Rabbit Fire
| Rabbit Fire | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck) series | |
Lobby card
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| Directed by | Charles M. Jones |
| Produced by |
Eddie Selzer Mary Parent |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Voices by |
Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan (credited) |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation by |
Ken Harris Phil Monroe Lloyd Vaughan Ben Washam |
| Layouts by | Robert Gribbroek |
| Backgrounds by | Philip DeGuard |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | May 19, 1951 (USA) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7:00 |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Fair-Haired Hare (Bugs) / The Ducksters (Daffy) |
| Followed by | French Rarebit (Bugs) / Drip-Along Daffy (Daffy) |
Rabbit Fire is a 1951 Looney Tunes (reissued as a 1960 Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies) cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd. Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, the short is notable for being the first film in Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two films being Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!. It is also the first film to feature a feud between Bugs and Daffy. Produced by Edward Selzer for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., the short was released to theaters on May 19, 1951 by Warner Bros. Pictures and is widely considered among Jones' best and most important films.
The film marks a significant change in Daffy's personality, away from the goofy "screwball" and toward the "foil" for Bugs's jokes.
Daffy Duck lures Elmer Fudd to Bugs Bunny's burrow, and watches from aside when Elmer attempts to shoot Bugs. But Bugs informs Elmer that it isn't rabbit season, but instead duck season. Daffy emerges, irate, and attempts to convince Elmer that Bugs is lying. Their conversation breaks down into Bugs leading Daffy to admit it is duck season by a number of verbal plays.
Once Daffy admits it is duck season, Elmer fires his shotgun at Daffy, causing the duck to suffer a temporary setback before he tries again. This repeats multiple times during the short, with Daffy trying different ploys to get Elmer to shoot Bugs, but Bugs continues to outwit him. After Daffy is shot for the third time, he walks away. Elmer tries to shoot him, but no more shells come out of his gun. Thrilled, Daffy comes back and grabs Elmer's gun to make sure, only to be shot with the last shell.
Daffy then sees a sign that Bugs has nailed to a tree saying "Duck Season Open". As he sees Elmer approaching, he disguises himself as Bugs, telling him that it's duck season. Bugs then appears disguised as Daffy, complete with webbed feet and fake bill, and asks Daffy why he thinks it's duck season. Daffy points at the tree where he previously saw the "Duck Season Open" sign. However, the sign nailed to that tree now reads "Rabbit Season Open", implying that Bugs replaced the signs. Elmer, of course, shoots Daffy. After Daffy gets blasted, he goes up to Bugs and says, "You're desthpicable!" The two walk away, getting out of their costumes as Daffy rants to Bugs how despicable he is. Ignoring Daffy, Bugs then begins to read duck recipes from a cookbook that he pulls out of his rabbit hole, and Daffy does the same with a rabbit recipe cookbook that he also pulls from the rabbit hole (though why Bugs is disturbingly keeping a rabbit recipe book in his own home is unknown and goes unquestioned). Elmer tells them he's a vegetarian and only hunts for the sport of it (although, in previous episodes, it has been stated that he was hunting Bugs for rabbit stew or the like). Outraged, Bugs gets in Elmer's face and claims, "Oh, yeah? Well, there's other sports besides huntin', ya know!" Daffy then offers to play tennis ("Anyone for tennis?"). Elmer blasts him again, tells Bugs that he's next, and then begins shooting and chases both of them all the way to the rabbit hole. Bugs comes out of his hole and accuses Elmer of "hunting rabbits with an elephant gun," suggesting Elmer to shoot an elephant instead. Just as Elmer is considering it, a huge elephant appears from literally nowhere, threatens Elmer in a Joe Besser voice ("You do and I'll give you such a pinch!"), and preemptively pounds him into the ground before striding off.
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