Wabbit Twouble

I've never understood why everybody delivers unlimited praise to Chuck Jones' contributions to Looney Tunes (which are great in their own right), while the brilliant early-era directors like Freleng, Avery, McKimson, and Clampett go virtually unrecognized. Here, in his first Looney Tune, Bob Clampett gives us a priceless gem. Not only does this mark a drastic change in appearance for that eternal comic foil Elmer Fudd, but it breaks new ground in the visual style and uproarious physical comedy that we have come to love about Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the crew. This was the beginning of an amazing career for Clampett, who directed some of the best Looney Tunes EVER (Daffy Duck imagines that he is Dick Tracy, fighting colorful villains in a twisted, art-nuveau/film-noir dream sequence, Bugs Bunny terrorizes a retired Elmer Fudd in an effort to save his nemesis' contract, Bugs battles a crafty wartime Gremlin on an aircraft, etc.) Great stuff! But don't watch this crazy little cartoon expecting west and wewaxation. You'll be laughing too hard!

"Wabbit Twouble" is one of the best early Bugs Bunny cartoons. Bob Clampett, wacky as ever, goes all-out with this production, using some of the best and surreal gags you'll see. And it's not just the gags with the "wascawwy wabbit" that are good; the intro is a great example of matching music to animation, but it's done in a surreal way. Like Frank Tashlin, Clampett emphasizes acceleration, and utilizes Elmer's gullibility and stupidity to the full. The last few gags are impeccable. The cartoon is simply great, it's so imaginative, and it has no restrictions. Clampett tries it all. Finally on DVD, and thank God for it!

Elmer Fudd's old auto is doing the "conga" while driving through a mountain pass on his way to "Jellostone National Park" where Elmer is looking forward to peace and quiet. (He looks different in this early cartoon; older and much bigger and fatter.)

Bugs sees him coming, puts up a "camp here" sign and Elmer quickly sets up camp. "Oh, boy, now for a weal west," he says. Yeah, right. Sadistic Bugs is going to wuin his west weally soon! At least Bugs knows he's bad. He stops at one point, looks at the camera, and tells us, "I do this kind of stuff throughout the picture."

Poor Elmer. What did he do to deserve this torment? I have to say, though, that after a slow start, the last half of this short became very funny. Bugs imitating a grizzly bear was a real howl, and the real bear chasing Elmer in the woods was good, too.

Bob Clampett's first Bugs Bunny cartoon seems more like the kind of film that Tex Avery would have made if he stayed with the studio (not surprising, since Clampett inherited Tex's crew). Unwarranted troublemaker, casual asides to the audience, and a likable foil.

Clampett's style starts to break from Avery's and take its own in the facial expressions. Elmer's takes during the bear attack (either one) are priceless. And the goofy-scary design of the actual bear is a great blend...perfect for a cartoon.

This is also the first appearance of the "fat Elmer," a redesign Clampett wanted to use because he felt the character looked funnier...and so Elmer could more resemble his voice actor, Arthur Q. Bryan. To a point he does look funnier, but one can already see the future physical limitations it will set on the character (see "The Wacky Wabbit" for a good example of that).

All in all, a silly first Bugs cartoon for Clampett. Definitely one to see!

A fat Elmer Fudd goes to Jellostone National Park in search of 'wewaxation', but has the misfortune of putting his tent over Bugs Bunny's rabbit hole in this great Robert Clampett directed and Dave Monahan written Looney Tunes short. This cartoon is hilarious with almost every single gag hitting it's mark. My favorite being Bugs kissing a Elmer who's pretending to be dead thinking a bear is still attacking him. Elmer's reaction to this is simply priceless.This cartoon is the twelth short on disk 1 of the 'Loony Tunes Golden Collection'. It also has a Commentary track and a featurette.

My Grade: A+