''Elmer's Pet Rabbit'' is a 1941 Warner Bros. ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 1970s to the ...

'' cartoon directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

. The short was released on January 4, 1941, and features

Elmer Fudd Elmer J.'' Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon panthe ...

and

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merr ...

. This is the first cartoon in which the name Bugs Bunny is given (on a title card, edited onto the end of the opening title following the success of 1940's ''

A Wild Hare ''A Wild Hare'' is a 1940 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The short subject features Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, the latter making what is considered his first official appearance.Adamson, Joe (1990). ''Bugs Bunny: ...

''), but the rabbit is similar to the prototype version of him seen and heard in ''

Elmer's Candid Camera ''Elmer's Candid Camera'' is a 1940 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on March 2, 1940, and features Elmer Fudd and an early Bugs Bunny prototype. This is the first appearance of a re ...

'' (though his voice is different) and other prototype-Bugs Bunny shorts. This is Chuck Jones' first cartoon featuring the recognizable Bugs Bunny, and it was

written Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

by Rich Hogan. Voices are provided by

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy r ...

and Arthur Q. Bryan. It was produced by

Leon Schlesinger Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant rel ...

Plot

Elmer buys Bugs Bunny in a pet shop (for 98¢). When they get home, Elmer builds an enclosure for Bugs, and then serves him dinner (a bowl of vegetables) which Bugs acts angrily towards. Then Bugs is seen grumbling in the night and he eventually takes Elmer's bed as his own. Throughout the short, Bugs irritates Elmer in various ways—from dancing to attempts getting in the shower, etc.—which culminates when Elmer brutally attacks Bugs (in a dark room with humorous fireworks exploding) and sends him out of the house. However, Bugs somehow manages to get back inside and reclaim Elmer's bed, and the short ends with Elmer clicking the light off.

The song

The music in the cartoon includes a variation on "

While Strolling Through the Park One Day "The Fountain in the Park", also known as "While Strolling Through (or Thru') the Park One Day", is a song by Ed Haley, a member of the vaudeville act the Haley Brothers. Some authors believe the song was written by Robert A. Keiser, to whom Haley ...

," 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.

Home media

Although the short was included on three VHS compilations in 1985, 1990 and 1999, as well as a 1992 ''Golden Age of Looney Tunes''

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diameter typical ...

release, it was not issued again until 2020, when

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Ne ...

included the cartoon in its collection of other Looney Tunes shorts.

References

External links

* * {{Chuck Jones 1941 films 1941 short films 1941 comedy films 1941 animated films 1940s animated short films 1940s English-language films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Films scored by Carl Stalling Bugs Bunny films Elmer Fudd films Films about pets Films produced by Leon Schlesinger