Hare Remover

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

Bugs Bunny obliges Elmer Fudd by stepping into his crude rabbit trap and letting Elmer take him to his laboratory. That was a mistake. Elmer is a mad scientist trying to create a formula that will turn a "normal character into a devilish fiend." He pours a test tube full of liquid down Bugs's throat, but after a tableau of agonized poses, nothing happens. Elmer is disconsolate, so Bugs cheers him up—by having him drink some of the formula himself. Circumstances trick both Elmer and Bugs into thinking the evil mixture has changed the other into a bear. But the bear is a real bear, and the two antagonists barely escape him unharmed.

This delightful cartoon features brilliant comic "acting" from Bugs, Elmer and the bear. Their sense of timing, their gestures and facial expressions are all priceless. Carl Stalling's music score keeps things bouncing happily along, always contributing mightily to the laughs and the excitement. Frank Tashlin directed a winner with this one.

This cartoon is available on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three," Disc 1.

Classic Bugs Bunny short directed by Frank Tashlin. Elmer Fudd is a mad scientist (!) with a very cool-looking laboratory. Elmer's trying to create a Jekyll & Hyde formula but needs a guinea pig to test it out on. Enter unwitting test subject Bugs. What a fun cartoon. Great voice work from Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan. Energetic music from Carl Stalling. The animation is excellent with dynamite action and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Beautiful Technicolor is always a plus. Lots of funny bits and lines in this one. Bugs and Elmer are in top form. The bear's a hoot, too. The only real flaw is that it ends rather abruptly.

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.