Release Date:

February 1, 1958

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny

Summary:

The addle-brained and forgetful Charles M. Wolf is sent out by his nagging wife to shoot a rabbit for dinner. Going after Bugs Bunny does not help his case.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1475 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

Charles M. Wolf is named after Jones.

This cartoon is one of the best examples of a couple that makes you wonder why they even married in the first place, especially since Charles mutters under his breath to the audience when he believes he’s out of earshot, “I hate her!”, after she forces him out to hunt.

This is also the first time June Foray uses her nagging woman voice for a wife.

The title is a pun for “hairless wolf”.

Charles has the same character traits (and nearly identical voice due to also being voiced by Mel Blanc) as the wolf in “Red Riding Hoodwinked”.

The cartoon provides some bit of irony as Freleng disliked Elmer for being dumb (which was the whole reason Yosemite Sam was created), but there’s no denying that Charles is clearly dumber than Elmer (Freleng also gave Bugs some notably stupid antagonists with the giant in “Jack Wabbit and the Beanstalk” as well as the dopey dog in “Foxy by Proxy”).

Favorite Scene:

The grenade scene where Charles follows the exact directions from reading the instructions, only to realize too late that he only has 10 seconds to perform the operation.

What Happens in This One:

In his cave, Charles is seen happily relaxing in his easy chair and watching a baseball game with the announcer being heard, “That’s strike one, ball two on Mickey. He steps out of the batters’ box, gets some dirt out of his cleats, now he’s back in again”. Suddenly, his wife angrily shouts, “CHARLIE!” at the top of her voice, causing him to jump out of his chair, startled. She then comes into view beyond peeved, “You lazy good-for-nothing! Laying around the house while I work my fingers to the bone!”, and drags him by the ear over to their dinner pot, “Working and slaving and what thanks do I get!? There’s nothing in the pot for dinner!” Taking a rifle above the pot off the wall, she hands it to Charles and orders, “You get out there and shoot a rabbit! Now get going!” Briefly dropping the rifle, Charles picks it back up and runs out of the cave with it. Once outside and believing he’s out of earshots, Charles mutters to us, “I hate her!”, only to be hit by a frying pan thrown from the wife, who reiterates her order from offscreen, “Get going!” (animated by Virgil Ross)

Spotting Charles running past over the hill, Bugs attempts to ask, “Hey, what’s all the excitement-” to no avail (animated by Ross). Bugs then runs up to Charles and gets him to stop running when he asks, “Hey, uh, what’s up, doc? Robbers? Call to arms? Posse? Ya hunting for something?” The latter question causes Charles to come to a stop and answer, “Hunting? Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, hunting! Hunting, that’s right! I-I’m out to shoot a uh-” Bugs jumps around excitedly wondering what he’s going to shoot while Charles tries to remember what it was he was hunting for, “Squirrel? Eh, no, no. A possum? Eh, uh, uh, no, no, a-a chipmunk? Eh, no”. Bugs then asks, “A rabbit?”, to which Charles answers, “Uh, yeah, yeah, uh, that’s it!” He attempts to shoot at Bugs, who dodges each shot. After the third attempt, Bugs jumps on top of the gun- standing on it- and tsks, “Terrible shooting”. When Charles warns, “Eh, get off that gun”, Bugs jumps off of it and lands on Charles’ head in a leaning position, “Okay! How’s this?” Charles attempts to hit Bugs with the rifle, only for Bugs to jump off at the last second, causing Charles to hit himself, with his head vibrating (animated by Arthur Davis).

Bugs takes a look at the gun, “There must be something wrong with this gun. You’re too good a shot to miss at such close range!” Tossing a can up into the air, he continues, “Some guns are faulty, ya know. We’d better test it”. He shoots at the can with the gun the exact moment it’s in front of Charles’ face from coming back down. “Nothing wrong with this gun. Eh, must be you”. Bugs then walks away (animated by Ross) before Charles attempts to shoot at him again. He has Charles chase him around a tree, before he stops and asks Charles periodically- whenever he comes into view from running around the tree-, “Hey… doc. What… are… you… chasing… around the… tree?” Charles stops running to try and figure this out, “Now, now, uh, eh, what WAS it I was chasing around the tree? Was it, eh, uh, uh, a… woodchuck? No. Uh, a porcupine?” Bugs again asks, “A rabbit?”, which causes Charles to realize while running towards him, “Uh yeah, yeah, yeah! That’s it! A ra-!”, only for Bugs to trip him (animated by Davis).

