Rabbit Fire

Rabbit Fire is a 1951 Looney Tunes short directed by Charles M. Jones.
== Title ==
The title is a play on "rapid fire," substituting "rapid" for "rabbit."
== Plot ==
Elmer Fudd is hunting, and he says, "Be vewy, vewy quiet! I'm hunting wabbits!" Daffy Duck lures Elmer to Bugs Bunny's burrow and watches from aside while Elmer attempts to shoot Bugs. Bugs informs Elmer that it isn't rabbit season, but instead duck season. Daffy emerges, irate, and attempts to convince Elmer that Bugs is lying.
Their conversion breaks down into Bugs leading Daffy to admit it is duck season by a number of verbal plays and reverse psychology, for example:
* Bugs: "Duck season!"
* Daffy: "Rabbit season!"
* Bugs: "Duck season!"
* Daffy: "RABBIT SEASON!"
* Bugs: "Duck season!!"
* Daffy: "RABBIT SEASON!!"
* Bugs: (reversing the flow) "Rabbit season!"
* Daffy: "DUCK SEASON!!!"
* Bugs: "Rabbit season!!!"
* Daffy: "I say it's duck season, and I say FIRE!"
Once Daffy admits it is duck season, Elmer fires his shotgun at Daffy, causing the duck to suffer a temporary setback before he tries again. This repeats multiple times during the short, with Daffy trying different ploys to get Elmer to shoot Bugs, but Bugs continues to outwit him. After Daffy is shot for the third time, he walks away. Elmer tries to shoot him, but no more shells come out of his gun. Thrilled, Daffy comes back and grabs Elmer's gun to make sure, only to be shot with the last shell.
Daffy then sees a sign that Bugs has nailed to a tree saying "Duck Season Open". As he sees Elmer approaching, he disguises himself as Bugs, telling him that it's duck season. Bugs appears disguised as Daffy, complete with webbed feet and fake bill, and asks Daffy why he thinks it's duck season. Daffy points at the tree where he previously saw the "Duck Season Open" sign. However, the sign nailed to that tree now reads "Rabbit Season Open", implying that Bugs replaced the signs. Elmer, of course, shoots Daffy. After Daffy gets blasted, he goes up to Bugs and says, "You're desthpicable!" The two walk away, getting out of their costumes as Daffy rants to Bugs how despicable he is. Bugs then begins to read duck recipes from a cookbook and Daffy does the same with a rabbit recipe cookbook. Elmer tells them he's a vegetarian and only hunts for the sport of it. Outraged, Bugs gets in Elmer's face and claims "Oh, yeah? Well, there's other sports besides huntin', ya know!?" Daffy then offers to play tennis. Elmer blasts him again, then begins shooting and chases both of them all the way to the rabbit hole. Bugs comes out of his hole and accuses Elmer of "hunting rabbits with an elephant gun", suggesting Elmer shoot an elephant instead. Just as Elmer is considering it, a huge elephant appears from literally nowhere, threatens Elmer in a Joe Besser voice, "You do and I'll give you SUCH a pinch!" and preemptively pounds him into the ground before striding off.
Elmer finally loses patience and decides to take out both Bugs and Daffy. Daffy comes into the scene, disguised as a hunting dog and Bugs comes in disguised as a lady hunter. When Daffy bites Elmer, Bugs' ear reveals and Elmer sees through their disguises and threatens to finish them off.
Elmer finds the two arguing by a tree with a sign that starts with the words "Rabbit Season"; Bugs and Daffy continue to pull off the sign to alternatively reveal it is "Duck Season" or "Rabbit Season" until they hit a final sign, proclaiming it to be "Elmer Season". With the roles reversed, Elmer gets a taste of his own medicine and starts running, avoiding gunshots whilst Bugs and Daffy, dressed as hunters, stalk him. Bugs says "Be very, very quiet… we're hunting Elmers!" with Daffy imitating Elmer's laugh.
== Caricatures ==
* Joe Besser
== Availability ==
Lt dd tnc.jpg|(1985) VHS Daffy Duck: The Nuttiness Continues...
Lt ddnc beta.jpg|(1985) Beta Daffy Duck: The Nuttiness Continues...
