Director / Contributor
Posted:
May 16, 2004, 3:45 PM
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Significant toons in Elmer Fudd's career
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I think this will be the last one of these. I'm not sure if any other Looney Tune or cartoon character in general could fill such an essay. (Well, maybe Mickey, Donald or Goofy but that's a whole other section.) Anyway, without further ado, here's a list of the 10 significant films in Elmer Fudd's career: (As always, images are provided by Dave Mackey)
1. Elmer's Candid Camera (by Chuck Jones c. 1940) <on dvd>
It had happened. Egghead had been redesigned and rechristened as a new character. His Joe Penner-like voice replaced with a child-like slur and a quiet demeanor (thanks in part to Arthur Q. Bryan).
Many of Elmer's key personality traits were established here. Besides the changing l's and r's to w's speech impediment, he had that simple mind along with a "on the verge of a nervous breakdown" angst. Like Chuck Jones has said in interviews, he always sounds like he's about to cry. Alanis Morrissette (yes, I'm quoting her, SO WHAT?!) once said that angst is the feeling that the world isn't, let's say, cooperating with you and worse yet you don't know what you can do about it.
That right there sums Elmer up in this cartoon. In this case though, the one who's not cooperating is a daffy rabbit who will soon become Bugs Bunny. Elmer's just trying to take some photographs of animals but this wabbit keeps sabotaging his work seemingly just for the fun of sabotage. Not knowing why he's being singled out and picked on, he has a nervous breakdown and nearly drowns in a nearby lake.
Elmer Fudd would go on to have many comedic nervous breakdowns. And the world of toons thanks him for it.
2. A Wild Hare (by Tex Avery c. 1940)
Although this is predominantly credited as the first Bugs Bunny cartoon, it was a jump start for Elmer Fudd's career as well. For you see, what Chuck Jones established in Elmer's Candid Camera, Tex Avery improved on in this cartoon. Instead of a photographer, Elmer is now a hunter (or as pointed out in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, secretly evil). This was to help Bugs seem more like he's saving his own life rather than merely causing trouble. (Of course, to learn more about Bugs' role in this toon, check out Significant Toons in Bugs Bunny's Career on this same forum.) And yet, despite the addition of fire arms, Elmer is no more menacing than he is with a camera.
Another component Tex improved upon is Elmer's intelligence. In Candid Camera, Elmer was simply overwhelmed by his surroundings. Here, he is actually shown to have very low intelligence. Bugs has to actually show Elmer his ears, tail, and hopping abilities in order for Elmer to even have a clue as to Bugs being a rabbit. That component adds another wrinkle to his angst. It's not that he doesn't know how to handle things it's that he's too stupid to handle things. Even in Bugs' death scene, every one of us could see through this hammy performance. However, Elmer falls for it even so much as to cry against a tree. And, of course, then has a nervous break-down when he realizes that Bugs is indeed alive and with enough energy to kick Elmer in the rear as high as the tree he's leaning on.
Thus, the immense popularity of this cartoon would insure that the careers of both Bugs AND Elmer would be secure for quite a while.
3. Good Night Elmer (by Chuck Jones c. 1940)
This is the first solo cartoon for Elmer Fudd really. Although he did appear in two cartoons slightly before A Wild Hare, namely Confederate Honey and Hardship of Miles Standish (both by Friz Freleng). However, Elmer still possessed some of his Egghead traits in those cartoons. The only think being different is his speech pattern. But, Good Night Elmer is his first solo toon as Fudd, thus establishing that he could conceivably have a career away from Bugs. When he didn't work with Bugs, he'd either have Porky-esque solo cartoons like An Itch in Time, Ant Pasted, or Each Dawn I Crow; or he'd star opposite Daffy in To Duck or Not to Duck, Quack Shot, etc. or Sylvester in Back Alley Oproar, Kit For Kat, and Heir Conditioned.
However, something else was discovered with this cartoon. For the first time we realized the absolute level of Elmer's stupidity. Forget Bugs, here he's so dumb a candle can out smart him. Said candle keeps Elmer awake for so long that when he finally starts to nod off the sun starts rising and, yep, has a nervous breakdown. Infact, Elmer is so stupid here that some peple find this emotionally exhausting. I mean, it's fun to laugh at a stupid person but there's a fine line between funny and sad. But really, that's Elmer's character right there: funny and sad.
