Bugs out of the house, complete with barring up the front door. However, as Elmer reenters his bedroom, Bugs is still on the now-destroyed bed, and shouts at Elmer to turn off the light. Elmer turns the light off, ending the story.
Caricatures[]
Availability[]
(Associated Artists Productions print)
Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Elmer Fudd Cartoon Festival Featuring "An Itch in Time"
Bugs Bunny Collection: Bugs Bunny on Parade
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2, Side 2: Early Wabbits
Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Volume 11: Wabbit Tales (1995 USA Turner print)
Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 (restored)
Streaming[]
Notes[]
- This is the first cartoon in which Bugs is given his name (on the title card).
- The music in the cartoon includes a variation on "While Strolling Through the Park One Day" (Ed Haley), arranged by Carl W. Stalling, performed by Elmer and Bugs. Elmer, as usual, has trouble with many of the words, due to his "rounded L and R" speech impediment.
- Bugs Bunny wears yellow gloves, has a deep voice, and has no buck teeth (except on "Featuring BUGS BUNNY" screen). Although this cartoon was released after "A Wild Hare", in which Bugs' recognizable "Bronx/Brooklyn" voice characterization appears for the first time, Mel Blanc used the voice from "Elmer's Candid Camera" in this short.
- While most of these aspects would not return again in the franchise, Bugs' gloves are yellow in the HBO Max series Looney Tunes Cartoons.
- This was the second cartoon for Bugs and the 23rd cartoon that Chuck Jones directed.
- In this cartoon, Bugs' personality is radically different from his other incarnations; as opposed to his usual fun-loving and comic relief personality, he has a much more aggressive, selfish, arrogant, disrespectful, almost thuggish personality. Also, he is more sarcastic than wisecracking.
- This is the only cartoon where Bugs claims to not eat carrots (although he eats them and other vegetables while complaining).
- The title card for this is similar to the title cards from "Good Night Elmer" and "Porky's Ant".
- The film was copyrighted on 19 December 1940.[2]
Gallery[]
References[]