Hare Brush
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| ''Hare Brush'' | |
| Merrie Melodies/Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd series | |
 A still from Hare Brush |
|
| Directed by | I. Freleng |
|---|---|
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Animation by | Ted Bonnicksen Art Davis Gerry Chiniquy |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan (uncredited) |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Produced by | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date | May 7, 1955 (USA) |
| Format | Technicolor, 8 min (one reel) |
| Language | English |
| IMDb page | |
Hare Brush is a 1955 Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies animated short, featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.
[edit] Summary
Millionaire Elmer Fudd enters the boardroom of his multi-million dollar company, but he isn't himself. He's hopping around on all fours and acting like a rabbit. Fudd snaps into a moment of paranoid delusion, expressing worry and fright over hunters who are out to get him. The board of directors agrees that Fudd needs help.
Soon Elmer, now wearing a rabbit suit, is committed to The Fruitcake Sanitarium for treatment of his apparent mental illness. A few moments later, Elmer sees Bugs Bunny walk by and lures his nemesis to the window with a carrot. Bugs goes inside, and Elmer hops out the window. Bugs lies in Elmer's bed to "keep it warm for him."
The Austrian hospital psychiatrist comes for Elmer, but notices Bugs in his place; he attributes this apparent sudden change to "the vurst case of rabbitschizophrenia I've ever seen." Bugs tries to convince the doctor that he really is a rabbit, but the doctor gives Bugs a hypnotizing pill. Once it takes effect, Bugs is made to repeat, "I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht."
The programming works: Bugs leaves the sanitarium convinced he's Fudd and pronouncing Rs and Ls as Ws. He decides to relax by going hunting, where Elmer, still in his rabbit suit, is waiting.
It's the usual chase from there, only in reverse. Notable gags include Elmer siccing a bear on Bugs and telling him to play dead; the bear buries Bugs, who then falls from the underside of a cliff ledge.
In the climax, Bugs is about to go after Elmer again when a police officer taps Bugs on the shoulder, asking "Excuse me, are you Elmer Fudd?" Bugs replies, "Yes, I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire." Bugs is arrested for back taxes Elmer owes, and tries in vain to explain himself, saying "I'm hunting a scwewy wabbit!" This time, the last line of the episode belongs to Elmer: "I may be a scwewy wabbit, but I'm not going to Alcatwaz!"
A possible interpretation is that, in the cartoon, Elmer has been faking his insanity all along precisely to avoid being sentenced to prison (and also to finally get revenge on Bugs).
[edit] Trivia
- Besides two edits for violence (a gun gag and a gag where Bugs dives into shallow water and hits his head on a rock), the version that aired on ABC edited out the establishing shot of "The Fruitcake Sanitarium" because of a standards and practices rule on ABC forbidding the mention (or mocking) of mental illness.
