The Big Snooze

Plot synopsis:
In this cartoon-within-a-cartoon, Bugs and Elmer are in the midst of their usual hunting-chasing scenario. After Bugs tricks Elmer into running through a hollow log and off a cliff three times (a comic triple of sorts originally used in Avery's All this and Rabbit Stew. In fact, the same animation sequence was recycled for "The Big Snooze", with the stereotypical black hunter being redrawn into Elmer Fudd), Elmer becomes enraged and frustrated that the writers never let him catch the rabbit in the pictures they both appear in. He tears up his Warner Bros. cartoon contract and walks off the set to devote his life to fishing, stunning Bugs, who piteously protests and effortlessly tries to ask him to reconsider. During a relaxing fishing trip, Elmer falls asleep.
Bugs observes Elmer's nap and takes sleeping pills in order to rock Elmer's "dreamboat" (Bugs sang Beautiful Dreamer, by "invading" his dream and continuing to drive Elmer crazy when Bugs uses the "Nightmare Paint". Symbolic of his dreamland plight, Elmer appears nearly nude, wearing only his derby hat and a strategically placed "loincloth" consisting of a laurel wreath. Elmer's dream is invaded by "ziwwions and twiwwions of wabbits" dancing on his head and singing "The rabbits are coming. Hooray! Hooray!" in a parody of the Pink Elephants on Parade sequence from the 1941 Disney film Dumbo with Bugs Bunny literally multiplying them from an adding machine. Looking for another way to torment Elmer, Bugs consults the book A Thousand and One Arabian Nightmares, exclaiming, "Oh, no! It's too gruesome!" before peeking over the book to cheerfully tell the audience, "But I'll do it!" Elmer realizes what Bugs has in mind, pleading "No, no! No, not that! Not that, pwease!" as Bugs ties him to railroad tracks, just as "the Superchief" (Bugs in an Indian chief's headdress, leading a conga line of baby rabbits) crosses over Elmer's head.
Elmer's anger at a failed pursuit through the surreal landscape, down connected rabbit holes, is promptly used against him by Bugs who inquires "What's the matter doc, ya cold? Here, I'll fix dat". Before Elmer can protest, Bugs dresses him like a woman by wrapping his body with green material from the right, slapping a wig on him, and applying lipstick. Bugs inspects his handiwork, then lifts the backdrop to reveal a trio of literal wolves, lounging by the sign at Hollywood and Vine. When the trio notice Elmer, one wolf hollers "Hooooow old is she?!", right before another wolf begins flirting with Elmer. Bugs enjoys watching the male wolves hit on Elmer, who yells "Gwacious!" before he grabs the hem of his gown and flees from the wolves, who give chase, briefly stopping to ask the audience "Have any of you giwls evew had an expewience wike this?".
In an attempt to "help", Bugs persuades Elmer to follow a mad dash towards stage right, as Bugs plays the old gag "run 'this way'!", putting Elmer through a bizarre series of steps which include running on his feet, flipping upside down to run on his hair, hopping like a frog, as well as Russian folk dancing.
As Bugs and Elmer dive off a cliff, Bugs drinks some "Hare Tonic (Stops Falling Hare)" and screeches to a halt in mid-air, while the dream Elmer continues to careen toward earth, finally crash-landing into the real Elmer's snoozing body as he wakes up with a start, exclaiming "Ooh, what a howwible nightmare!".
Elmer dashes back to the cartoon's original set, pieces his Warner contract back together, and agrees to finish what he started. The chase through the log begins anew. Bugs faces the audience in a closeup, closing with the catchphrase from the "Beulah" character on the radio show Fibber McGee and Molly, "Ah love dat man!"

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
I don't know any of the details surrounding Bob Clampett's departure from Warner Bros., but in this, his last cartoon for them, was one of the weirdest from a long list of strange entries from him.
I don't think he got along well with the new studio imposed producer, Edward Selzer.
Leon Schlesinger, the previous one, and the creator of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, let him have all the freedom he needed with zany, wild cartoons as the result.
Some, like "Porky in Wackyland" and "The Daffy Doc" are considered by many cartoon historians to be important for the bold liberties he took with art and the use of space.
He did things that had never been done before, but Warner Bros.
bought out Schlesinger for $1,000,000 and Clampett's star never quite shone as brightly as it did in those heady days.At the beginning of this cartoon, then, it is significant that we see that Elmer Fudd is becoming disenchanted with his cartoon contract with "Mr. Warner" and tears it up in frustration after once again being the fall guy for Bugs Bunny.
What follows is a surreal sequence after Elmer falls asleep.
Bugs uses "nightmare paint" to make him dream so Bugs can manipulate him in his slumber to save both of their careers.
We have the usual assortment of corny Clampett gags mixed in with some stunning scenes that must have had everyone back in 1946 scratching their heads a little, wondering if Clampett had finally lost his mind.
