Release Date:

December 30, 1944

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd

Summary:

Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny into a vaudeville theater where Bugs does various acts while trying to avoid Elmer, who ends up getting roped into some of them.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 12-13, the 12th Merrie Melodie in the 13th release season.

This is the last cartoon to bear the credit, “Produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc.” (albeit only on the end card, so we’ll count that) and the last cartoon to use the 1944 blue rings with the red background.

This is the first cartoon to use Carl Stalling’s Bugs Bunny theme known as “What’s Up Doc?”, which is heard over the opening credits of this one and Bugs’ next two appearances. This tune would not be used again until the 1950 cartoon of the same name and it would then play over the opening credits of several Bugs Bunny cartoons from the early 1950’s.

The cartoon’s plot would be reworked for Freleng’s “Hare Do” (1949), only with the Bugs and Elmer chase being in a movie theater.

It’s rather interesting that Bugs says, “I’ll do it but I’ll probably hate myself in the morning!” in this cartoon as this is the last cartoon of 1944 and he also said that in “Little Red Riding Rabbit”, which was the first cartoon of 1944.

This is the first cartoon to use the iconic Bugs Bunny dance that would be used again in Freleng’s “Bugs Bunny Rides Again” and Robert McKimson’s “Hot Cross Bunny” (both released in 1948).

Near the end of the cartoon, Bugs apparently disguises as a Southern sheiff, who has the same voice that would be used for Yosemite Sam, who debuted a few months later in Freleng’s “Hare Trigger” (1945).

This is one of the few Bugs Bunny cartoons to not contain the words “rabbit”, “wabbit”, “hare”, “bunny” or “doc” in the title.

A sign backstage reads, “5 Clampett Trained Seals”, an obvious reference to Bob Clampett.

What I Like About This One:

Elmer sneaking with a fishing pole and basket and asking the audience, “I’ll bet you think I’m going fishing. No. Bewieve it or not, I’m hunting a certain wascally wabbit.” He attaches a carrot to the fishing pole and reels it down Bugs’ hole. “Pwetty cwafty, huh?” Bugs pops up from behind him and before attaching the hook to Elmer’s pants, confides, “I’ll do it but I’ll probably hate myself in the morning!” (animated by Richard Bickenbach)

Attempting to “help” Elmer out, Bugs grabs the fishing pole and reels Elmer in, who angrily threatens to strangle him if he doesn’t put him down. Bugs just says, “What a shame. Too small. Ah well, might as well throw him back”, and he does so before laughing, “He kills me! What a zany! What a knucklehead! What a dolt!” He then comes face to face with Elmer’s rifle and makes a run for it (animated by Bickenbach).

Bugs panting, “Which way will I go? Which way will I go?” before deciding to enter the backstage door. Elmer pants the same thing and is answered by Bugs imitating Red Skelton’s character “Clem Kadiddlehopper”: “Here I am!” (animated by Jack Bradbury)

Elmer enters just as dancing girls are performing to the tune of “The Latin Quarter”. Briefly morphing into a wolf when wolf whistling, Elmer sees that Bugs is disguised as one of them, and shoots (animated by Bradbury), destroying the tutu he was wearing. Every time Bugs runs to one side of the stage, he is confronted by Elmer and his rifle (animated by Ken Champin).

With the stage curtain opening, Bugs performs his famous soft shoe tap dance for the first time much to the audience’s applause, but is forced to do it a few more times when he runs into Elmer’s gun (animated by Gerry Chiniquy).

Thanking the audience for their applause, Bugs sees Elmer sneaking onto the stage, hiding in a piano and decides that his next act will be a piano solo (animated by Chiniquy). As he plays Mendelssohn’s “Ruy Blas Overture”, Elmer peeks out of the piano before Bugs slams him back in and then switches to Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Flat Minor” with Elmer being bounced around inside the piano and hit with the piano keys before being launched out of the piano (animated by Virgil Ross).

The curtain rises again to reveal Elmer choking Bugs but upon seeing this is now shown to the audience, shudders in embarrassment. Catching his breath, Bugs has Elmer act as his partner for a high-diving act presented on stage (animated by Ross). After getting Elmer to climb the very high ladder (animated by Manuel Perez), Bugs reveals that he doesn’t intend for Elmer to dive into a TANK of water as he shoves said tank away, but rather an ordinary glass of water! (animated by Ross) Losing his balance, Elmer takes the long plunge into the glass with his body being stuffed into it (animated by Perez).

Getting chased into the dressing room, Bugs gets Elmer to put on an all-purple Shakesperian-like uniform (animated by Perez) and appear onstage. From a prompter’s box, Bugs then gets Elmer to recite “What light on yonder window breaks”, before getting him to do dramatic poses and then several silly faces, which Elmer continues long after Bugs has stopped doing them. The audience starts booing after Bugs holds up a sign, “Silly, isn’t he?” After Bugs pulls out a sign saying, “Well, what’re you waitin’ for?”, Elmer gets hit in the face with a tomato (animated by Ross).

When the curtain rises again, Bugs hides behind Elmer and has him striptease to the tune of “If I Could Be with You One Hour Tonight” which ends with Elmer stripped down to his underwear for the rest of the cartoon (animated by Chiniquy).

Bugs then goes back into the dressing room and disguises as a sheriff (with the future voice of Yosemite Sam), who arrests Elmer for “indecent southern exposure” (animated by Bradbury). On his way of escorting Elmer out the door with a rifle, a Bugs Bunny cartoon comes on and since the sheriff dotes on these cartoons, decides to have him and Elmer sit and watch. The cartoon includes the exact same scene of Bugs disguising as the sheriff less than a minute ago, which causes Elmer to get wise. “Say! Wait a minute, you impostor! You’re no shewiff! You’re the wabbit in disguise! Off with it, you twickster!”, as he attempts to pull his clothes off, but upon stripping him down to his underwear, finds out this is a real sheriff! Annoyed at Elmer for removing his outfit, he leads him out the door with his rifle, declaring, “You’ll swing for this, sir!” (animated by Champin)

Where Bugs actually is is conducting the orchestra for the ending disguised as Leopold Stokowski. Taking off his wig and turning to the audience, he confides, “I got a million of ‘em!” (animated by Chiniquy)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