El Gran Cambio

Mad scientist Elmer Fudd is trying to turn normal creatures into devilish fiends. He tries it on a dog and it has a strange effect. He sets out to trap a rabbit and Bugs Bunny intentionally takes the bait. The formula has no effect on Bugs, but it does have the same strange effect on Elmer Fudd. Bugs mistakes a bear for being Elmer's monsterous outcome.

I have never seen Elmer Fudd as the scientist type. That throws me off right away. This never feels completely right. The plot is a lot of chaos and wild twists. It is chaotic fun, but it does border on messy. There is enough fun to rise above the messiness.

If it weren't for the presence of Bugs and Elmer, you might think this one came from the Disney or Hanna/Barbera stable instead of Warners'. This is a subtle, almost believable take on the Jekyll and Hyde story in which only the characters imaginations run wild. There is no Peter Lorre, no scary castle, just Elmer using the Junior size Chemical set at home. He is looking to create "the formula that will take a normal charactew into a devilish being". But come on... it's Elmer! All he manages to brew up is a potion that makes the dinker go to plaid (and that's the most far out thing that happens).

After his dog Rover proves an uncooperative guinea pig, Dr. Fudd takes out an old fashioned wabbit trap and Bugs, always the sentimental type, indulges him. The rest of the film is just a lot of misunderstandings, made worse by the convenient involvement by a bear who uses queue cards. The visual gags are really quite subtle and even Bugs remains good natured throughout, referring to Elmer as 'Doc' much more than usual (and not as a catchphrase either). However For a couple of more inspired takes in true Loony fashion, watch Friz Freling's "Hyde and Hare" (1955) or "Hyde and Go Tweet" (1960) instead.

4 out of 10

Elmer Fudd is a mad scientist this time.He wants to use his "Jekyll and Hyde" potion but keeps failing with test animals.This potion would turn its victims into monsters.Elmer goes out to catch Bugs Bunny with his old fashioned rabbit trap.Bugs decides to humor him.Then a bear enters the lab and Elmer thinks the potion has worked and the bear is actually Bugs.Later Bugs mistakes the bear for Elmer.Hare Remover from 1946 is the last cartoon Frank Tashlin directed at Warner Bros.Mel Blanc sounds as good as Bugs Bunny as he always did.Same thing with Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd.This Bugs Bunny has its moments, even though they did come up with better.But there are Bugs' famous quips, one being "I think Spencer Tracy did it much better.Don't you, folks?"

No doubt we're totally used to Elmer Fudd hunting wabbits and ducks, but I never envisioned him as a demented scientist. But that's just what he is in "Hare Remover". I wouldn't quite say that he gets creepy, though you gotta admit that he looks just a little bit scary as a devil. Anyway, he creates a multi-color potion, presumably along the lines of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. When his experiment animals all run away, he finds a rabbit hole and sets a trap...and Bugs Bunny figures that someone went to all the trouble to set it up, so why not get trapped? But what happens after Elmer forces Bugs to drink the potion is one of the craziest instances of mistaken identity that I've ever seen.

OK, so this one wasn't the greatest cartoon that they ever made (to be certain, 1946 also saw the releases of "Hair-Raising Hare" and "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery"). I mostly just like the sight of what befalls Elmer whenever he goes after Bugs; and in this case, neither character could have predicted what was going to happen! It's one that you're sure to like. As for the issue of whether or not Spencer Tracy did it better, let's just say that both guys put their own spin on it.

Elmer Fudd is working on a devious potion to change animals into other more violent animals. When the dog he wanted to experiment on breaks free of his chains, Fudd relies on trapping Bugs Bunny and having him drink the serum. However the formula doesn't have any effects on Bugs, so the bunny gives some to Fudd instead. When a bear enters the picture, they both think the potion worked on the other. This cartoon is a tad short on the tooth plot wise and has one of the weakest non-endings I've seen from a Looney Tune short in quite some time. But all is not lost, as there are quite a few funny bits to be had.This animated short can be found on Disk 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 set.

My Grade: B-