The price that innovative people sometimes have to pay is that not everyone will get it, and I don't think Selzer was anywhere near "getting it", so Clampett got the door..
Elmer Fudd is the doing the normal thing for him: hunting for Bugs Bunny in the woods.
Bugs cleverly uses a log and a cliff to repeat the same joke three times, but it's always funny.
Finally, Elmer has had it.
He tired of always losing "in these cartoons." He takes his Warner Brothers contract and rips it up!"From now on, its nothing but fishing for me, and no more wabbits," announces Elmer to a stunned Bugs, who pleads with him to change his mind.
We're like Rabbit & Costello," he says.
(That's one of the things I love about these cartoons - great, inventive dialog.)While Elmer's peacefully dreaming, Bugs invades his dream!
This is one of the wildest, funniest Bug Bunny cartoons I have ever seen - just brilliant material..
Bugs Bunny as Freddy Krueger.
If you thought that Bob Clampett had gone as far out of normalcy as possible with "Porky in Wackyland" and "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery", then check out "The Big Snooze".
When Elmer Fudd - tired of always Bugs Bunny always embarrassing him - tears up his Warner Bros.
contract, Bugs does something that I wouldn't even imagine him (of all people) doing: he invades Elmer's dreams, creating one of the most surreal sequences that I've ever witnessed.
Who would have ever guessed that Bugs Bunny was Freddy Krueger's forebear?!
Above all, it's a good thing that I first saw this cartoon now, when I'm old enough to fully understand what it portrays (not to mention that I know who Bette Davis was).
As Looney Tunes screenwriter Michael Maltese said in an interview: "We wrote cartoons for grownups, that was the secret." But overall, this is a really cool cartoon.
Bob Clampett, during the approximately one decade that he worked with the Termite Terrace crowd, created a body of work beyond what I could have ever conceived of.
I own the compilation that 'The Big Snooze' is featured on.
From the get go....the stand alone cartoon seems pretty much like any of the other Bugs Bunny 'toons.
Fudd chases 'wabbit'....wabbit makes him look like a sucker....and so on so forth.
Until....Elmer has finally decided he's had enough.
At first....seems Elmer is going to finally be free.
Or so he thinks.
After all....as Bugs put it....'think of your career.
And for dat matter think of my career.' From there it just goes into the category of just plain silly.
The 'nightmare paint' and the other touches bringing a surreal sense to the whole thing.
And then there was 'da Super Chief!'  Not to mention the book....aptly titled '1001 Arabian Nightmares.'  And of course....what would a cartoon like this with that 'wascally wabbit' be without some clever misdirection from the craziest hare in the world....thereby allowing him to run amok.
Elmer after stopping [Why did 'she' stop?] :  'Have any of you girls ever had an experience like this?' Oh sure Elmer....you should've known better when that rabbit set you up by skewing your expression of [surprise] anger over being the 'fall guy' once again.
Of course if you had....the cartoon would've been ruined.
And to think what we would've missed along the way if you had stayed retired.
'Bugs vs Elmer.'.
Big Snooze, The (1946) *** (out of 4) Elmer Fudd, tired of being abused by Bugs Bunny, decides to tear up his contract to Warner and go on vacation.
Bugs needs him back so the rabbit invades his dreams to cause a nightmare.
This is certainly a wild short but I've never found it to be a funny one.
What does work here are the amazing colors inside the "nightmare", which look absolutely stunning in their remastered form.
The visuals are certainly the main reason to watch this film as there aren't too many laughs.
The film starts off with a chase, which would normally end a cartoon but here the gag is somewhat funny.
The best sequence is the famous one where Elmer is tied to the train tracks and a train of rabbits run over him..
Clampett goes out with a bang.
In this last Bob Clampett Looney Tunes short, Elmer Fudd is thoroughly appalled by the treatment he always winds up getting from Bugs Bunny, so he decides enough is enough, tears up his Warner Brothers contract and commits himself to fishing for the rest of his days.
Bugs is mortified of course (for his own job security mind you) and when he finds Elmer dreaming, he takes a sleeping pill and enters his pleasant dream to turn it into a nightmare.
This is a hilarious if a wee bit surreal cartoon that can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.
It also features an optional commentary by animator Bill Melendez that is pretty good.My Grade: A.
A lotta fun--and it steps out of the fourth wall..
This is a very funny and very unusual Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd cartoon.
It starts off typically--with Bugs repeatedly tormenting Elmer.
Finally, however, Elmer announces he's had enough and he takes out his Warner Brothers contract, tears it up and announces he's done with cartoons!
Bugs makes a comment to the audience and then decides that he MUST bring Elmer back into the Warner fold--otherwise he, too, might be out of work.
When Bugs finds Elmer, he's sound asleep, so Bugs takes a sleeping pill and enters Elmer's dream in order to torment him (much like a recent Spongebob cartoon).
