Rabbits

***Rabbits*** is a 2002 series of eight short web films written and directed by David Lynch. It is categorized under the genre of horror although Lynch himself refers to it as a sitcom. It has also been described by him as "a story about modern life". It depicts three humanoid rabbits: Jack (Scott Coffey), Jane (Laura Elena Harring) and Suzie (Naomi Watts), in a room. Their disjointed conversations are interrupted by a laugh track.

The sitcom is presented with the tagline "In a nameless city, deluged by a continuous rain, three rabbits live with a fearful mystery". In episode three, Rebekah Del Rio stands in for Laura Elena Harring.

Originally consisting of a series of eight short episodes shown exclusively on Lynch's website, *Rabbits* is no longer available there. Though the films used to be hosted on Lynch's website, they are now only available on DVD in the "Lime Green Set" collection of Lynch's films, in a re-edited four-episode version. The set also does not contain episode three. In addition, the setting and some footage of the rabbits are reused in Lynch's *Inland Empire*. All eight episodes are also available on various video-sharing sites such as YouTube.

## Description

*Rabbits* takes place entirely within a single box set representing the living room of a house. Within the set, three humanoid rabbits enter, exit, and converse. One, Jack, is male and wears a smart suit. The other two, Suzie and Jane, are female, one of whom wears a dress, the other a dressing gown. The audience watches from about the position of a television set. In each episode, the rabbits converse in apparent non sequiturs. The lines evoke mystery, and include "Were you blonde?", "Something's wrong", "I wonder who I will be", "I only wish they would go somewhere", "It had something to do with the telling of time", and "no one must find out about this". The disordered but seemingly related lines the rabbits speak suggest that the dialogue could be pieced together into sensible conversations, but concrete interpretations are elusive.

Some of the rabbits' lines are punctuated by a seemingly random laugh track, as if being filmed before a live audience. In addition, whenever one of the rabbits enters the room, the unseen audience whoops and applauds at great length, much like in a sitcom. The rabbits themselves, however, remain serious throughout.

In some episodes, mysterious events take place, including the appearance of a burning hole in the wall and the intrusion of a strange, demonic voice coupled with sinister red lighting. Three episodes involve a solo performance by one rabbit, in which they recite strange poetry.

The rabbits receive a telephone call at one point, and later, at the climax of the series, a knock is heard at the door. When the door is opened, a loud scream is heard and the image is distorted. After the door closes, Jack says it was the man in the green coat. The last episode concludes with the rabbits huddled together on the couch and Jane saying "I wonder who I will be."

## Production

Lynch filmed *Rabbits* in a set built in the garden of his house in the Hollywood Hills. Filming took place at night in order to control the lighting. Lynch says that filming Watts, Harring and Coffey with the set lit up by enormous lights was "a beautiful thing". However, the process generated a lot of noise that echoed from the surrounding hills and annoyed Lynch's neighbors. The unique use of lighting to create shadows and set an uneasy atmosphere has been praised by critics.

## Reception

*Rabbits* received positive reviews from viewers, who highly praised the sitcom for its lighting and frightening atmosphere.

## Possible influences

Dave Kehr noted in *The New York Times* that it was Alain Resnais who first put giant rodent heads on his actors in his 1980 film *Mon oncle d'Amérique* and Rabbits' dialogue is reminiscent of Resnais' *Last Year at Marienbad*.

## Use in Inland Empire

Lynch used some of the *Rabbits* footage as well as previously unseen footage featuring Rabbits characters in his film *Inland Empire* (2006). Lynch also used the *Rabbits* set to shoot several scenes involving human characters. In that film, excerpts from *Rabbits* appear but the rabbits are associated with three mysterious Polish characters who live in a house in the woods.

