Duck! Rabbit, Duck!

Duck! Rabbit, Duck!
Title card
Directed byCharles M. Jones
Story byMichael Maltese
Produced byEdward Selzer
StarringMel Blanc
Arthur Q. Bryan
Music byCarl Stalling
Milt Franklyn
Animation byKen Harris
Abe Levitow
Richard Thompson
Lloyd Vaughan
Ben Washam
Layouts byMaurice Noble
Backgrounds byPhilip de Guard
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • October 3, 1953 (1953-10-03)
Running time
6:49
LanguageEnglish

Duck! Rabbit, Duck! is a 1953 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Charles M. Jones.[1] The cartoon was released on October 3, 1953 and stars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd.[2]

The cartoon is the third of Jones' "hunting trilogy", which began with 1951's Rabbit Fire and 1952's Rabbit Seasoning.

Plot

Bugs giving Daffy misinformation in Duck! Rabbit, Duck!

In the winter landscape, Daffy Duck embarks on a campaign to remove and incinerate "Duck Season Open" signs to stave off the threat of being hunted. Daffy then manipulates Elmer into believing it is rabbit season. In the ensuing confrontation, Daffy lures Bugs out under false pretenses, but Bugs defends himself by purporting to be an endangered "fricasseeing rabbit". Daffy tries to convince Elmer to shoot Bugs by writing him up a hunting license, but Bugs tricks him into writing "duck" in place of "rabbit", leading Elmer to shoot Daffy again.

Bugs continues to outwit Daffy in a series of encounters, characterized by misidentifications and reactions. Notably, Bugs constructs a snow rabbit effigy, changes into an angelic guise post-explosion, and later disguises himself as a duck. Daffy's sanity eventually unravels, culminating in a frenetic insistence on being shot, while Elmer spirals into confusion. At this point Bugs appears in a game warden disguise, declaring to Elmer that it's actually "baseball season".

As Elmer departs in a frenzy, shooting at a baseball, Bugs removes his disguise and questions Daffy about which season it really is. Daffy, thinking that he's out of danger, admits that it's actually duck season, prompting a synchronized volley of shots from concealed hunters. Defeated and angry, Daffy pronounces Bugs "despicable".

Cast

Reception

In a commentary by Eric Goldberg, he cites the short as his favorite in the hunting trilogy. Goldberg praises the setting, describing it as "Maurice Noble's beautiful snowscape", reasoning "it makes the action read that much cleaner".[3] When discussing the whole hunting trilogy, Forrest Wickman at Slate states "The formula is simple, but what makes the cartoons classics are the small variations in execution." Wickman praises the various ways Daffy is shot.[4]

Animation historian David Gerstein writes, "Duck! Rabbit, Duck! succeeds because the exaggeration of the villain role blends perfectly with the cartoon's exaggeration of Bugs, its exaggeration of Elmer — and its exaggeration of logic. Duck! Rabbit, Duck! is a cartoon that derives its entire mood from pushing gags past conventional Looney Tunes limits."[5]

Home media

  • VHS: Warner Bros. Cartoons Golden Jubilee 24-Karat Collection: Bugs Bunny's Wacky Adventures, Lethal Weapon 3 (U.K. release only)
  • Laserdisc: Daffy Duck's Screen Classics: Duck Victory
  • DVD: Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3
  • DVD/Blu-ray: Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2

References

  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 253. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. ^ Eric Goldberg (animator). Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (commentary). Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 (disc 1).
  4. ^ "Chuck Jones' Looney Tunes "Hunting Trilogy": See Every Time Daffy Gets Shot in the Face". Slate Magazine. February 2, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  5. ^ Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.
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