It's all very funny--and filled with a lot of nudity, as Elmer, inexplicably, runs about in fig leaf underwear.
Most importantly, however, it is very funny, fast-paced and I love how the cartoon lets you know that the characters know they are cartoons.
I don't think this is the best Bugs and Elmer partnering, A Wild Hare or any entry in the superb Hunting Trilogy I would put over this, but The Big Snooze is still a terrific Looney Tunes cartoon.Animation: Beautiful!
A vast majority of the Looney Tunes cartoons have great animation and this is no exception.
The backgrounds are pretty, the colours are audacious and the characters are well drawn.Music: I look out for this all the time, and this was not a disappointment either.
It was rousing, energetic and whimsical, like the very best scores from the Looney Tunes cartoons are.Story: The weakest asset of the cartoon but still works.
It is carefully constructed, with some very effective moments, especially the dream sequence which is by far and away the highlight of the cartoon, but the only criticism of the cartoon is that there are one or two parts at the beginning that seem a little aimless.Dialogue/sight gags: Typical Looney Tunes fashion.
The dialogue is inventive and witty and the sight gags are very clever.Characters/ Voices: Nothing to complain about here.
Bugs steals the show no doubt about it, but Elmer proves himself a great if rather dumb foil.
Mel Blanc and Arthur Q.
Bryan's vocal characterisations are consistently superb too.Overall, not the best but still terrific.
'The Big Snooze (1946),' a Looney Tunes short directed by Robert Clampett, is basically seven minutes of cultural references: the title is derived from Howard Hawks' classic Bogart-Bacall film-noir, 'The Big Sleep (1946),' and there are throwaway mentions of Bette Davis, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Damon Runyon and Mr. Jack L.
Warner himself.
The film's premise, in some eerie twist of Einstein's space-time continuum, even appears to reference Freddy Krueger and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984),' though greater minds than mine could undoubtedly arrive at a more sensible conclusion.
The opening sequence was recycled from the 1941 Bugs Bunny cartoon, 'All This and Rabbit Stew (1941),' with Elmer Fudd substituted for the black hunter from that film.
'The Big Snooze' wanders quite aimlessly through its scenario, but the idea itself is clever enough to last the total running time.
As usual, Mel Blanc voiced the wabbit, but Arthur Q.
Bryan (uncredited) is responsible the characterisation of Fudd.In a shrewdly self-referential twist on the usual formula, Elmer, after being outsmarted by the mischievous Bugs for the last time, angrily tears up his Warner Bros.
contract and decides to spend the rest of his days fishing.
Fearing for his own career, Bugs attempts to frighten Elmer back into acting, and does so by entering into his dreams and systematically turning them into a string of terrifying nightmares, plagued by horrific armies of annoying "wabbits." With the realisation that retirement isn't quite as peaceful as he'd anticipated, Elmer promptly returns to the film set and accepts that it is simply his duty to be consistently suckered by a rascally rabbit.
Just as the classic 'Duck Amuck (1954)' derived humour from its self-referential nature, Clampett's film {ironically enough, the last that he made for Warner Bros.} has some fun with the conjecture that Elmer Fudd is a contracted actor on the studio's payroll.
The dream sequence is colourful, chaotic and suitably threatening, and Bugs appears to get a lot of enjoyment from tormenting the hapless little hunter..
Bob Clampett's final short for Warner Bros.
is a classic Bugs & Elmer cartoon.
Elmer's tired of the routine they're in where he chases Bugs but never wins.
So he tears up his contract and quits the cartoon!
Bugs, determined to get Elmer back, invades his dreams (like Freddy Krueger) leading to some surreal and wacky imagery.
The voice work from Mel Blanc and Arthur Q.
The animation is beautiful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds and lovely Technicolor.
The dream stuff is amazing.
Funny gags, lines, and fourth-wall breaking makes this one any Looney Tunes fan will want to see..
After one time too often falling foul of Bugs Bunny's tricks, Elmer Fudd rips up his contract with Warner Brothers Studios and leaves to get some R&R fishing by the lake.
Realising that his strongest career sidekick is important in his own career, Bugs goes after him and enters his dreams to encourage him to return to the job at hand.The cartoon starts very abruptly and continues in that vein as scenes appear to just jump around very quickly and without a huge amount of internal structure.
The plot cleverly acknowledges a reality of contracts (which of course, isn't reality for cartoon characters) and also has some funny asides from Bugs, but it doesn't appear to have a central plot.
The dream sequence is colourful and well drawn but not necessarily funny as a result.
I never fully got why Bugs took this approach to the problem!The characters are good.
Bugs does his usual stuff but doesn't seem relaxed in the cartoon - the dialogue is edited too fine and close for his style I felt.