## DVD release

Most of *Rabbits* can be found on the "Mystery DVD" in the 10-disc *The Lime Green Set* released by Absurda in 2008. This DVD features seven of the eight episodes, though several of the episodes have been edited together. "Episode 1" on the DVD contains "Episode 1", "Episode 2" and "Episode 4" from the website. "Episode 2" on the DVD contains "Episode 6" and "Episode 8" from the website. "Scott" and "Naomi" are the same as "Episode 5" and "Episode 7", respectively. "Episode 3" from the website does not appear on the disc. Presumably, this episode would have been retitled "Rebekah", as it features only one performer as with "Scott" and "Naomi". The DVD's running time is 43 minutes instead of 50 minutes like the original version. The other seven minutes consist of title and credit sequences for each individual episode that were edited out to allow it to flow as a film.

## Use in psychological research

*Rabbits* was used as a stimulus in a psychological experiment on the effects of acetaminophen on existential crisis. The research, in a paper entitled "The Common Pain of Surrealism and Death" suggested that acetaminophen acted to suppress the effects of surrealism.

## Trivia

* In *Inland Empire*, Freddie Howard mentions he used to raise rabbits.
* Although Janek appears to be a manifestation of Jack in the mansion scene, he later appears in the same room as Marek, who is also understood to be a manifestation of Jack. However, it is also implied in *Scene from a David Lynch DV Project* that bilocation is possible in that universe.
* The rabbits are associated with several parties who propel *Inland Empire*'s Nikki Grace toward her destiny of killing the Phantom and freeing the Lost Girl.
* Lynch speaks about the shooting of the *Rabbits* series on the *Stories* feature. His builder, Alfredo Ponce, built the set as an outdoor amphitheater on a hill on Lynch's property, and he shot it at night to have control over the lighting. The actors had to be careful because there were "drop-off" places where they could fall. The first shoot was in August, on "the most beautiful night in summer." Lynch had a "crow's nest" in a building with three monitors, lighting and cameras on the roof, and a microphone and speakers to talk to the actors. They got into trouble when they shot late into the night, and the sound from the speakers traveled through the canyon, annoying Lynch's neighbors. Lynch concludes, "It was over as quickly as it begun."
* For the initial shoots, the actors who play the Rabbits not only provide the voices, but were also physically inside the rabbit suits. Watts and Harring (who is claustrophobic) discuss the experience in the book *Room to Dream*. This may not have been the case by the time of the shooting of new material for *Inland Empire*, since the film only credits the actors for voice performances.
* All four of the actors who play the rabbits appeared in Lynch's prior film, *Mulholland Drive*. Watts starred as Diane Selwyn/Betty Elms, Harring starred as Camilla Rhodes/Rita, Coffey played the minor role of Wilkins, and Del Rio appeared as herself.
* An abandoned project by Lynch, *Dream of the Bovine*, has roughly the opposite premise of *Rabbits*: three men who were formerly cows live in Van Nuys and continue to act like cows.

## References

1. ↑ David Lynch [@DAVID\_LYNCH]. (2020, June 8). *Dear Twitter Friends, David Lynch Theater presents a story of modern life. RABBITS 1 on Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 10 A.M.* Twitter.
2. ↑ David Lynch, "Stories", DVD feature on *Inland Empire* region 1 DVD, disk 2.
3. ↑ "Making Sense of David Lynch: A Rabbits Tale". The Artifice.
4. ↑ Dave Kehr (April 8, 2007). "Restless Innovations From Alan Resnais". The New York Times.
5. ↑ Deborah Netburn (April 18, 2013). "Anxiety? Existential crisis? David Lynch film? Take a Tylenol". Los Angeles Times.
6. ↑ Randles, D.; Heine, S. J.; Santos, N. (2013). "The Common Pain of Surrealism and Death: Acetaminophen Reduces Compensatory Affirmation Following Meaning Threats". *Psychological Science*. **24**:966–973. doi:10.1177/0956797612464786. PMID 23579320.
7. ↑ Lynch, D.; McKenna, K. (2018). "*Room to Dream*"
8. ↑ "David Lynch - Unproduced Works". Lynchnet.com