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The Wacky Wabbit (1942)

**** (out of 4)

Classic animated short has Elmer Fudd going to look for gold but he runs into Bugs Bunny who is of course going to drive him crazy.

THE WACKY WABBIT is without question one of the classic Looney Tunes short from this era. As you'd expect there's the terrific animation, which just jumps off the screen with the use of the beautiful colors and there's just so much detail that you feel as if you're right there with the characters. Of course the greatest thing is the constant back and forth banter between Elmer and Bugs.

The two of them were legends in animation and whenever the two did a battle then it was pure joy for the viewer. This here is certainly one of their best as we get some great songs but also plenty of action.

To those of you who haven't seen an early Elmer Fudd, this might be a bit a shock to see. In his first year or two, Elmer - who began as "Egghead" - is a bigger, taller man in his early cartoons. He looks a bit older, too, at least to me. You almost wouldn't recognize him if you didn't hear him unable to pronounce his "r's" and hear the voice of Arthur Q. Bryan.

Actually, most of the Looney Tunes stars all looked different than they started: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, even little Tweety. In this cartoon as with about all of them with Elmer, you get Bugs. With the famous rabbit, you'll notice his longer ears and chubbier cheeks.

As "cartoon historians" have pointed out, many of the Looney Tunes efforts didn't have the cutting-edge, wild and wacky humor until around 1945 when The War was over. You especially see that in these early '40s Looney Tunes. This is an example: it's okay, but there aren't many laugh-out-loud antics, and a third of this cartoon turns out to be almost a musical with three songs: two by Elmer and one by Bugs.

Overall, recommended only to die-hard Looney Tunes fans who are happy to see Bugs and Elmer no matter what.

This time, Elmer Fudd - looking mighty chubby (so as to resemble Arthur Q. Bryan, who did his voice) - is looking for gold out in the desert, but Bugs Bunny keeps playing tricks on him. The gags with the dynamite were probably the best (the crowd behind these cartoons sure had a way with dynamite, as much of their work showed). One can always see how various characters try to undermine Bugs's integrity, but poetic justice prevails. It just goes to show why these cartoons will never get old, no matter what happens. You'd better believe that Arthur Q. Bryan and Mel Blanc are the voices for all time! So seriously Susanna, don't cry for me.

The major Warner Brothers characters, at least the early ones, evolved over time into the characters best known today. Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Tweety all started out looking quite different in the beginning. But perhaps the most involved and extensive changes were made by Elmer Fudd. He started out as Egghead, got a name change to Elmer and then a physical change of appearance not once, but twice! This is the early, more rounded Elmer. Probably one of the best of the early Elmers and an excellent short. Well worth watching. Recommended.

Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd have always been great characters, two of the best in the Looney Tunes canon, and they've always been enormously entertaining as a duo. The Wacky Wabbit is one of their earliest collaborations, and for me it's also one of their best and one of the best of Bob Clampett's Bugs Bunny cartoons.

The animation is very good, especially for such an early Looney Tunes cartoon. It is true that Elmer and Bugs' character designs are very different to the ones we know them now by and admittedly first time seeing them in their early designs it took me a while to get used to Elmer's fatter and stockier (apparently more reminiscent of his voice actor) and Bugs' longer- particularly the ears- and more pointed looks, but they are still well drawn and move well within the rest of the animation and it is actually really interesting to see how these two characters evolved over the years. The colours are luscious and richly bold, if more vibrant-looking a short time later, and there is a huge amount of meticulous detail, fluidity and imagination in the backgrounds.

Carl Stalling's music score, as expected, is superb. It is very characterful and often enhances the cartoon's energy (and The Wacky Wabbit is full of it, in the music, pacing and the gags), the orchestration is mellow and beautiful with very clever use of instruments, that perfectly match the gestures and expressions of the characters and the suspense and energy of the cartoon itself, and rhythmically it's non-stop liveliness and atmosphere. Love the use of Bury Me Not on the Prairie and especially the inspired Oh Susannah, the visuals are great in both especially the latter, the harmonies in Oh Susannah are lovely and the lyrics are very humorous. The dialogue is sharp and hilariously zany, the verbal interplay is such a joy, while the gags do show evidence of the wonderfully wacky style the Looney Tunes cartoons had (it's true that the style didn't hit full stride until mid-40s, but there is evidence of it in The Wacky Wabbit), the cutting of Elmer's clothes gag revealing a corset and his reaction is a particularly strong gag. The dynamite gags are great too.

Bugs is every bit as wacky as the title suggests and even when meaner to Elmer than their later collaborations he is still the hilarious Bugs Bunny we know and love. Elmer may be unrecognisable from his more famous and to be honest more appealing appearance later on, but he is appropriately dim-witted and is equally as funny and as much a threat to Bugs (and vice versa), and one does feel a bit of sympathy for him. Their interplay and chemistry is as ever so much fun to watch. Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan do a characteristically terrific job with the voices.

All in all, a wonderful cartoon, one of the duo's best and one of Clampett's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox