In this very good short Elmer Fudd is a gold prospector in a desert.He is constantly singing"Oh Susana".He has to face the hard conditions of the desert and also a certain Bugs Bunny out to demolish his every hope.One of my favorite shorts.Bugs and Elmer are real threats to each other.Bugs here is quite sinister too.Elmer doesn't even provoke him.The hopeless Elmer seems quite mad in the end when he laughs having taken his own gold tooth out.Serves to point how demented Warner Bros toons can be.Much better than today's sugary toons.
12 Reviews
What's up doc
paudieconnolly27 October 2020
This animated version of Edgar Allan Poe's short story . . .
oscaralbert30 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
. . . "The Goldbug" does not shy away from ANY of the gruesome details readers will remember from the original story. Whether the initial talking skull or being buried alive; and from the yodeling sexton through explosions wilting limp over Charnel Tunnels twinkling with eerie starlight, it's all here. There are even a few echoes of other Poe masterworks, as when Bugs makes sure that Fat Elmer hears the tintinnabulation of "The Bells," or as Looney Tuners subtly remind Edgar Allan's fan base of the strangling corset that killed "Annabelle Lee" by having Bugs reveal that item of lingerie--in robin's egg blue--cinched tightly around Mr. Fudd's middle through an act of sartorial vandalism (probably the main reason why THE WACKY WABBIT uses Fat Elmer to begin with, rather than the three-times a lesser man, Regular Elmer). Of course, Gold Fever was the main character flaw for the Master of the Macabre's original Goldbug protagonist, which is highlighted by the violently gory grand finale of THE WACKY WABBIT. If a young Master Poe had seen this Looney Tune during his formative stage, his later literary output surely would have turned out even MORE warped and twisted, and that's saying something.
Pulling teeth (GOLD teeth, that is)
slymusic5 November 2008
Warning: Spoilers
"The Wacky Wabbit" is a great Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon directed by a guy whose sense of humor could only be described as wacky: Robert "Bob" Clampett. In this film, and a few others, Elmer seems to have put on a lot of weight. This time around, he's not after wabbits; he's after gold! But with that wiseacre wabbit hanging awound, there ain't no gold to be found.
Highlights: I always find it a real treat listening to cartoon characters singing, as Elmer & Bugs harmonize very nicely to the Stephen Foster tune "Oh Susannah" with humorously altered lyrics (and Bugs wearing a cow skull). When it is revealed that Elmer wears a corset along with his unglamorous polka-dot underwear, he looks directly at the camera and says, "Don't waugh! I'll bet pwenty of you men wear one of these." Bugs sings a jazzy rendition of "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" as he buries Elmer in the ground. And Bugs creates pandemonium for Elmer with a stick of dynamite.
In closing, Bugs Bunny truly is "The Wacky Wabbit"!
Highlights: I always find it a real treat listening to cartoon characters singing, as Elmer & Bugs harmonize very nicely to the Stephen Foster tune "Oh Susannah" with humorously altered lyrics (and Bugs wearing a cow skull). When it is revealed that Elmer wears a corset along with his unglamorous polka-dot underwear, he looks directly at the camera and says, "Don't waugh! I'll bet pwenty of you men wear one of these." Bugs sings a jazzy rendition of "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" as he buries Elmer in the ground. And Bugs creates pandemonium for Elmer with a stick of dynamite.
In closing, Bugs Bunny truly is "The Wacky Wabbit"!
The Wacky Wabbit
CinemaSerf17 March 2024
Starting with a cactus encouraging us to buy war bonds, we follow "Elmer" twamping and twudging through the desert ready for his own personal gold rush. Meantime, "Bugs" is carefully camouflaged inside a sheep's skull and after a rousing duet of "Oh Susannah" watches his patsy set about beginning his mining operation. Well, it's really just him, a pick axe and some dynamite! Might "Elmer" have been based on Walter Brennan, I wonder? Anyway, what ensues here is a bit repetitive and after a few minutes I was a little too settled into the obvious dynamic. It's not that cartoons didn't usually follow a formula, it's maybe just that the two characters here don't really engage for me. I always found "Bugs" a bit smug! It's watchable, though - just not very memorable and there's far too much dialogue, too.
The evolution of Elmer Fudd
llltdesq23 June 2002
The major Warner Brothers characters, at least the early ones, evolved over time into the characters best known today. Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Tweety all started out looking quite different in the beginning. But perhaps the most involved and extensive changes were made by Elmer Fudd. He started out as Egghead, got a name change to Elmer and then a physical change of appearance not once, but twice! This is the early, more rounded Elmer. Probably one of the best of the early Elmers and an excellent short. Well worth watching. Recommended.