4. Wabbit Twouble (by Wobert Cwampett c. 1941) <on dvd>
One thing about Elmer that is noticed right away is that he's put on a little weight in this cartoon. That's the result of an experiment Clampett was trying at the time. He thought Elmer would look funnier if he resembled the body shape of his voice provider, Arthur Q. Bryan.
But, as incredibly funny and masterfully executed as this cartoon is, it represents a shift in the wrong direction. Not just because of Fudd with the added weight, the Bugs and Elmer dynamic was regressively incorrect. Here, Clampett went back to the Elmer's Candid Camera scenario of Bugs causing trouble for no reason and therefore bypassing the improvements made in A Wild Hare.
Thankfully, this would be corrected quite soon.
5. Fresh Hare (by Friz Freleng c. 1942)
Even though Elmer was still fat, this cartoon did advance the Bugs & Elmer situation. For one thing, Friz took a cue from Tex (who was now at MGM by now) in that the gags were carried out even faster than usual. Friz used the same technique of starting a new gag just as another one is finishing and thereby was able to pack in more action than before. This would help the Warner toons dominate the box office moreso than before and keep dominating for the next several years.
However, something else was different here. In A Wild Hare, Elmer was simply given a gun. In this cartoon, he's a Mountie. Therefore, Bugs is not just out-smarting Elmer, he's out-smarting the entire Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well. This setup gives Bugs' heckling a greater sense of rebellion as well as giving us a easier time at laughing at Elmer's expense. Just like the saying goes, "The bigger they are, the louder the dynamite explosion has to be."
6. The Hare-Brained Hypnotist (by Friz Freleng c. 1942) <on dvd>
The slim Elmer was back. The Bugs & Elmer formula was back on track. Or was it? This time, instead of a gun, Elmer tries to use hypnosis on Bugs and snare him that way. But, like usual, Bugs turns the tables on him and Elmer hypnotises himself. But, Elmer then turns the tables on Bugs. When Bugs makes Elmer act like a rabbit, Elmer simply acts like Bugs, thus giving a taste of his own medicine. Then Bugs becomes the flustered straught-man and Elmer the care-free heckler.
I guess everyone at the studio felt Elmer needed a break once in a while just so his ego wasn't too bruised. The only other films inwhich Elmer would actually win are Hare Brush, To Duck or Not to Duck, What's My Lion?, Don't Axe Me, Each Dawn I Crow. I guess ELmer can look back on those cartoons and have SOME comfort in his life.
7. Rabbit of Seville (by Chuck Jones c. 1950) <on dvd>
Most people know this as simply the greatest Warner Bros. cartoon (or even cartoon in general) ever made. Jones, Bugs and Elmer are all at their peak of creativity here. The way the animation and the gags are set to music make this a tour de force all the way. In fact, one even wonders where the Acadamy was when this cartoon came to theatres. Could Gerald McBoing Boing effectively sing, "Welcome to my shop! Let me cut your mop! Let me shave your crop! Daintedly!"? But, that's entirely another matter. This essay is about Elmer.
There was one thing touched upon in this cartoon that for some reason was virtually ignored in previous cartoons. Finally, Bugs made fun of Elmer's baldness. Since they are rewriting the Barbar of Seville opera, it only makes snese that they use Barbar gags. With no hair to work with, Bugs first tosses a salad on Elmer's head. Then much later uses a shoe-shine stand to polish Elmer. And finally, as the coup-de-gras, Bugs uses some Hare Tonic to grow actual hair on Elmer's head. Elmer is elated at this site until each strand suddenly sprouts flowers.
Never before and not afterwards had Elmer's scalp been the source of so much comedy. But, then again, Elmer had other faults to accentuate. Something that Bugs is more than aware of.
8. What's Opera, Doc? (by Chuck Jones c. 1957) <on dvd>
It's only fitting that this appear on this or any other "best of Elmer Fudd" list. This cartoon picks up where Rabbit of Seville left off. In that cartoon, both Bugs & Elmer merely interrupt a performance of an opera. Here they're starring in it.
Of course, I think the biggest and best joke of this whole cartoon is that Bugs with his thick Brooklyn accent seems somewhat comically out-of-place in this Wagnerian opera. Much the same way people felt about Susan's opera career in Citizen Kane. However, they would not say the same about Elmer. The surprising element of this cartoon is that Elmer actually seems to belong here. His voice (well Arthur Q. Bryan's voice actually) works perfectly with the music almost to the point where on feels that Elmer's true calling was opera. I guess the main reason for this was that A.Q. Bryan himself was a chorus singer at one time so his vocal chords and his diaphragm were highly trained, and it certainly comes through here.
