Good Night Elmer

Good Night Elmer
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Airdate:	26 October 1940
Series:	Merrie Melodies
Production Number:	9775
Starring:	Elmer Fudd
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Mel Blanc (uncredited)
Director:	Charles Jones
Written By:	Rich Hogan
Producer:	Leon Schlesinger Henry Binder (uncredited)
Animated By:	Philip Monroe
Layout Artist:	Bob Givens (uncredited)
Background Artist:	Paul Julian (uncredited)
Film Editor:	Treg Brown (uncredited)
Musician:	Carl W. Stalling

Good Night Elmer is a 1940 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.

Plot

Elmer Fudd attempts to extinguish a candle by his bedside so that he can retire for the night, with the flame always surging again in spite of Elmer's best efforts. Elmer finally succeeds, but only at the expense of wrecking his bedroom in the process, and no sooner than he lies down, the sun comes up, precipitating a nervous breakdown in Elmer Fudd.

Availability

(1987) VHS
Elmer!

(1988) VHS
Cartoon Moviestars: Elmer!

(1988) LaserDisc
Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs! and Elmer!

(1992) LaserDisc
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 2, Side 10, Variations on a Theme

(1996) VHS
Looney Tunes Collection - Further Adventures of Elmer Fudd

Streaming

Boomerang App (2017 - )

HBO Max (2020 - ) (restored)

Notes

• Arthur Q. Bryan didn't voice Elmer in this short, as Elmer did not have any dialogue. Mel Blanc provided the weeping and bawling heard at the end.
• This short has a special opening rendition of the "Merrily We Roll Along" theme.
• The credits on the title card are the same as "Elmer's Pet Rabbit". Coincidentally, both were directed by Chuck Jones.
• The final shot of this short (Elmer crying) is very similar to the final shot of 1935's "The Merry Old Soul".
• In some shots of Elmer wrecking the candle with an axe near the end of the short his bare bottom is exposed under his nightshirt.
• This short marks the first time where Elmer's character design has been finalized; which is using the design basis as in "A Wild Hare" released earlier in the year, minus the red nose. However, this designed was not yet finalized among the Warners directors until "The Hare-Brained Hypnotist" (1942), as from "Wabbit Twouble" (1941) to "Fresh Hare" (1942), Elmer was temporarily redesigned by Bob Clampett to look chubby.
• Because the short has no dialogue, both American and European dubbed versions keep the original ending card, unlike most dubbed version cartoons, although some non-dialogue shorts "Rhapsody in Rivets" (1941) and "Double Chaser" (1942) got dubbed ending cards. In addition, the original ending music is also kept.

Gallery

Elmer's bare bottom exposed under his nightshirt as he wrecks the candle with an axe.

Elmer struggling with the candle

Cropped screenshot of 2020 restoration

External Links

• Good Night, Elmer at the Internet Movie Database
• "Good Night Elmer" at the Big Cartoon DataBase