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Operation: Rabbit is a 1952 Looney Tunes short directed by Chuck Jones.

Plot[]

Wile E. Coyote runs up to Bugs Bunny's hole and erects a door. He knocks on the door and Bugs opens it, saying his usual line, "What's up, doc?" The Coyote advises Bugs of he being a rabbit and himself a genius, and he will eat Bugs and he is faster, bigger and smarter than him, even berating Bugs for his stupidity by claiming that the rabbit "could hardly enter the entrance examinations to kindergarten". Bugs, unimpressed, says "I'm sorry mac, the lady of the house ain't home. And besides, we mailed you people a check last week." and rudely slams the door right in his face. The Coyote leaves with the door, asking himself, "Why do they always want to do it the hard way?"

At his cave hideout, the Coyote's first plan follows: he makes one thermal tamp and takes a cook book and ingredients for preparing "Rabbit stew" in the rabbit's hole. Bugs, in another hole, looks at his work and asks him what he is preparing. The Coyote says the hole has a rabbit inside, but it does not. He looks into the hole and Bugs kicks him and traps him in the hole. He picks up a bat, goes back down the second hole, and clobbers the Coyote at the other hole, prompting the Coyote to remark, "Well, back to the old drawing board."

The Coyote prepares a second plan: the use of a chute for shooting a cannonball in Bugs's hole. As he drafts out the plan, a mechanical lump massager is on the bump on Coyote's head from the previous plan. After the ball arrives in the hole via the chute from a cannon, Bugs uses a second chute for returning the ball to the Coyote, which explodes right at the Coyote. The Coyote returns to his cave along with the blown-out pipes.

As the Coyote drafts his upcoming third plan, Bugs goes to the Coyote's cave to sign what appears to be a will. Bugs claims he's giving up, but needs a witness for his will, and that he finally surrenders to the Coyote's super-intelligence. He proffers the will for the Coyote to sign and one "pen", actually a lit stick of TNT with which to sign it. Coyote realizes this and extinguishes the fuse, asiding that that was "a rather amateurish" move on Bugs' part. While gloating about his intellect, Coyote fails to see the other side of the TNT stick has a lit fuse, and it promptly explodes in his face.

The Coyote builds one explosive lady rabbit to send to Bugs' residence. Just after he activates it, the Coyote encounters one coyote lady, over whom he swoons. The female coyote is also an explosive robot, which Bugs detonates. Coyote is charred, singing to himself "Here comes the bride". He returns to his senses when he sees the time bomb on the lady rabbit is about to detonate. He grabs the robot to throw it out his window, but fails to make it in time, and it detonates on him.

The Coyote makes an exploding bird-hunting disc, usually used for road runners, mice, and rabbits, with a "hunter options" mechanism. The disc flies to Bugs's hole and encounters Bugs disguised as a chicken, who writes "Coyote" on the "hunter options" mechanism, twisting the dial to the new target. The disc returns to Coyote's home, blowing up not only Coyote's home, but the whole mountain.

The Coyote makes one last plan: he puts nitroglycerin in a line of carrots in a rack inside an explosives shack. Unknown to the Coyote, Bugs is using a tractor to pick up the entire shack and set it on the railroad track. Meanwhile, Coyote is admiring his new self-given title "Super Genius", "I like how that rolls off the tongue- Wile.E.Coyote: Suuuper Geeenius". All the while, a train rushes toward the shack. When the Coyote fails to realize this when the first time the train sound is heard, he finally realizes this the moment when he hears the same train sound for the second time, and in vain pulls the window blind down. The train hits the shack, and the impact causes a great explosion, launching Coyote high into the air onto a branch.

Coyote, still dazed and covered in ash, returns to Bugs's hole, rebuilds his door, knocks on it and says "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mud." and abruptly passes out. Bugs says, "...And remember, MUD spelled backwards is DUM!"

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Quotes[]

