Hare Brush
| Hare Brush | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies (Bugs Bunny) series | |
 | |
| Directed by | I. Freleng |
| Produced by | Eddie Selzer (uncredited) |
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Voices by |
Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan (uncredited) |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by |
Ted Bonnicksen Art Davis Gerry Chiniquy |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Irv Wyner |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 7, 1955 (USA) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7 minutes 1 second |
| Language | English |
Hare Brush is a 1955 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short, featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.
Hare Brush pokes fun at Freudian psychoanalysis, psychiatric medication, hypnosis, and the cliches of other Bugs Bunny shorts. Along with What's Opera, Doc? and Rabbit Rampage, it is one of the first three cartoons where Elmer Fudd actually defeats Bugs Bunny.
Plot
In the boardroom of the Elmer J. Fudd Corporation, the board of directors meets to discuss a serious threat to the company's future. The CEO, Elmer Fudd, is suffering from mental illness and believes himself to be a rabbit (but at least his speech has improved). The board unanimously agrees to commit Elmer to "The Fruitcake Sanitarium" {"It's Full of Nuts"}.
Elmer, now wearing a rabbit suit, sees Bugs Bunny walking past and lures him to the window with a carrot. Bugs says, "You mean I can have that, and plenty more? And all I have to do is to open the window?" Bugs goes inside, while Elmer hops out the window. Bugs lies in Elmer's bed to "keep it warm for him."
Viennese psychiatrist Dr. Oro Myicin arrives to begin treating Elmer's delusion and is stunned to see Bugs instead. He declares Bugs as the worst case of "rabbitschenia" he has ever seen. When Myicin tells Bugs to call himself Elmer Fudd, Bugs shakes hands saying, "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Fudd!"
Dr. Myicin tells Bugs that he is not Elmer J. Fudd, Bugs is Elmer J. Fudd. Thinking that Myicin is a "screwball", Bugs then attempts to psychoanalyze the doctor instead. Irked, Myicin gives Bugs a psychiatric pill which makes him very vulnerable to suggestion. Once it takes effect, the doctor forces Bugs to repeat ad nauseam: "I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht."
Soon after, Dr. Myicin releases Bugs from the sanitarium as "cured" of the belief that he is a rabbit and convinced that he is Elmer Fudd. Upon picking him up, Elmer's chauffeur tells Bugs that since it is Wednesday, he has packed his forest clothes and shotgun. Bugs decides to relax by hunting.
Dressed in Elmer's hunting clothes, Bugs tells the audience, "Be vewy quiet. I'm hunting wabbits." He then follows "wabbit twacks" to Elmer, who asks, "What's up, Doc?"
Realizing that Bugs is going to shoot him, Elmer jumps back into his rabbit hole. Bugs then aims his shotgun and screams, "Awwight, you scwewy wabbit! Come out ow I'ww bwast you out!"
Elmer pokes out his head and Bugs attempts to shoot him. But Elmer plugs the shotgun with his finger and causes it to backfire.
An infuriated Bugs chases Elmer into a cave, only to have Elmer sic a live bear on him. As a terrified Bugs flees, Elmer tells him to play dead. The bear, concluding that Bugs really is dead, buries him under a cliff ledge. Bugs then falls out of the underside into a stream far below.
Returning to his rabbit hole, Elmer is terrified to find Bugs waiting for him. Aiming his shotgun in Elmer's face, Bugs screams, "No wabbit's gonna outsmawt Ewmew J. Fudd!"
But before he can fire, an IRS agent taps Bugs on the shoulder, and asks, "Pardon me, did you say you were Elmer J. Fudd?" Bugs replies, "Yes. I am Ewmew J. Fudd, miwwionaiwe. I own a mansion and a yacht." Bugs is then arrested, like Al Capone, for non-payment of $300,000 in back taxes. As the T-man hauls him away, Bugs demands in vain to be released, protesting, "I'm hunting a scwewy wabbit!" This time, the last line belongs to Elmer: "I may be a scwewy wabbit, but I'm not going to Awcatwaz!", suggesting that he was just pretending this whole time to avoid from getting arrested. The final features Elmer dancing a jig and hopping away.
External links
| Preceded by Sahara Hare |
Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1955 |
Succeeded by Rabbit Rampage |