Release Date:

March 23, 1946

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd

Summary:

After completing a potion that will turn a normal character into a devilish fiend, scientist Elmer Fudd loses his experimental dog after force-feeding him the potion. He attempts to use Bugs Bunny as his next test subject, but nothing happens after he is also force-fed the potion. Bugs tricks Elmer into consuming his own potion, which only has him turn different colors and act insane. When the other disappears at one point, they mistake a bear who wanders into the lab for the other.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 10-14, the 10th Merrie Melodie in the 14th release season.

This is Tashlin’s last ever cartoon as he would leave cartoons for good to fulfill his desire to become a director of live-action features. This is also his second and last Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Tashlin is yet again uncredited due to leaving the studio before the cartoon’s release.

The cartoon was originally titled “Elmer’s Hare Remover” with only Elmer’s name removed from the cartoon’s final title.

Elmer doesn't actually wear a scientist’s clothes but green clothing and a derby, the same type of clothes he wore in cartoons where he was a bachelor homeowner such as “Elmer’s Pet Rabbit” and “An Itch in Time” (although in the former he wore red clothes while in the latter he wore blue clothes, but these are all designed the same).

There appears to be a scene that was inexplicably removed before the cartoon’s release. After Bugs deliberately gets caught in Elmer’s trap to go along with the gag, Elmer cheers in celebration while carrying Bugs in his arms before the scene abruptly cuts to a serious-looking Elmer walking up the hill to his lab with Bugs asking, “What’s up, doc?”, making it obvious that something was removed. Why the cut scene was removed is unknown.

This is one of the few cartoons where Elmer refers to Bugs by name.

The dog resembles Fido from “Behind the Meat Ball”.

The cartoon bears (ha!) some similarity to “Wabbit Twouble” in that both cartoons involve a bear becoming the third character in the cartoon. These are two completely different bears, however, as the bear in “Wabbit Twouble” has black fur while the bear in this cartoon has brown fur.

What I Like About This One:

Elmer’s giant shadow is cast on the wall as he’s mixing with a Junior “Al” Chemical Set where he explains, “I’m twying to make the formuwa that will change a normal chawacter into a deviwish fiend!”, while his face forms into the devil’s when he says the last two words (animated by Arthur Davis).

Squeezing one final drop into his test tube, Elmer’s blue liquid changes into various colors: red, orange, blue again, plaid, purple with orange polka dots, black and white rhombuses, and barbershop stripes that rises out of the tube (animated by Davis) and shoots off explosives causing Elmer to have to hold the tube on the ground for it to stop (animated by Richard Bickenbach).

The experimental dog is horrified to see Elmer offering him the potion and tries in vain to break his chain (animated by Cal Dalton) as Elmer misinterprets the dog’s reaction as excitement: “He wuvs it! (laughs)” The camera pans over to Elmer force-feeding the dog the potion which only causes him to spit, hold his mouth (animated by Davis), jump out the glass window, and eat grass, stopping at one point to pant before continuing his inedible meal (animated by Anatolle Kirsanoff).

In a callback of “A Wild Hare”, Elmer sets a box trap with a carrot as bait. Seeing that the numskull who thought this up went to a lot of trouble preparing it, Bugs decides to go along with it so as to not disappoint them (animated by Davis).

In the lab, Elmer prepares the potion again and offers it to the suspicious Bugs, who declines. “This guy’s tryin’ to slip me a Mickey!”, he confides. Refusing to take no for an answer, Elmer angrily demands, “Now, wabbit. DWINK!” (animated by Dalton) as he force-feeds Bugs the potion. Bugs starts breathing heavily and smoking, with Elmer anticipating the transformation into a gruesome monster- but nothing happens as Bugs answers, “No soap, doc!” (animated by Davis)

With Elmer crying over his failure as a terrible scientist (animated by Izzy Ellis), Bugs gives Elmer a sample of the same potion to drink to make him feel better. This causes Elmer to turn the exact same colors as his potion did earlier (animated by Bickenbach; with the second color this time being yellow instead of orange), and spin around when his body turns into the barbershop stripes. Bugs comments, “Eh, I think Spencer Tracy did it much better, don’t you, folks?”, which references the 1941 film, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Elmer then starts acting screwy, so Bugs pulls out picture cards to describe him: a screw and a ball meaning screwball, a crack in a pot meaning crackpot, a dripping faucet meaning drip, and has bats in his belfry (animated by Dalton).

Elmer then holds his mouth, runs out with his derby landing on the bear (animated by Davis), and joins the dog in eating grass with the occasional pause to pant (animated by Kirsanoff). Bugs laughs over this, but when the bear walks in wearing Elmer’s derby, Bugs thinks this is Elmer transformed. Apologizing to the very confused bear who gives the audience a “Huh?” look (animated by Davis), Bugs gives him a potion that will change him back. The bear drinks it (animated by Bickenbach) but it makes him spit explosives, forcing Bugs to run (animated by Kirsanoff). The bear tosses the potion at Bugs but it instead destroys a door leading to outside, leaving only the doorknob and hinges (animated by Dalton).

The bear then picks up Bugs’ carrot and eats it just as a tired Elmer returns to the lab (animated by Ellis). Thinking the bear is Bugs transformed, Elmer exclaims, “Bugs Bunny!” as he apologizes to the bear who gives the audience the same “Huh?” look. This time, the bear slaps the potion out of Elmer’s hand. Elmer berates “Bugs” for being ungrateful (animated by Davis) and threatens, “I got a notion to wing the tar out of you, you- you-!” but upon seeing Bugs waving to him from the window, he realizes this is a real bear! (animated by Dalton)

Bugs advises Elmer to play dead as the bear won’t hurt him that way. The bear sniffs at Elmer and walks away, before Bugs comes in acting like a bear growling at Elmer as the bear sits on the sidelines holding the same picture cards from earlier (animated by Davis).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½