  • Bugs Bunny: What's up, doc?
  • Wile E. Coyote: Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wile E. Coyote, genius. I am not selling anything nor am I working my way through college, so let's get down to basics: you are a rabbit and I am going to eat you for supper. Now don't try to get away, I am more muscular, more cunning, faster and larger than you are and I am a genius, while you could hardly pass the entrance examinations to kindergarten, so I'm going to give you the customary two minutes to say your prayers.
    Bugs Bunny: Sorry, Mac, the lady of the house ain't home and besides, we mailed you people a check last week.
  • Wile E. Coyote: Why do they always want to do it the hard way?
  • Bugs Bunny: (singing) I'm looking over a three-leaf clover that I overlooked be-three...
  • Bugs Bunny: I have come to give myself up, on account of I cannot compete no more against such genius.
    Wile E. Coyote: A wise decision, my friend. You have saved yourself from a fate worse than the frying pan.
    Bugs Bunny: I have only one last request. I have made my last will and testament, but I need a witness to make it official. Would you sign it with this fountain pen? (hands Wile E. the will and a lit dynamite stick for a pen)
    Wile E. Coyote: Certainly, my boy! Delighted to be of service! Very amateurish attempt upon my person.
    (Wile E. extinguishes fuse, throws stick up in the air repeatedly - not noticing the lit fuse on the other end)
    Wile E. Coyote: Being a genius certainly has its advantages. (notices the lit fuse, dynamite explodes)
  • Wile E. Coyote: Brilliance! That's all I can say. Sheer, unadulterated brilliance!
  • Bugs Bunny: Fight fire with fire, I always say.
  • Wile E. Coyote: (while preparing his explosive carrots) Wile E. Coyote, Supergenius. (he hears the sound of a train whistle in the distance, but he ignores it) I like the way it rolls out. Wile E. Coyote, Supergenius!
    (The train whistle is heard louder than before. Wile E. turns and sees a train heading directly at his shed. He pulls down a window shade right before the train hits his shed, blowing it up. The Coyote is then holding on to a branch high above the tracks, charred dark grey and speaking groggily.)
    Wile E. Coyote: Wile E. Coyote... Supergenius!
  • Wile E. Coyote: Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mud. (Faints)
    Bugs Bunny: And remember, Mud spelled backwards is Dum!

Notes[]

  • This short was used in The Bugs Bunny Road-Runner Movie and The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special, both instances edited for time. In the former, when introducing the short, Bugs states that compared to Elmer Fudd, who hunts because he's a sportsman, Wile E. goes hunting because he's really hungry. Prior to the short being used in Bugs Bunny Mystery Special, Coyote is in his residence sitting in his armchair. He hears a radio announcement of how Bugs Bunny is a national fugitive. When the DJ says "A reward has been offered; eaten or alive". When Coyote hears the words "eaten", he tracks down Bugs with the intent of making him his next meal.
  • This is Wile E. Coyote's (following 1949's "Fast and Furry-ous") second appearance. This is the first in which he is given a name and the first in which the he speaks. His voice, like Bugs', was provided by Mel Blanc, albeit with a smooth, upper-class accent, in contrast to Bugs' Bronx-Brooklyn city slicker accent.
  • Wile E. would unsuccessfully attempt to catch and eat Bugs Bunny four more times: "To Hare Is Human" (1956), "Rabbit's Feat" (1960), "Compressed Hare" (1961) and "Hare-Breadth Hurry" (1963). After the classic shorts, Wile E. would be pitted against Bugs Bunny (and talks) once more in Season 1 of New Looney Tunes.
  • Wile E.'s eyebrows are brown in this cartoon, unlike other cartoons where they are cream-colored like his jaw and chest. Also, beginning from this cartoon, Wile E. is redesigned to be taller in height and thinner in physique with a more refined look, in contrast to his shorter height and scruffier appearance in his debut cartoon three years earlier.
  • The scene where Wile E. introduces himself to Bugs was used as a bumper for Cartoon Network, with the 1992-2004 CN logo in place of Wile E.'s name courtesy of digital editing.
  • The gag where Bugs gives the Coyote a pen in the form of a TNT stick was previously used in "Long-Haired Hare" (1949), except that Bugs' victim is Giovanni Jones instead of Wile E., and Bugs did cross-dress in that scene unlike this cartoon (in fact, Bugs did not cross-dress in drag in any of the Bugs/Wile E. cartoons at all).
  • Bugs' final remark of "Mud spelled backwards is dum" may have been a reference to Serutan vegetable oil, which had sponsored multiple TV shows of that era. A commercial for the product said "Remember, Serutan spelled backwards is Natures".
  • The version of this cartoon released on the Road Runner LaserDisc set Road Runner Vs. Wile E. Coyote: If At First You Don't Succeed... in 1994 has the 1946-1955 renditions of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" used for the Looney Tunes opening and ending music cues replaced by the 1955-1964 renditions of the same cues.[2] The original opening and ending music cues of this cartoon's same video transfer however does exist,[3][4] on both the Chariots of Fur VHS tape and on TV airings such as Tooncast and various Cartoon Network/Boomerang feeds, albeit with notable audio splices in both the opening and closing soundtracks (much like the cartoon's 1985 Golden Jubilee VHS transfer previously released on the Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote: The Classic Chase VHS tape).[5] It is the only Bugs Bunny cartoon released on that LaserDisc set entirely dedicated to both Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
    • The restored version of this cartoon released on DVD and Blu-ray on the other hand retains its original opening and ending music cues, albeit without any audio splices in both the opening and closing soundtracks.[6]

Goofs[]

  • When Wile E. closes the hatch on the back of the explosive female rabbit, his left leg disappears for a split second.

