Rabbit Seasoning
| Rabbit Seasoning | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck) series | |
 |
|
| Directed by | Charles M. Jones |
| Produced by | Eddie Selzer |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck) Arthur Q. Bryan (Elmer Fudd) (unc.) |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation by | Ken Harris Lloyd Vaughan Ben Washam |
| Layouts by | Maurice Noble |
| Backgrounds by | Philip DeGuard |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Cartoons The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 20, 1952 (USA) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7' |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Oily Hare (Bugs) Cracked Quack (Daffy) |
| Followed by | Rabbit's Kin (Bugs) The Super Snooper (Daffy) |
Rabbit Seasoning is a 1952 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. It is the sequel to Rabbit Fire, and the second entry in the "Hunting trilogy" directed by Jones and written by Michael Maltese. (The only major difference in format between Rabbit Fire and Rabbit Seasoning is that the former takes place during the spring, while the latter takes place in autumn. The third cartoon, Duck! Rabbit, Duck!, takes place in the winter.) Produced by Edward Selzer for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., the short was released to theaters on September 20, 1952 by Warner Bros. Pictures and is widely considered among Jones' best and most important films. In Jerry Beck's 1994 book The 50 Greatest Cartoons, Rabbit Seasoning is listed at number thirty.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The cartoon finds a row of signs saying it's rabbit season ("If you're looking for fun, you don't need a reason. All you need is a gun, it's Rabbit Season!"). Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck again are arguing over which of them is “in season” (it is really Duck Season, as Daffy says in the beginning), while a befuddled Elmer Fudd tries to figure out which animal is telling the truth. Between using sneaky plays-on-words, and dressing himself in women's clothing (including a Lana Turner-style sweater), Bugs manages to escape unscathed, while Daffy repeatedly has his beak blown off, upside-down, and sideways by Elmer.
[edit] "Pronoun trouble"
Rabbit Seasoning is most noted for an extended dialogue sequence in which Bugs' plays-on-words cause Daffy "pronoun trouble":
- Bugs: It's true, Doc. I'm a rabbit, alright. Would you like to shoot me now or wait 'til you get home?
- Daffy: Shoot him now!!!! Shoot him now!!!!
- Bugs: You keep outta this! He doesn't have to shoot you now!
- Daffy: He does so have to shoot me now! (to Elmer) I demand that you shoot me now!
- (Elmer looks at the camera, unsure if Daffy knows what he's talking about. As Daffy sticks his tongue out at Bugs, he is shot. Daffy puts his beak in its place and pushes the tongue back in and walks back over to Bugs, gun smoke pouring out of his nostrils.)
- Daffy: (to Bugs) Let's run through that again.
- Bugs: Okay. (deadpan) Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home.
- Daffy: (similarly) Shoot him now; shoot him now.
- Bugs: (as before) You keep outta this, he doesn't have to shoot you now.
- Daffy: (re-animated) Hah! That’s it! Hold it right there! [to audience] Pronoun trouble. (to Bugs) It's not "He doesn't have to shoot you now". It's "He doesn't have to shoot me now."
- (Pause)
- Daffy: (angrily) Well, I say he does have to shoot me now!! (to Elmer) So shoot me now!!!
- (Elmer obliges and lets him have it. Daffy puts his beak back to normal and rushes to Bugs in a pose with him pointing a finger at him with his mouth open.)
- Bugs: Yes?
- (Daffy looks at the camera and forcibly pulls his arm back and closes his beak.)
- Daffy: (shakes his head) Oh no you don't. (shakes head again) Not again. Sorry.
- (Daffy walks over to Elmer.)
- Daffy: This time we'll try it from the other end. Look, you're a hunter, right?
- Elmer: Wight!
- Daffy: And this is rabbit season, right?
- Elmer: Wight!
- Bugs: (interrupting, pointing at Daffy) And if he was a rabbit, what would you do?
- Daffy: Yeah, you're so smart! If I was a rabbit what would you do?
- Elmer: Well, I'd... (Points gun at Daffy)
- Daffy: (Looks at the camera in horror) Not again! (gets shot)
- (Daffy puts his beak back and walks over to Bugs with a deadpan expression.)
- Daffy: (re-animated) Ha-ha-ha, very funny, ha-ha-ha! (resumes deadpan expression)
After another series of gags and tricks, the cartoon ends as Daffy exposes Bugs' attempt at distracting Elmer by cross-dressing, and Bugs asks Elmer if he would like to "shoot him now, or wait 'til you get home." Daffy, catching the argument before it starts (but missing the "him" referring to himself), tells Elmer to wait until he gets home, and the two of them go off to Elmer's lodge. One gunshot later, Daffy storms out the door back to Bugs, re-aligns his beak, and says his signature line: "You're desthpicable".
[edit] Availability
Rabbit Seasoning is currently available on both Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 and Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection.
[edit] Censorship
- See Rabbit Fire for information on censored scenes.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Oily Hare |
Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1952 |
Succeeded by Rabbit's Kin |
| Preceded by Cracked Quack |
Daffy Duck Cartoons 1952 |
Succeeded by The Super Snooper |
