Before the special Spring Break Post, I was talking about Tex Avery Cartoons and the Merrie Melodies from Warner Bros. Animation. This week I was going to talk about Logorama, the winner for Best Animated Short at the Academy Awards. However, someone already beat me to it. Therefore, I decided to talk a little about A Wild Hare. This animation is credited as the first cartoon to feature the popular character, Bugs Bunny. In this Post, I will discuss the antics used to create humor, as well as, the character’s exaggerated expressions from these antics.
Everyone knows what this cartoon is about (or at least you should know). Elmer Fudd is a hunter who is hunting rabbit. Bugs Bunny is the rabbit he tries to hunt. However, Bugs tricks Elmer several times, preventing him from ever catching him. In this particular cartoon, Bugs makes Elmer so mad that Elmer Fudd leaves crying in anger because he can’t catch “that screwy wabbit.” In a way, this shows how naive Elmer Fudd is and how clever Bugs Bunny is, but we’ll get to that later.
There are a number different antics Bugs does in order to keep Elmer in check. The animation starts off with some comedy when Bugs takes the carrot, eats most of it, and then puts it back. However, he feels the gun and attempts to reclaim the eaten carrot once again. The first antic in this cartoon is when Elmer Fudd sticks his gun in the hole. Bugs ends up tying his gun into a “pretzel” knot. After that, Elmer starts digging a hole to catch the rabbit. However Bugs Bunny comes out of his hole and asks what Elmer is doing. Elmer is so naive that he doesn’t realize he is talking to the rabbit (even after seeing him – makes Elmer look pretty dumb). Then Bugs yells into his ear and runs away. Bugs Bunny procedes to make him guess who he is, but Elmer does not know. This is when he kisses Elmer twice on the lips. Wait, isn’t Bugs a guy? I think he is. Anyway, Elmer thinks he can catch Bugs with a carrot under a box, however, Elmer ends up catching a skunk instead. One last antic that makes Elmer go over the edge, is when Bugs lets Elmer “shoot” him, and he thinks he killed the “wabbit.” But he didn’t and ends up kicking Elmer Fudd right in the behind; making him angry and upset.
As you can see things happen to Elmer (in a negative way). Elmer has big, wide eyes in this animation. When he is getting his gun knotted, you notice his eyes and eyebrows. In this case, the eyebrows give away his feelings and expression. Also notice his eyebrows are tilted downward with his eyes shut to show the audience he is smelling something bad. You know which part I’m talking about; the skunk scene. At the end, we can tell his anger by his facial expressions and the yelling. Bugs is a little different when it comes to facial expressions. Instead of just using his face for his expressions, Bugs uses his ears. For example, after he kisses Elmer Fudd in his hole, we can see his eyes go down, like a dog. We instantly know that when the ears go down, it shows vulnerability and love. This is part of the humor with Bugs. So, unlike Elmer, Bugs has an extra advantage for expression, long, Bunny ears.
ETA: I commented on the Blogs of Emily Witt and Michael Griffith.
Til Next Week…
lmao cool story dude.