Release Date:

February 10, 1945

Main Character(s):

Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd

Summary:

Bugs Bunny’s tree stump home is in the middle of the path where new railroad tracks are to be laid and he heckles railroad surveyor Elmer Fudd.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 4-14, the 4th Merrie Melodie in the 14th release season.

This was the first of Tashlin’s two Bugs Bunny cartoons with the other being his last overall, “Hare Remover” (1946).

This was also the last cartoon where Tashlin received credit as he left the studio for the final time shortly after the cartoon’s release. His remaining cartoons have him uncredited.

This is the last cartoon until “Bowery Bugs” (1949) to use the Bugs Bunny headshot.

This is the earliest cartoon included on the first Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice volume, which was released in 2023.

Bugs references the song “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?”, which would gain fame as the song that Tom sings in the Tom and Jerry cartoon, “Solid Serenade” (1946).

Since this cartoon is centered around railroad construction, I’ll bring this up here. This cartoon was released almost exactly three months before the first book in Wilbert Awdry’s “Railway Series” was published. This book series would prove to be so popular that it was adapted into the British show, “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends” in 1984.

This is the first cartoon to have animation by Russian-born Anatolle Kirsanoff, who for some reason never received screen credit.

This is the last cartoon to use “What’s Up Doc” until the 1950 cartoon of the same name.

What I Like About This One:

The opening with men constructing the tracks while singing “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”, which shows them pounding the stakes into the ground, laying the rails down, tightening the bolts on the tracks, and laying down the pieces of wood that the rails lay on (animated by Anatolle Kirsanoff).

Bugs singing “As Time Goes By” and putting extra emphasis on the line “Woman needs man and man must have his mate” before stopping to ask, “Ain’t it the truth?” and then finishing, “Man must have his mate that no one can deny” (animated by Cal Dalton).

Hearing Elmer sing “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” while carrying his telescope (animated by Izzy Ellis), Bugs expresses his dislike towards Elmer singing, first by saying, “Hey, that sounds like Frankie Sinatra! Or an unreasonable facsimile!” He then holds his nose and goes down into his tree stump. Just before Elmer puts his telescope down, Bugs holds up a “PU” sign for a blink and you’ll miss it second (animated by Arthur Davis).

Bugs holding up “Eksquire” in front of Elmer’s telescope with each woman in a sexy pose being shown one by one as if Elmer were viewing a peep show. The telescope then shows Bugs’ lip-sticked mouth up close and Elmer is driven so wild that he leans across his telescope, attempting to kiss what he thinks is one of the images from the magazine He instead gets Bugs knocking on his head and asking, “Eh, is you is or is you ain’t my baby?” (animated by Davis)

Bugs then runs to his hole, before zooming like a plane in mid-air and then diving in. Elmer repeatedly shoots into the hole and calmly says, “I hate wittle gway wabbits!” (animated by Ellis)

Once Elmer goes back to his telescope, Bugs holds a lit match in front of the telescope, making it look like the forest is on fire (animated by Davis). As Elmer shouts for water (animated by Ellis), Bugs appears as a fireman and sprays Elmer with a bottle of seltzer. Bugs laughs, “What a dope! Imagine! Asking for it!” before a drenched Elmer appears behind him and points his gun at him. Bugs walks his fingers across the gun does nothing for one second, and then flicks Elmer’s nose before bending Elmer’s rifle barrel to shoot backwards, making the bullets directly hit two targets Bugs is holding in each hand. Bugs congratulates him, “You win, doc!” and shoves half a dozen explosive cigars in Elmer’s mouth (animated by Davis).

Chasing Bugs back into his tree stump, Elmer shoots to the point where his rifle turns red hot (animated by Ellis) Bugs comes out through his hole (animated by Davis), and then walks over to where Elmer shoots again into the tree stump. When Bugs asks “What’s up, doc?”, Elmer answers, “I just put a cwazy wabbit out of his misery!” After Bugs reacts, “It’s murder he says! How gruesome!”, he looks down into the tree stump and whispers, “Don’t look now, doc, but you missed me!” Realizing that was the wabbit, Elmer becomes angry before Bugs honks his nose (animated by Dalton).

Bugs then runs to his hole and does a full 360-degree spin once his leg enters the hole and just before going in, says, “Geronimo!” (animated by Ellis) Elmer then waits outside panting heavily with his rifle in a position ready to hit Bugs once he comes out. Wondering if Elmer is still up there, Bugs holds up a decoy Bugs Bunny head on a stick, which gets crowned ruining the decoy (animated by Davis).

Thinking he got the wabbit, Elmer happily goes back to the railroad only to find Bugs sitting atop his telescope and looking him straight in the eye (animated by Ellis). “There’s something scwewy awound here!” “Eh, could be YOU, doc!” (animated by Davis)

At gunpoint, Bugs says in a Joe Besser voice, “Oh, you and your old gun, you crazy!” and then antagonizes Elmer further by stating “Eh, only a rat would shoot a guy… in the back!” before turning around as Elmer starts to pull the trigger. “I reiterate! Only a big fat rat would shoot a guy in the back!” Elmer shoots and admits, “So I’m a big fat wat!” Bugs pops out of the gunsmoke and imitates Jerry Colonna, “Ah, have some cheese, rat!”, shoving a wedge of Swiss in Elmer’s mouth (animated by Davis).

Elmer then throws a dynamite stick down Bugs’ tree stump (animated by Ellis) but Bugs gives it to him as if Elmer is in a relay race. Elmer throws it back but Bugs catches it like a baseball catcher throwing it back to Elmer like he’s the pitcher. Realizing this is the same explosive, he throws it to Bugs once more (animated by Davis), who runs to where the wood for the tracks are, where it explodes (animated by Ellis).

To a catchy rendition of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”, the tracks are finished right where Elmer is standing with the noise of the rails landing perfectly synchronizing with the score. He quickly jumps off the tracks before a train passes by (animated by Ellis), with Bugs waving goodbye from the caboose. Bugs suddenly jumps off and rolls across the tracks rather painfully before getting up, “Eh, I almost forgot. None of us civilians should be doing any unnecessary travelling these days!” Later, that night, he decides to walk the tracks by foot instead as the cartoon irises out (animated by Dalton).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