Gallery[]

External Links[]

References[]


Bugs Bunny Shorts
1938 Porky's Hare Hunt
1939 Prest-O Change-OHare-um Scare-um
1940 Elmer's Candid CameraA Wild Hare
1941 Elmer's Pet RabbitTortoise Beats HareHiawatha's Rabbit HuntThe Heckling HareAll This and Rabbit StewWabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to SupperAny Bonds Today?The Wacky WabbitHold the Lion, PleaseBugs Bunny Gets the BoidFresh HareThe Hare-Brained HypnotistCase of the Missing Hare
1943 Tortoise Wins by a HareSuper-RabbitJack-Wabbit and the BeanstalkWackiki WabbitFalling Hare
1944 Little Red Riding RabbitWhat's Cookin' Doc?Bugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny Nips the NipsHare Ribbin'Hare ForceBuckaroo BugsThe Old Grey HareStage Door Cartoon
1945 Herr Meets HareThe Unruly HareHare TriggerHare ConditionedHare Tonic
1946 Baseball BugsHare RemoverHair-Raising HareAcrobatty BunnyRacketeer RabbitThe Big SnoozeRhapsody Rabbit
1947 Rabbit TransitA Hare Grows in ManhattanEaster YeggsSlick Hare
1948 Gorilla My DreamsA Feather in His HareRabbit PunchBuccaneer BunnyBugs Bunny Rides AgainHaredevil HareHot Cross BunnyHare SplitterA-Lad-In His LampMy Bunny Lies over the Sea
1949 Hare DoMississippi HareRebel RabbitHigh Diving HareBowery BugsLong-Haired HareKnights Must FallThe Grey Hounded HareThe Windblown HareFrigid HareWhich Is WitchRabbit Hood
1950 Hurdy-Gurdy HareMutiny on the BunnyHomeless HareBig House BunnyWhat's Up Doc?8 Ball BunnyHillbilly HareBunker Hill BunnyBushy HareRabbit of Seville
1951 Hare We GoRabbit Every MondayBunny HuggedThe Fair Haired HareRabbit FireFrench RarebitHis Hare Raising TaleBallot Box BunnyBig Top Bunny
1952 Operation: RabbitFoxy by Proxy14 Carrot RabbitWater, Water Every HareThe Hasty HareOily HareRabbit SeasoningRabbit's KinHare Lift
1953 Forward March HareUpswept HareSouthern Fried RabbitHare TrimmedBully for BugsLumber Jack-RabbitDuck! Rabbit, Duck!Robot Rabbit
1954 Captain HareblowerBugs and ThugsNo Parking HareDevil May HareBewitched BunnyYankee Doodle BugsBaby Buggy Bunny
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareHare BrushRabbit RampageThis Is a Life?Hyde and HareKnight-Mare HareRoman Legion-Hare
1956 Bugs' BonnetsBroom-Stick BunnyRabbitson CrusoeNapoleon Bunny-PartBarbary-Coast BunnyHalf-Fare HareA Star Is BoredWideo WabbitTo Hare Is Human
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBedevilled RabbitPiker's PeakWhat's Opera, Doc?Bugsy and MugsyShow Biz BugsRabbit Romeo
1958 Hare-Less WolfHare-Way to the StarsNow, Hare ThisKnighty Knight BugsPre-Hysterical Hare
1959 Baton BunnyHare-abian NightsApes of WrathBackwoods BunnyWild and Woolly HareBonanza BunnyA Witch's Tangled HarePeople Are Bunny
1960 Horse HarePerson to BunnyRabbit's FeatFrom Hare to HeirLighter Than Hare
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitCompressed HarePrince Violent
1962 Wet HareBill of HareShishkabugs
1963 Devil's Feud CakeThe Million HareHare-Breadth HurryThe UnmentionablesMad as a Mars HareTransylvania 6-5000
1964 Dumb PatrolDr. Devil and Mr. HareThe Iceman DuckethFalse Hare
1979 Bugs Bunny's Christmas CarolFright Before Christmas
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young BunnySpaced Out Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 From Hare to Eternity
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las VegasDaffy Duck for President
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