Bugs then dives into a hole with Charles briefly glaring angrily at it, before Bugs puts out a box for him. Charles sees what’s inside, “A grenade? Oh, okay, rabbit! I’m gonna blow you to uh, eh-” Bugs briefly comes back up to ask, “Kingdom come?” Charles replies, “Uh, yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah! That’s the place! Kingdom come!” He then reads the instructions and directly follows them, “Place hand grenade A in left hand as illustrated in diagram B. Alright, got it. Hold pin marked C with index finger in the right hand. Right hand, that’s the right hand (pulls pin). Now, check that pin, see, see that it’s on the index finger. (nods) If so, discard the pin (tosses it aside). You are now ready to throw grenade at the target. Over”. He then flips it over to a warning label as his tone changes to him realizing he’s screwed, “Warning. It is important to remember that you have only ten seconds to perform this operation”. Charles groans in worry as he pulls out a pocket watch and then braces himself before the grenade explodes in his hand (animated by Gerry Chiniquy).

With his face hairless from the explosion, Charles chases Bugs to a train tunnel where he runs away from what appears to be a train coming out. It’s actually Bugs chasing him with a flashlight while blowing on a train whistle. Realizing this, Charles chases Bugs back into the tunnel. Spotting what he thinks is Bugs trying to pull the same trick again, Charles stands in front of the approaching light with a smirking folded arms expression before this turns into shocked horror upon seeing that this is an actual train. After getting run over by it, Charles sits up and wonders, “Now, now, why was I trying to catch a train?” (animated by Davis)

Later, Bugs lights a long fuse with a match that Charles follows in curiosity all the way to the large TNT keg it’s connected to, with the explosion not only charring him but also removing the fur on his snout (animated by Chiniquy).

Bugs has just finished constructing a series of wooden boards going off a cliff with a door behind him. Charles runs up to it and knocks, to which Bugs opens the tiny door in the middle and asks, “Yes? Who is it?” Pulling on the knob, Charles begins to answer, “O-open up the door or I’ll uh- uh, or I’ll uh- gee, what will I do?” Bugs asks, “Knock it down?”, to which Charles decides, “Yeah, yeah! Knock it down!” He runs back to get a good running start and then charges at the door, sending it and himself falling off the end of the boards. Initially oblivious, Charles begins pounding on it before realizing he’s plummeting, “Open up now! Come on now! Open up! Open- up”. He looks out the tiny door and sees the ground getting closer, causing him to shut said tiny door (animated by Ross up to here) before crashing offscreen. The impact causes Bugs to lose his balance but he manages to catch the end of the board and get back up (animated by Chiniquy).

Furious, Charles runs all the way up the mountain trail and once he approaches Bugs, starts heavily breathing into his face. Irritated, Bugs pushes him back, “Stop breathing on my fur!” before asking, “Now, what is it you want?” Charles begins to answer, “What do I WANT!? Why, I want a- uh- I want eh- eee- uh-”, before Bugs tells him, “Oh, come on now. You must have come up looking for SOMETHING!” Charles realizes, “Yeah, yeah, yeah! That’s it! Looking for something! Yeah! Now, now, what was I looking for? A, eh, eh, chipmunk? Squirrel? A possum?” This time, Bugs just says, “Let me know when you find out” and leaves. That night, WAY past dinner time, Charles is sitting on a tall rock and still struggling to remember what it was he was trying to hunt, “A zebra? No, no, no. Orangutan? Uh, uh-uh. A hippopotamus? (laughs) No, no-not a hippopotamus”. In his pajamas and holding a candle, Bugs bids the audience, “Well, uh, goodnight, folks. We’re running out of time” before descending down into his hole for bed (animated by Chiniquy).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

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