Fudd has little to do and his character doesn't serve as well as he usually does as a foil to Bugs - he simply isn't given the time to respond in a way he normally is.Overall, almost any cartoon with Bugs and Fudd is going to be work watching for me, but this one just seemed a bit aimless - like the dream sequence was the original idea and the rest of it was just a thin excuse to get to it.
It is all over a bit fast and without any really hilarious action, it is OK but really is a poor entry from this famous double act..
'The Big Snooze' is a surreal sequence inside a dream of Elmer Fudd.
After Bugs Bunny is too smart for him once again Elmer wants to quit from Mr. Warner and shreds his contract.
He says he will be fishing from now on and he will never try to catch a rabbit again.
Bugs begs him to go on since it is also his career that can come to and end.Elmer falls asleep against a tree and Bugs sees that he is dreaming.
Bugs makes himself dreaming and in his own dream he enters Elmer's dream.
He changes that dream into a nightmare with all the surreal images as a result.The cartoon is interesting for its story and sometimes the animation but for simple entertainment it is not very good.
The beginning is nice but too predictable and the idea of going into another one's dream is good as well but it feels like there are a lot of missed opportunities.
There a couple of laughs so watching this is not completely wasting time..
Not amongst Clampett's best but partially brilliant nonetheless.
Bob Clampett's final cartoon for Warner Bros.
is an appropriately strange and crazy film, a fitting finale for the wackiest director the studio ever saw.
'The Big Snooze' begins unpromisingly with reused animation from an old Tex Avery short and a sequence in which Elmer Fudd quits his role as a cartoon dupe.
Although the premise is strong, these early scenes are curiously ugly in both drawings and animation.
However, the moment Bugs invades Elmer's dreams and splashes them with Nightmare Paint, 'The Big Snooze' becomes an absolute riot.
Since the action is set in the world of dreams, Bugs is able to tear up the rulebook even more than usual.
The pace and quality of the wisecracks increase immeasurably and the cartoon goes from ugly to positively sumptuous to look at.
The jokes in 'The Big Snooze' are all extremely unconventional, with the closest to a traditional gag being an extreme reading of the old "walk this way" joke.
Oddly enough, the cartoon reverts to being bizarrely unattractive the moment the dream sequence ends.
Just look at Bugs as the iris closes on him at the end.
Nevertheless, 'The Big Snooze' will always be remembered for the dream sequence rather than the clunky sequences that bookend it.
While it doesn't quite rival Clampett's very best work, 'The Big Snooze' ends the man's career with Warners on a strikingly inventive note..
Warner Bros.
tries to spoof THE BIG SLEEP .
. with this 1940s animated short, THE BIG SNOOZE.
Bugs Bunny takes on the Humphrey Bogart part, which of course leaves the Lauren Bacall role to Elmer Fudd.
Though Mr. Fudd looks better in a green cocktail dress than Ms. Bacall, that may be a moot point, given SLEEP's monochromatic nature.
Whereas the live-action Bogart flick involved him and Bacall telling each other an increasingly complicated bedtime murder mystery in which even the Real Life movie director admitted he could not figure out exactly who killed whom, SNOOZE finds Bugs invading Elmer's retirement dreams with packs of bunnies and wolves until Elmer's not sure which bathroom to use in North Carolina.
Since Elmer logs on and off to Reality here like a schizophrenic on an LSD trip, there's no need for SNOOZE to introduce such tomfoolery as SLEEP's hidden cameras.
Elmer appears totally nude from 5:08 through 5:11 of SNOOZE, which is a lot more daring than you can credit Bacall for anything she doffs in SLEEP.
If you want to see a wacky Bugs Bunny cartoon featuring wild animation and fast-paced energy that never lets up, watch "The Big Snooze".
Directed by Robert Clampett, this cartoon pits the scwewy wabbit against his most famous nemesis - Elmer Fudd.
Fudd finally tires of hunting & chasing Bugs, so he tears up his contract with Warner Bros.
and decides to go fishing.
But if Bugs has no Fudd to play off of, then there's no team!
Oh no, Bugs ain't gonna let THAT happen!
Highlights: Bugs is hilarious at the beginning of this cartoon as he pleads with Elmer not to break up the act.
Carl Stalling's music score cleverly aids Bugs' act of throwing nightmare paint onto Elmer's peaceful dream, followed by "The rabbits are coming, / Hooray, hooray!
/ The rabbits are coming, / Hooray, hooray!", etc.
In order to escape the wolves, Bugs convinces Elmer to run away and dance in some fairly unorthodox ways, again aided by Stalling's score.
(In fact, listen to the entire music score for this film and you'll surely be able to pick out various melodies that are familiar.) "The Big Snooze" is a terrific cartoon that just happened to be director Bob Clampett's swan song before he left Warner Bros.
That's too bad, because one can only wonder what other wacky creations Clampett could have made had he decided to remain at WB.