Elmer, apprenti photographe

The Name of Bugs Bunny's Prototype is Happy Rabbit. He appears in Four cartoons. They were Porky's Hare Hunt, Prest-O Change-O,Hare-um Scare-um and finally in Elmer's Candid Camera. He makes a cameo in Patient Porky. The Creator of Bugs Bunny is still apparently unknown and it could be Tex Avery. Bugs Hardaway has some credit so does Cal Dalton, Charlie Thorson, and Chuck Jones. In the late 1930's Tex Avery and his crew were working on A Wild Hare. Bugs Bunny was originally going to be called Jack O' Rabbit. Until the animators used the name used by Charlie Thorson. Tex decided that Bugs Bunny would come out of the Rabbit hole asking "What's Up Doc" to the Hunter (Elmer Fudd). In 1941 Bugs made his second appearance in Elmer's Pet Rabbit and thus his name would be introduced to the public. And I Have no choice but to Say That's All Folks.

This little gray rabbit with the perfect powder puff cotton tail and the wacky laugh seems to be Bugs Bunny's Dad!!! This early version of B. Bunny is also seen in a cartoon with an earlier version of Elmer Fudd called "Hare-Um Scare-Um". And as I said before, Bugs' grandpa seems to be the little white/pink bunny in the early "Porky's Hare Hunt" and another film, "Prest-o Change-o".

In this funny little gem, Elmer Fudd hopes to get a new hobby going: photographing wildlife. He tries many times to get pics of squirrels, birds, and a cute little gway wabbit, but the wabbit keeps thwarting poor Elmer's efforts.

I do prefer the true personality of Bugs, the one that Tex Avery created and Chuck Jones refined, but this cartoon is very endearing.

Elmer Fudd takes up wildlife photography. He takes all his camera gear into the woods and finds a rabbit. The rabbit has some fun at Elmer's expense.

This is mostly interesting to see the progression of Bugs Bunny. He's not called Bugs here. He doesn't sound like Bugs. In fact, he does a Woody Woodpecker laugh to close out the short. He does have the attitude and he is that trickster. The design is a little rough and not as cute. Elmer Fudd's design is also a little different and he has the voice. As it stands, this is a very familiar Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny story. The designs are fascinating for historical reasons.

Elmer Fudd is reading "How To Photograph Wildlife" and he's ready. He has all the equipment, from tripod to flashbulbs. He heads out into the beautiful countryside. The first thing he sees are "wabbit twacks, er, rabbit tracks.

The rest of the cartoon is basically Fudd trying to photograph the rabbit (a forerunner of Bugs Bunny) but very little happens. I didn't anything funny in here....nothing. There were a few odd things, like th rabbit putting his elbow in Elmer's butt (really) but nothing humorous.

The only good aspect of this early Elmer Fudd cartoon is the artwork and colors. Bright, bold colors in the foreground and nice watercolor-like drawings in the back (reminiscent of "Bambi") were the only highlights of this animated short. However, it was obvious that the characters we all know - Fudd and Bugs Bunny - were in the early stages of development.

This early cartoon directed by Charles M. Jones (better known as Chuck Jones) features the first appearance of the short's title character with the voice and facial features though he's a little heavier here and still has traces of his predecessor, Egghead. His nemesis is a rabbit who looks a little like Bugs Bunny except his face is pink and he sounds more like Goofy with a laugh like Woody Woodpeckeer (no surprise since Mel Blanc also did that bird during this time). Elmer's trying to take wildlife pictures but keeps getting pranked on by the rabbit. A pretty amusing dry run for the hunting pictures started by Tex Avery's A Wild Hare, this cartoon should be seen at least for historical value. It's on disc 3 of The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 1.