Rabbit Trouble



Rabbit Trouble is a Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions released on December 20, 1941 by Warner Bros. Pictures. In the cartoon, Elmer Fudd expects to find rest and relaxation at Jellostone National Park, but he mistakenly sets camp in Bugs' hole, and Bugs (and a neighboring bear) don't have much leisure in mind.

It was the first Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Robert Clampett, with a story by Dave Monahan and musical direction by Carl Stalling. Sid Sutherland is the only credited animator, although at least three more, including Rod Scribner and Robert McKimson, animated on the short as well. Mel Blanc provided the voices for Bugs and the bear, and Arthur Q. Bryan provided the voice for Elmer.

Plot
Elmer, riding in his old jalopy, makes his way to Jellostone National Park (a clear reference to Yellowstone National Park), where the sign by the entrance promises "Rest and Relaxation." In short order, Elmer pitches a tent, sets up camp, puts up a hammock and is soon fast asleep.

Bugs then appears in a rabbit hole by Elmer's campsite. He takes a pair of glasses, paints them black, puts them on Elmer's face and sets Elmer's alarm clock to go off. Elmer now thinks it's night (since everything seems so dark), so he gets undressed and goes to bed. Bugs then takes the glasses off and crows like a rooster, making Elmer think that it's the next morning.

When Elmer goes to wash his face, Bugs keeps the towel at a distance with a branch, causing Elmer to blindly follow the towel. (As Bugs tells the audience, "I do this to him all through the picture.") Elmer then almost falls off a cliff. When he sees that Bugs is the one pulling these gags, he tries to hunt Bugs. However, when he tries hitting Bugs with his rifle, he winds up hitting a black bear in the head instead. The bear starts growling, and Bugs tells Elmer to 'play dead'. The bear soon gives up, but Bugs has more fun with Elmer when he climbs on Elmer and starts growling like the bear.

Eventually, Elmer gives up and quickly packs everything back into his car (including, at first, the tree that was next to his tent!). On his way out, he can't help but be angry at the failed promise of the sign for "rest and relaxation", and starts chopping the sign to bits. The park ranger then appears, a stern look on his face. Elmer is then shown in prison (presumably for vandalism), where he's thankful that he's finally "rid of that scwewy wabbit!" But somehow, he turns to find out that he's sharing his cell with both Bugs and the black bear!

Trivia

 * For this cartoon, Elmer was redesigned as a fat man (based on voice actor Arthur Q. Bryan's own physique) in an attempt to make him funnier. the "fat Elmer" would only make four more appearances -The Wabbit Who Came to Supper, The Wacky Wabbit, Fresh Hare, and Any Bonds Today? - before returning to the slimmer form by which he is better known. This cartoon was the only time, though, that the Fat Elmer also had a red nose.


 * The title card credits are written in "Elmer Fudd-ese"; that is, written the way Elmer would say them ("Directed by Robert Clampett" and so on).


 * It has been suggested on various forums dedicated to classical animation that this cartoon originally began production under Tex Avery and was completed by Clampett when Avery left the Warners studio in 1941. The evidence given to support this contention include the reddish nose sported by Elmer Fudd in this cartoon (Avery had given Elmer such a nose in A Wild Hare), Bugs' design, the unique credit sequence (Avery had previously done such tinkering with the credits of Tortoise Beats Hare), and the credits for Dave Monahan and Sid Sutherland.