Elmer Goes Prospecting
Hitchcoc26 March 2019
A typical Bugs Bunny cartoon. An early version of Elmer Fudd is prospecting in the desert. He brings enough junk to fill a small house. While his intentions are good, he doesn't count on the fact that our erstwhile rabbit is out there. Bugs has no real agenda other than being a thorn in the side of anyone he encounters.
Gold is where you find it, unless a certain wascawwy wabbit tricks you
lee_eisenberg18 October 2006
This time, Elmer Fudd - looking mighty chubby (so as to resemble Arthur Q. Bryan, who did his voice) - is looking for gold out in the desert, but Bugs Bunny keeps playing tricks on him. The gags with the dynamite were probably the best (the crowd behind these cartoons sure had a way with dynamite, as much of their work showed). One can always see how various characters try to undermine Bugs's integrity, but poetic justice prevails. It just goes to show why these cartoons will never get old, no matter what happens. You'd better believe that Arthur Q. Bryan and Mel Blanc are the voices for all time! So seriously Susanna, don't cry for me.
This one holds up well.
planktonrules5 February 2022
After Elmer Fudd debuted in the late 1930s, the folks at Looney Tunes decided to make the character look more like the voice actor who voiced him, Arthur Q. Bryan. As a result, the character is much more obese and unattractive. After a few films like this, the studio decided the retooled Elmer was a bad idea and returned to the more familiar version we are used to today.
This cartoon finds Elmer in the desert prospecting for gold. Not surprisingly, Bugs arrives mostly just to annoy him...and delight the audience.
There are several refences to the war (such as war bond posters and the lyrics to the song Elmer sings) but otherwise this is a timeless sort of film...enjoyable and full of the antics we all love.
This cartoon finds Elmer in the desert prospecting for gold. Not surprisingly, Bugs arrives mostly just to annoy him...and delight the audience.
There are several refences to the war (such as war bond posters and the lyrics to the song Elmer sings) but otherwise this is a timeless sort of film...enjoyable and full of the antics we all love.
One of Bob Clampett's best Bugs Bunny cartoons
TheLittleSongbird26 August 2015
Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd have always been great characters, two of the best in the Looney Tunes canon, and they've always been enormously entertaining as a duo. The Wacky Wabbit is one of their earliest collaborations, and for me it's also one of their best and one of the best of Bob Clampett's Bugs Bunny cartoons.
The animation is very good, especially for such an early Looney Tunes cartoon. It is true that Elmer and Bugs' character designs are very different to the ones we know them now by and admittedly first time seeing them in their early designs it took me a while to get used to Elmer's fatter and stockier (apparently more reminiscent of his voice actor) and Bugs' longer- particularly the ears- and more pointed looks, but they are still well drawn and move well within the rest of the animation and it is actually really interesting to see how these two characters evolved over the years. The colours are luscious and richly bold, if more vibrant-looking a short time later, and there is a huge amount of meticulous detail, fluidity and imagination in the backgrounds.
Carl Stalling's music score, as expected, is superb. It is very characterful and often enhances the cartoon's energy (and The Wacky Wabbit is full of it, in the music, pacing and the gags), the orchestration is mellow and beautiful with very clever use of instruments, that perfectly match the gestures and expressions of the characters and the suspense and energy of the cartoon itself, and rhythmically it's non-stop liveliness and atmosphere. Love the use of Bury Me Not on the Prairie and especially the inspired Oh Susannah, the visuals are great in both especially the latter, the harmonies in Oh Susannah are lovely and the lyrics are very humorous. The dialogue is sharp and hilariously zany, the verbal interplay is such a joy, while the gags do show evidence of the wonderfully wacky style the Looney Tunes cartoons had (it's true that the style didn't hit full stride until mid-40s, but there is evidence of it in The Wacky Wabbit), the cutting of Elmer's clothes gag revealing a corset and his reaction is a particularly strong gag. The dynamite gags are great too.
Bugs is every bit as wacky as the title suggests and even when meaner to Elmer than their later collaborations he is still the hilarious Bugs Bunny we know and love. Elmer may be unrecognisable from his more famous and to be honest more appealing appearance later on, but he is appropriately dim-witted and is equally as funny and as much a threat to Bugs (and vice versa), and one does feel a bit of sympathy for him. Their interplay and chemistry is as ever so much fun to watch. Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan do a characteristically terrific job with the voices.
All in all, a wonderful cartoon, one of the duo's best and one of Clampett's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox
The animation is very good, especially for such an early Looney Tunes cartoon. It is true that Elmer and Bugs' character designs are very different to the ones we know them now by and admittedly first time seeing them in their early designs it took me a while to get used to Elmer's fatter and stockier (apparently more reminiscent of his voice actor) and Bugs' longer- particularly the ears- and more pointed looks, but they are still well drawn and move well within the rest of the animation and it is actually really interesting to see how these two characters evolved over the years. The colours are luscious and richly bold, if more vibrant-looking a short time later, and there is a huge amount of meticulous detail, fluidity and imagination in the backgrounds.
