Gute Nacht, Elmer!

Elmer Fudd is at home reading a book when he gets tired and decides to head for bed. After some initial problems working out how to get undressed while still keeping hold of his candle, he eventually gets changed for bed, but his candle problems don't end there.

Although he is a minor character, it is good to see Elmer Fudd used in the lead of his own cartoon; I'm not sure how many he has done but this is certainly the first lead role I've seen him in. However, this cartoon could have had any character in the lead role as it is more about the candle than the character - Fudd more or less plays a frustrated straightman here.

The cartoon starts out with a good physical routine with Fudd trying to work out how to hold the candle while getting undressed: this section is very clever and could easily have been taken from a real film from the period. The rest of the short makes the flame a character and, while not up to the standard of the start, it is still very funny and is worth watching for the fact that the flame is used very well and is easily given character to bounce off Fudd (who also reacts well.

Overall, a cartoon with Elmer in the sole lead role may not sound like a big draw but it is well worth seeing. The material is consistently funny even if Fudd could have easily been any other character from WB, but it is the writing (or design) of each sequence that brings the comedy - very little of it is out and out physical slapstick and, without dialogue, the cartoon shows itself to be mostly a comedic routine that many of the real physical actors of the birth of cinema could have worked with just as well.

In "Good Night Elmer", Elmer is trying to get some sleep but again and again, he's awakened by a variety of things...particularly a candle that seems magical and cannot be extinguished. It's a very simple plot...but also one that makes you smile. Well animated, funny and well worth seeing. However, oddly, Elmer has no nemesis other than the candles and the like and you don't get to hear Elmer talk at all. This isn't a complaint...just giving you information about what to expect.

Usually known as a supporting character, Elmer Fudd gets a lead role in "Good Night Elmer". He goes to bed one night and, after having a weird time undressing, has an even bigger problem: the candle won't go out, no matter what he does. Every one of his plans seems to trigger something new.

The Looney Tunes' creators pull off another one here. I don't know how they came up with these ideas, but they did. Above all, this cartoon shows that Elmer can in fact carry a cartoon. It's almost too bad that he didn't get to be the lead man more often. Oh well. He was always great getting tortured by Bugs Bunny.

Chuck Jones was a great animation director, one of the best in fact, sadly Good Night Elmer doesn't see him at his best. In most ways Good Night Elmer is one of his worst. Is it completely horrible? No. The animation is good, being lushly coloured and fluidly drawn, the animation of the flame on the candle is quite clever and Elmer doesn't look so shabby either. The music is beautifully orchestrated and is characterful and Mel Blanc does some nice frustrated screams and sounds too, though he doesn't do very much. Unfortunately for Good Night Elmer there's not much else to it. Elmer always has been a fun support character, but while he had potential to carry a lead role he is not given much to show off that ability, much of it is repetitive in fact. And it doesn't even feel like he's the lead character, for much of the cartoon he's literally the reactionary character. What he has also gets tiring(making the same mistakes more than once) and he's even dopier than usual to the point of annoyance. Like undressing when holding a handle or having it balanced on your head, even someone not experienced in Health and Safety would know that it's a dangerous thing to do. The candle with a life of its own is very interestingly animated but is not a very compelling character either, in fact what it does sometimes is so irritating you do feel some sympathy for Elmer at the end. But what hurts Good Night Elmer most is that it's very pedestrian and it's just not funny. The cartoon is very dully paced and gets really predictable with a couple of transitions that add absolutely nothing(the stacking of books one for example) and silly logic lapses even for a cartoon. If you see how the candle behaves you'll get the gist. In the humour department, Good Night Elmer for this viewer was completely humourless, it was a one-joke cartoon in the first place(not a problem if done right), but the jokes/gags have no variety, are very drawn out(as long as 20 seconds for some) and repeat themselves to the extent it's no surprise how they turn out. Seeing Elmer trying unsuccessfully numerous times to battle a candle- even the concept of it is silly even for a cartoon- gets tedious after a while. All in all, as great an animation director that Jones was Good Night Elmer does not show off his talents well at all and is a waste of Elmer as well. 3/10 for the animation and music. Bethany Cox

Good Night Elmer is mostly a cartoon about Elmer Fudd blowing out a candle. The animation is OK, and so is the music, but the action is very sssllloooooowwwwwww. This is maybe the most boring cartoon Chuck Jones has directed.