Le Contrat

In this last Bob Clampett Looney Tunes short, Elmer Fudd is thoroughly appalled by the treatment he always winds up getting from Bugs Bunny, so he decides enough is enough, tears up his Warner Brothers contract and commits himself to fishing for the rest of his days. Bugs is mortified of course (for his own job security mind you) and when he finds Elmer dreaming, he takes a sleeping pill and enters his pleasant dream to turn it into a nightmare. This is a hilarious if a wee bit surreal cartoon that can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional commentary by animator Bill Melendez that is pretty good.

My Grade: A

Elmer Fudd is the doing the normal thing for him: hunting for Bugs Bunny in the woods. Bugs cleverly uses a log and a cliff to repeat the same joke three times, but it's always funny. Finally, Elmer has had it. He tired of always losing "in these cartoons." He takes his Warner Brothers contract and rips it up!

"From now on, its nothing but fishing for me, and no more wabbits," announces Elmer to a stunned Bugs, who pleads with him to change his mind. "Doc, you can't do this to me. Look at all we've been through. We're like Rabbit & Costello," he says. (That's one of the things I love about these cartoons - great, inventive dialog.)

While Elmer's peacefully dreaming, Bugs invades his dream! This is one of the wildest, funniest Bug Bunny cartoons I have ever seen - just brilliant material.

I don't know any of the details surrounding Bob Clampett's departure from Warner Bros., but in this, his last cartoon for them, was one of the weirdest from a long list of strange entries from him. I don't think he got along well with the new studio imposed producer, Edward Selzer. Leon Schlesinger, the previous one, and the creator of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, let him have all the freedom he needed with zany, wild cartoons as the result. Some, like "Porky in Wackyland" and "The Daffy Doc" are considered by many cartoon historians to be important for the bold liberties he took with art and the use of space. He did things that had never been done before, but Warner Bros. bought out Schlesinger for $1,000,000 and Clampett's star never quite shone as brightly as it did in those heady days.

At the beginning of this cartoon, then, it is significant that we see that Elmer Fudd is becoming disenchanted with his cartoon contract with "Mr. Warner" and tears it up in frustration after once again being the fall guy for Bugs Bunny. What follows is a surreal sequence after Elmer falls asleep. Bugs uses "nightmare paint" to make him dream so Bugs can manipulate him in his slumber to save both of their careers. We have the usual assortment of corny Clampett gags mixed in with some stunning scenes that must have had everyone back in 1946 scratching their heads a little, wondering if Clampett had finally lost his mind. The price that innovative people sometimes have to pay is that not everyone will get it, and I don't think Selzer was anywhere near "getting it", so Clampett got the door.

After one time too often falling foul of Bugs Bunny's tricks, Elmer Fudd rips up his contract with Warner Brothers Studios and leaves to get some R&R fishing by the lake. Realising that his strongest career sidekick is important in his own career, Bugs goes after him and enters his dreams to encourage him to return to the job at hand.

The cartoon starts very abruptly and continues in that vein as scenes appear to just jump around very quickly and without a huge amount of internal structure. The plot cleverly acknowledges a reality of contracts (which of course, isn't reality for cartoon characters) and also has some funny asides from Bugs, but it doesn't appear to have a central plot. The dream sequence is colourful and well drawn but not necessarily funny as a result. I never fully got why Bugs took this approach to the problem!

The characters are good. Bugs does his usual stuff but doesn't seem relaxed in the cartoon - the dialogue is edited too fine and close for his style I felt. Fudd has little to do and his character doesn't serve as well as he usually does as a foil to Bugs - he simply isn't given the time to respond in a way he normally is.

Overall, almost any cartoon with Bugs and Fudd is going to be work watching for me, but this one just seemed a bit aimless - like the dream sequence was the original idea and the rest of it was just a thin excuse to get to it. It is all over a bit fast and without any really hilarious action, it is OK but really is a poor entry from this famous double act.

As usual, Elmer Fudd is hunting Bugs Bunny. Bugs puts another one over him. He has had enough and quits on the spot. He rips up his WB contract and goes fishing. Bugs finds him napping while fishing. It is a trip into his dreamland and Bugs turns it into a nightmare.

I like the turn and going meta. I am less convinced of the dreamland sequence. I can think of many ideas for dreams including Elmer Fudd turning into a rabbit being chased by Bugs Bunny dressed as a hunter. Most of all, I don't buy the ending. If he gets hounded by Bugs in his nightmare, he would never go back to his job. This is adventurous although I have questions.