BUGS BUNNY HARE BEYOND COMPARE.jpg|(1994) LaserDisc Bugs Bunny: Hare Beyond Compare: 14 More Bugs Bunny Classics
Daffyltcollectionhgafdsjk.jpg|(1996) VHS Daffy Duck
FROM HARE TO ETERNITY.jpg|(1998) VHS From Hare to Eternity
LTCE VOL 3 THE VOCAL GENIUS.jpg|(2000) VHS Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Vol. 3: The Vocal Genius (1998 "THIS VERSION" print, without notice)
Bumper2000.jpg|(2000) VHS Mil-Looney-Um 2000 - Bumper Collection
LT Golden Collection 1.jpg|(2003) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc Two (with optional music-only track and optional audio commentary with Michael Barrier; restored with minor DVNR)
515P04M6R6L. AC .jpg|(2003) VHS Bugs Bunny (2003)
Lt cbdp.jpg|(2004) DVD Looney Tunes Collection Best of Daffy and Porky
Lt cbdp vcd.jpg|(2004) VCD Looney Tunes Collection Best of Daffy and Porky
The Essential Bugs Bunny.jpg|(2010) DVD The Essential Bugs Bunny, Disc 1 (restored with minor DVNR)
Bugs Bunny - Wasically Wabbit Front Cover.jpg|(2011) DVD Looney Tunes Super Stars' Bugs Bunny: Wascally Wabbit (Region 4 only) (restored with minor DVNR)
Lt bbot dd.jpg|(2011) DVD Daffy Duck
LTPC VOL 2 Blu Ray.jpg|(2012) Blu-ray Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc Two (restored with DVNR and HD)
LTPC VOL 2 DVD.jpg|(2012) DVD Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc Two (restored with DVNR)
Lt 3fcbo.jpg|(2012) DVD Looney Tunes 3 Feature Collection Best Of
Best of Warner Bros. 50 Cartoon Collection- Looney Tunes.jpg|(2013) DVD Best of Warner Bros. 50 Cartoon Collection: Looney Tunes
Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection.jpg|(2020) Blu-ray Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection, Disc 2 (restored with DVNR and HD)
=== Streaming ===
Lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2022) (restored with DVNR)
Lt max.jpg|Max (2024 - ) (restored with DVNR)
Lt itunes.jpg|iTunes ( - ) (restored with DVNR)
== Censorship ==
* Along with its two sequels, the versions of this cartoon shown on ABC in the 1980s and 1990s, CBS in the 1980s, the syndicated and Fox network versions of Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends in the 1990s, and Kids' WB! in the 1990s cut multiple scenes of Elmer shooting Daffy. While the versions shown on ABC and both versions of Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends replaced the actual shots of Elmer firing at Daffy's head with a still shot of Bugs Bunny looking off-screen (or, in the case of the end of "Rabbit Seasoning", freeze-framed on the shot of the cabin when Elmer and Daffy go inside) and had the audio play normally, the versions shown on CBS and Kids WB! spliced out any and all scenes (both visual and audio) of Daffy getting shot, which made "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!" particularly choppy and incoherent.The Censored Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Page: Q-R http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-q-r.aspx
* On Nickelodeon's Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon compilation show, the gun scenes for "Rabbit Seasoning" and "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!" were left uncensored, but "Rabbit Fire" was edited to remove the "No more buwwets" gag (Elmer tries to shoot at Daffy and thinks he's run out of bullets. Bugs tells Daffy this, Daffy takes the shotgun, stares down its barrel, and gets shot).
== Notes ==
* The working title for Rabbit Fire was "What's Up, Duck?"
* Rabbit Fire marks the first time Bugs and Daffy were paired in a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies cartoon with Elmer Fudd.
* Rabbit Fire is the first cartoon of "The Hunting Trilogy" starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd.
* Rabbit Fire marks the only entry in "The Hunting Trilogy" to:
** Have Bugs and Daffy both win at the end.
** Have animation done by Phil Monroe.
** Not end with Daffy telling Bugs, "You're despicable!"; he says it in the middle of the cartoon instead.
** To be in the Looney Tunes series; Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! were Merrie Melodies cartoons.
*** The lobby cards label it a Merrie Melodies cartoon, though, suggesting it was meant to be part of that series initially.
** To be reissued in the Blue Ribbon series; as such, it is the only one to not have its Color Rings survive.
*** This is also the only cartoon to feature the trio of Bugs, Daffy, and Elmer to be reissued as a Blue Ribbon cartoon.
* Rabbit Fire, as well as a small scene from Rabbit Seasoning, were used in The Bugs Bunny Road-Runner Movie. When introducing this short, Bugs states he sometimes feels that the world's population is full of people out to get him and/or Daffy, making an example of how Elmer Fudd, like other sportsman, is never satisfied unless he's protecting others by shooting dangerous forest animals. 
