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Robot Rabbit

Robot Rabbit
Directed byI. Freleng[1]
Story byWarren Foster
Produced byEdward Selzer[1][2]
StarringMel Blanc
(Bugs Bunny, Mule)
Arthur Q. Bryan
(Elmer Fudd)[3]
Music byCarl Stalling
Animation byKen Champin
Manuel Perez
Arthur Davis
Virgil Ross[2]
Layouts byHawley Pratt
Backgrounds byIrv Wyner[1][3]
Color processTechnicolor[1]
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation[1]
Release date
  • December 12, 1953 (1953-12-12) (USA premiere)
Running time
6 minutes 45 seconds[2]
LanguageEnglish

Robot Rabbit is a 1953 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.[4] The short was released on December 12, 1953, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.[5][6]

The short is considered an example of how animation of the time addressed the topic of robotization.[7]

Plot

Elmer Fudd is a carrot farmer who spots Bugs' rabbit hole, claiming that Bugs has raided his carrot farm, "Ooohh, that wascal wabbit's in my carrots again!" and decides to shoot him with a gun, "I'll fix that wabbit for good this time!" After shooting into an empty hole. Bugs had conveniently left the hole, then attempts his "fake dying" act. Elmer exclaims "The rabbit kicked the bucket," then he and Bugs start dancing and celebrating until Elmer begins to realize Bugs tricked him, as the rabbit is still very much alive.

This action prompts Fudd to call "ACME Pest Control" ("Hewwo? ACME Pest Contwol? Weww, I've got a pest I want to contwowd.") for a robot with the express purpose of evicting Bugs. The robot initially confuses a mule for a rabbit and Elmer — who was trying to explain to the robot what a rabbit looks like — for his intended target before getting the early upper-hand. Bugs quickly evens the score by luring his antagonist under a rotating water sprinkler, causing the robot to rust. Furious at the robot's incompetence, Elmer oils the robot (restoring its original color), and warns it to get Bugs or else he'll sell it for old scrap iron.

Later, Bugs disguises himself as a female robot (where he literally throws a wrench into their "relationship"), before finally causing the robot to follow him through a construction site and beneath a piledriver. Back at home, Elmer starts wondering how the robot fared, before Bugs greets him by dumping the robot "Does this answer your question?" — or what is left of it — onto the floor; it is presumed that the robot was crushed underneath the piledriver. Bugs then leaves the house and says, "You know, someday these scientists are gonna invent something that will outsmart a rabbit."

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Webb, Graham (2011). The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences (1900-1999) (Second ed.). McFarland & Company Inc. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-7864-4985-9.
  2. ^ a b c "Robot Rabbit (1953): Main". The Big Cartoon DataBase. Retrieved 7 November 2021.[dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b "Robot Rabbit (1953): Cast". The Big Cartoon DataBase. Retrieved 7 November 2021.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 255. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  5. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  6. ^ Ohmart, Ben (2012-11-15). Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices. BearManor Media.
  7. ^ Telotte, J. P. (2017-10-10). Animating the Science Fiction Imagination. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-069529-3.
Preceded by Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1953 		Succeeded by


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