Rabbit Fire
Rabbit Fire is a 1950 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short, guest starring Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, is notable for being the first film in Jones' "Hunter's Trilogy" - the other two films being Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit! Duck!. Produced by Edward Selzer for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., the short was released to theaters on May 15 1950 by Warner Bros. Pictures and is widely considered among Jones' best and most important films.
About the film
Plot
Template:Spoiler The short starts out like many Bugs Bunny cartoons do: Elmer Fudd follows a trail of "wabbit twacks" left by a rabbit he presumes to be Bugs Bunny. It turns out, however, that the tracks are being left by Daffy Duck, who, using the feet from a rabbit costume, makes the prints lead right up to Bugs' rabbit hole. "Survival of the fittest," Daffy tells the audience as he runs to hide, "...and besides, it's fun!"
When Elmer appears, Bugs informs him that the hunter cannot legally shoot the rabbit, since it is Duck Season. Daffy emerges from his hiding place, screaming that Bugs' claim is "an unmitigated frabrication" and that it is actually "Wabbit Season." The argument then continues:
- Bugs: "Duck season!"
- Daffy: "Wabbit season!"
- Bugs: "Duck season!!"
- Daffy: "Wabbit season!!"
- Bugs: "Duck season!!!"
- Daffy: "Wabbit season!!!"
- Bugs: (reversing the flow) "Wabbit season!"
- Daffy: "Duck season!!!"
- Bugs: "Wabbit season!!!"
- Daffy: "I say its duck season, and I say FIRE!"
Elmer then obliges and shoots the duck's beak out of position. Uninjured, yet embarrassed, Daffy starts the argument back up twice more--with similar results.
The debate over which animal is actually in season continues for the rest of the short, with Bugs escaping each round unscathed, but Daffy ending up being shot in the beak. None of Bugs' and Daffy's tactics, including dressing up as one another, reading cookbooks on how Elmer can prepare rabbit or duck delicacies, or even Bugs dressing up in Drag as a hunter with Daffy as his dog, convince Elmer that either of them is in season or to put down his gun. The argument continues until, in a notable twist, it turns out to be Elmer Season, prompting the hunter to run and Bugs and Daffy to don hunting gear and inform the audiences to be "vewwy, vewwy quiet...we're hunting Elmers!"
Reaction
Rabbit Fire is generally considered among Chuck Jones' and Michael Maltese's best works, and is noted for its use of dialog gags in lieu of the physical gags more typical in animation. Besides the two sequels to this film, a number of other notable Jones shorts, including Beanstalk Bunny and Ali Baba Bunny, paired quick-witted Bugs and self-serving Daffy with (or rather against) each other.
The "duck season/rabbit season" argument from this short became one of the most notable references of the Looney Tunes franchise, and has been analyzed both by scholars and by Jones himself. According to an essay by Darragh O'Donoghue, Rabbit Fire "stands in close relation to human experience, striving and generally failing to grasp an elusive quarry or goal." [1]. Richard Thompson said that in the film, there is "the clearest definition of character roles: Elmer never knows what's going on; Bugs always knows what's going on and is in control of things; Daffy is bright enough to understand how to be in control, but never quite makes it." Jones himself refers to Rabbit Fire as a "corner" picture, among his works that, "as in turning a corner in a strange city, reveal new and enchanting vistas."
The short earned an honorable mention for animation historian Jerry Beck's list of The Fifty Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1000 Animation Professionals. Its 1952 sequel, Rabbit Seasoning, made the actual list at number 32. The style, setup, and plot of Rabbit Fire were adapted into the opening sequence of Warners' 2003 film Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
References
- Jones, Chuck (1989). Chuck Amuck : The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux. ISBN 0-374-12348-9.
- Jones, Chuck (1996). Chuck Reducks : Drawing from the Fun Side of Life. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51893-X.
- Thompson, Richard (Jan-Feb 1975). Film Comment.
Trivia
- This cartoon reveals that Elmer Fudd is a vegetarian, and only hunts animals for the sport of it.
- Although Elmer is a vegetarian, in the cartoon Elmer's Pet Rabbit, he actually ate a roast for dinner. It's possible that he turned vegetarian after the former, and before the latter.
Credits
- Story: Michael Maltese
- Music: Carl Stalling
- Animation: Ken Harris, Phil Monroe, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam
- Background: Philip DeGuard
- Layout: Robert Gribbroek
- Produced by: Edward Selzer
- Directed by: Chuck Jones