Carl Stalling's music score, as expected, is superb. It is very characterful and often enhances the cartoon's energy (and The Wacky Wabbit is full of it, in the music, pacing and the gags), the orchestration is mellow and beautiful with very clever use of instruments, that perfectly match the gestures and expressions of the characters and the suspense and energy of the cartoon itself, and rhythmically it's non-stop liveliness and atmosphere. Love the use of Bury Me Not on the Prairie and especially the inspired Oh Susannah, the visuals are great in both especially the latter, the harmonies in Oh Susannah are lovely and the lyrics are very humorous. The dialogue is sharp and hilariously zany, the verbal interplay is such a joy, while the gags do show evidence of the wonderfully wacky style the Looney Tunes cartoons had (it's true that the style didn't hit full stride until mid-40s, but there is evidence of it in The Wacky Wabbit), the cutting of Elmer's clothes gag revealing a corset and his reaction is a particularly strong gag. The dynamite gags are great too.
Bugs is every bit as wacky as the title suggests and even when meaner to Elmer than their later collaborations he is still the hilarious Bugs Bunny we know and love. Elmer may be unrecognisable from his more famous and to be honest more appealing appearance later on, but he is appropriately dim-witted and is equally as funny and as much a threat to Bugs (and vice versa), and one does feel a bit of sympathy for him. Their interplay and chemistry is as ever so much fun to watch. Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan do a characteristically terrific job with the voices.
All in all, a wonderful cartoon, one of the duo's best and one of Clampett's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox
What Elmer & Bugs Looked Like In Their Early Looney Tunes Career
ccthemovieman-110 November 2007
To those of you who haven't seen an early Elmer Fudd, this might be a bit a shock to see. In his first year or two, Elmer - who began as "Egghead" - is a bigger, taller man in his early cartoons. He looks a bit older, too, at least to me. You almost wouldn't recognize him if you didn't hear him unable to pronounce his "r's" and hear the voice of Arthur Q. Bryan.
Actually, most of the Looney Tunes stars all looked different than they started: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, even little Tweety. In this cartoon as with about all of them with Elmer, you get Bugs. With the famous rabbit, you'll notice his longer ears and chubbier cheeks.
As "cartoon historians" have pointed out, many of the Looney Tunes efforts didn't have the cutting-edge, wild and wacky humor until around 1945 when The War was over. You especially see that in these early '40s Looney Tunes. This is an example: it's okay, but there aren't many laugh-out-loud antics, and a third of this cartoon turns out to be almost a musical with three songs: two by Elmer and one by Bugs.
Overall, recommended only to die-hard Looney Tunes fans who are happy to see Bugs and Elmer no matter what.
Actually, most of the Looney Tunes stars all looked different than they started: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, even little Tweety. In this cartoon as with about all of them with Elmer, you get Bugs. With the famous rabbit, you'll notice his longer ears and chubbier cheeks.
As "cartoon historians" have pointed out, many of the Looney Tunes efforts didn't have the cutting-edge, wild and wacky humor until around 1945 when The War was over. You especially see that in these early '40s Looney Tunes. This is an example: it's okay, but there aren't many laugh-out-loud antics, and a third of this cartoon turns out to be almost a musical with three songs: two by Elmer and one by Bugs.
Overall, recommended only to die-hard Looney Tunes fans who are happy to see Bugs and Elmer no matter what.
Classic Short
Michael_Elliott28 March 2016
The Wacky Wabbit (1942)
**** (out of 4)
Classic animated short has Elmer Fudd going to look for gold but he runs into Bugs Bunny who is of course going to drive him crazy.
THE WACKY WABBIT is without question one of the classic Looney Tunes short from this era. As you'd expect there's the terrific animation, which just jumps off the screen with the use of the beautiful colors and there's just so much detail that you feel as if you're right there with the characters. Of course the greatest thing is the constant back and forth banter between Elmer and Bugs.
The two of them were legends in animation and whenever the two did a battle then it was pure joy for the viewer. This here is certainly one of their best as we get some great songs but also plenty of action.
**** (out of 4)
Classic animated short has Elmer Fudd going to look for gold but he runs into Bugs Bunny who is of course going to drive him crazy.
THE WACKY WABBIT is without question one of the classic Looney Tunes short from this era. As you'd expect there's the terrific animation, which just jumps off the screen with the use of the beautiful colors and there's just so much detail that you feel as if you're right there with the characters. Of course the greatest thing is the constant back and forth banter between Elmer and Bugs.
The two of them were legends in animation and whenever the two did a battle then it was pure joy for the viewer. This here is certainly one of their best as we get some great songs but also plenty of action.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