* Footage from Rabbit Fire made up most of the first quarter in The Big Game XXIX: Bugs Vs. Daffy. The short itself also appeared as one of the "game films" in the pregame show leading up to the game itself.
* When Elmer blushes when seeing Bugs disguised as a lady, when Daffy attempts to bite Elmer, his gun is then missing. He steals Bugs' gun after the plan backfires.
* In Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor, the music is "Symphony No. 5" by Ludwig van Beethoven for rhythmic reasons.
* While Rabbit Fire was restored to DVD and Blu-ray, it was one of the few cartoons that was low-pitched, due to the 1998 dubbed version audio being used for the soundtrack. This cartoon has not had its pitch corrected since.
** When shown on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, the audio is also played at PAL audio.
** However, the music plays in the correct pitch on Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 when playing the music-only track.
* The part where Bugs and Daffy argue with the Rabbit Season/Duck Season signs is used in two Cartoon Network bumpers:
** In one, the scene plays as normal, until they hit a final sign, proclaiming it to be the Cartoon Network logo (the Elmer Season sign is replaced using digital editing). The bumper fades-out once Bugs and Daffy stare at Elmer.
** In another, the Rabbit Season/Duck Season signs are replaced by "The Daffy and Bugs Show" and "The Bugs and Daffy Show" (courtesy of digital editing) and Bugs and Daffy's lines are re-dubbed (most likely voiced by Jeff Bergman) where Daffy argues "Daffy and Bugs!" and Bugs argues "Bugs and Daffy!" Bugs and Daffy continue to pull off the sign to alternatively reveal it is "The Bugs and Daffy Show" or "The Daffy and Bugs Show" until they hit a final sign, proclaiming it to be "The Elmer Show! Also Starring A Rabbit And A Duck" (again the Elmer Season sign is replaced using digital editing). The tables turned, Bugs and Daffy stare at Elmer, then it cuts away to a promo of Bugs 'n' Daffy.
* Rabbit Fire marks the first appearance of Daffy's catchphrase, "You’re despicable".
* Rabbit Fire was shown in theatres with Goodbye, My Fancy during its original release.
* The elephant makes a cameo during the "Toon Meeting" scene in Space Jam.
* The Elmer Season gag became an Internet meme in 2011, sometimes replacing Elmer with a universally-despised fictional character or real-life person (despite the gag being actually an example of Elmer's extreme bad luck).
* The part where Elmer says "Be vewy, vewy quiet!" was used in the montage trailer for Warner Bros.' 75th anniversary in 1998.Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary Montage (1998) (4K) (5.1) - FT Depot
*A clip of Rabbit Fire was used in Cartoon Network's "30 Years of Iconic Cartoons" video for its 30th anniversary.
**The scene shown was mirrored because the other clips shown have the characters moving to the right, and Bugs and Daffy were originally being chased from the left.
* This short isn't the first time Daffy dresses up as a rabbit; having done so prior when pretending to be the Easter Bunny in "What Price Porky".
*This cartoon was completed in November 1950.https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/warner-club-news-195
== Transcript ==
For a complete transcript, click here.
== Gallery ==
RabbitFireCredits1.png
RabbitFireCredits2.png
RabbitFire.jpg|"Just a darn minute! Where do ya get that duck season stuff??"
Rabbit Fire pic1.jpg|"You do and I'll give ya such a pinch!"
File:Rabbit Fire (1951) - Hunters.jpg
RabbitFire Lobby Card.png|Lobby card
Ltmmrf.jpg|Lobby card
Screenshot 2021-05-23 at 17.25.06.png|Screenshot 2021-05-23 at 17.25.06.png|Lobby card preliminary sketch
30174336-0671-442c-907c-ef430e476e43.jpg|"Oh boy, wabbit twacks!"
File:Rabbit Fire Screencap-2.png
Elmer copy.jpg|Production drawings
RabbitFireScriptFirstPage.jpg|First page of the script
== References ==
== External links ==
* "Rabbit Fire" on the SFX Resource Wiki
Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons
Category:Daffy Duck Cartoons
Category:Elmer Fudd Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones
Category:1951
Category:Looney Tunes Shorts
Category:Blue Ribbon reissues
Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Philip DeGuard
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer
Category:Re-released cartoons whose original titles are known to exist