I guess one could call this cartoon Elmer's last hurrah. His career would not be so fine after that.
9. Doggone People (by Robert McKimson c. 1960)
A sad event had transpired the previous year, Arthur Q. Bryan had died. However, determined to carry on, everyone at Warner Bros. went and found a replacement, namely Hal Smith. This was the first cartoon that would establish Hal as the new voice of Fudd. But, as anyone who has seen this cartoon could tell you, Hal was not even close to Fudd's voice. It just sounded like a stand-up comic doing a terrible impression of a cartoon character. Heck, even Robin Williams' and Gilbert Gottfried's Elmer impressions sound better than Hal's version. Hal would go on to be Elmer only once more in What's My Lion?. After that, Elmer would go into a severe decline when it came to new projects involving him. Mel Blanc would provide Fudd's voice the few times he was used, although under protest. So, for the next 30 years, Elmer would sadly fade into cartoon history.
10. Box Office Bunny (by Darrell Van Citters c. 1990)
Apparently, the Looney Tunes' Saturday morning show with the original toons had been so popular for so long that Warner Bros. thought that it would be a good idea to commision new projects featuring these characters. One problem though: Mel Blanc, the man who provided the voices for ever other non-Fudd Looney Tune character, had died the previous year. Of course, even in his old age, the voices were not what they had been. But, determined to make a quick buck, Warner Bros. announced a Looney Tunes revival and a return to the big screen. Their savior, at the time, was a man named Jeff Bergman. In the cartoon Box Office Bunny, he provided the voices of Bugs, Daffy, and ELMER!!! For the first time in years, Elmer had a voice man whom instilled confidence in executives and Elmer became a viable character again, revived along with the other Looney Tune characters on the roster (although in a 'politically correct' capacity).
However, Bergman didn't instill as much confidence as had been previously hoped. So, he was fired after only a few short years. Billy West is the one who provides Elmer Fudd's voice whenever needed now. Although Billy is no Arthur Q. Bryan, he's certainly light years better than Hal Smith. And that, in the animation business, is enough to insure that Elmer's will see a long life.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi0dqcR-Otk
(This post was edited by damfine on Dec 28, 2006, 10:12 AM)
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Director / Contributor
Posted:
May 16, 2004, 3:56 PM
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Re: Significant toons in Elmer Fudd's career
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Hey, could someone shrink down the Wabbit Twouble picture please? I've tried and I can't!
Never mind, I did it.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi0dqcR-Otk
(This post was edited by damfine on May 16, 2004, 4:01 PM)
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Inbetweener
Posted:
Dec 27, 2006, 4:36 PM
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Re: Significant toons in Elmer Fudd's career
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Dear DamFine,
"Elmer"also shined in
"Stage Door Cartoon"..
Where he tries to capture
"Bugs"with some fishing
equipment.
But he is thwarted by
the wabbitt.
Eventually,he chases "Bugs"
into a theater.
Where The rabbitt imposes every
indignaty upon him..including stripping
the schnook to his colorful shorts.
And having him get arrested by
a no nonsense sheriff.
Very Funny cartoon.
"Elmer"is also funny in
Mr.Bob Clampet's last "Looney
Tunes" movie cartoon"The Big
Snooze".
Where the not so intrepid and
not really smart hunter has had enough
of"Bugs"getting the best of him.
So,he quits working for Mr.Warner's
cartoons and takes a fisherman's holiday.
"Bugs"knows that he can't succeeded
without a protagonist.
While "Elmer'sleeps.."Bugs"takes
some sleeping pills and invades the
dolt's dream by painting the scene with
nightmare colors and stripping "Elmer"
down to his derby and his birthday suit.
(Except for the ring of leaves or
flowers around Elmer's privates)
And the wabbitt does every
indignaty to him.
"Fudd'was not too smart and
"Bugs"would foil him.
Yet..He did keep on trying
and he was alaways good for
a laugh.
4CK.
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Director / Contributor
Posted:
Dec 28, 2006, 10:10 AM
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Re: Significant toons in Elmer Fudd's career
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Those are all definitely good examples, 4CK. But, the point of my post was not simply a "best of" Elmer Fudd list. It was a list of toons inwhich Elmer's character and/or career hit a turning point. I mean, Doggone People is hardly one of Elmer's best. It's one of Elmer's worst really. But, it was the first Elmer cartoon made after Arthur Q. Bryan's death. It is therefore significant for that reason.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi0dqcR-Otk
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