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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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Bugs Bunny: #2 & #3
As was featured on the previous page and last month, we celebrated Bugs Bunny's first "credited" film debut in A Wild Hare. Now, we'll feature the two successor shorts that feature Bugs Bunny, first with his now iconic pairing of Elmer Fudd, and the second is a parody of Aesop's antique fable of The Tortoise and the Hare (also a spoof of Disney's Silly Symphonies short).
Elmer's Pet Rabbit
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Written by Rich Hogan
Released on January 4, 1941
Distributed by Leon Schlesinger Studios
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
{If the above embeddable should break, a redirect link: Bugs Bunny - Elmer's Pet Rabbit (1941)}
In this cartoon, Elmer buys a rabbit in a pet shop and the animal pesters him mercilessly.
Fun Stuff click to show The music in the cartoon includes a variation on "While Strolling Through the Park One Day," arranged by Carl Stalling, performed by Elmer and the rabbit. Elmer, of course, has trouble with many of the words, due to his "rounded L and R" speech impediment.
Elmer is voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan and the hare by Mel Blanc. Still, Bugs has a different voice than usual in this cartoon.
This was the first cartoon in which Bugs Bunny had a name attributed to his character.
Accepting the billing at face value, this is the first cartoon in which Bugs Bunny quotes the famous Groucho Marx line, "Of course you realize this means war!" (not counting Porky's Hare Hunt in which his prototype, the early but not officially developed Bugs, quoted it).
Bugs Bunny wears yellow gloves in this cartoon, rather than the white ones that later became part of his trademark image. In one scene, he removes one of the gloves, revealing the grey hand (paw?) underneath.
Written by Dave Monahan
Released on March 15, 1941
Distributed by Leon Schlesinger Studios
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
{If the above clickable in-lined video should break, a redirect link: Bugs Bunny - Tortoise Beats Hare (1941)}
In an unusual opening for a cartoon, Bugs wanders onto the screen during the credits and reads them aloud, mispronouncing all the names. When he gets to the title, he is enraged, and calls the crew "...all a bunch of joiks!", then adds, "And I oughta know. I woik for 'em." To regain his honor, Bugs challenges Cecil "Toitle" to a race. Cecil calls all his look-alike cousins who live along the race course, and they bedevil Bugs by constantly appearing ahead of him, making him think he's losing at every turn. The rabbit crosses the finish line only to find Cecil waiting there, wondering what took him so long.
Fun Stuff click to show Tortoise Beats Hare is, of course, a take off of the Aesop fable The Tortoise and the Hare. But even more directly, it is Avery's parody of the 1934 Disney Silly Symphony, The Tortoise and the Hare. Interestingly, Max Hare from the earlier Disney film is often cited as one of the inspirations behind Bugs Bunny.
Avery left Warner Bros. before he could produce any new cartoons featuring Cecil. However, he introduced a similar character in 1943 named Droopy Dog. Droopy would even take some of his tricks from his slow-and-steady predecessor, such as using his relatives to help him outsmart a wolf.
An upset Bugs challenges the slick Cecil Turtle to a race, but loses. Thus begins a grudge match continued with rematches in Tortoise Wins By A Hare (1943) and Rabbit Transit (1947).
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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi
Last edited by Jetée; 08-13-2010 at 02:39 PM..
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