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Wabbit Twouble is a 1941 Merrie Melodies short planned by Tex Avery and finished by Bob Clampett.

Title[]

The title (and the credits) are written as Elmer Fudd would pronounce them. Ergo, "Rabbit Trouble" would be said "Wabbit Twouble."

Plot[]

Elmer is riding in his old jalopy, whose eccentric rear axle and wheel do the Conga "kick" and beat. He makes his way to Jellostone National Park, where the sign by the entrance promises "Rest and Relaxation" and "a Restful Retreat." Elmer pitches a tent near Bugs' rabbit hole and sets up camp by putting a fire stove, a mirror and a table to wash his face, and a hammock. However, he gets annoyed when Bugs unpitches and takes his tent, but he gets it back, tied up in knots. Bugs welcomes Elmer to Jellostone, asiding, "Oh, brother!" He pushes Elmer's hat over his eyes. When Elmer reaches into the hole to grab Bugs, Bugs ties up his fingers. He tries to prevent Bugs from getting out of his hole by hammering a board, saying that he can't get out of that. "That will hold him alright," he said. However, Bugs does get out of that, and mimics Elmer's weight and what he previously said, labeling it "phooey". Elmer lies down in his hammock and soon falls fast asleep, muttering to himself.

Bugs puts a pair of glasses on Elmer’s face, paints the lenses black, and sets Elmer's alarm clock to go off. Elmer now thinks it's night, since everything seems so dark, so he retires to his tent, removes his clothes revealing his pajamas underneath, and goes to bed. Bugs takes the glasses off and crows like a rooster, making Elmer think that it's the next morning.

When Elmer goes to wash his face, Bugs keeps the towel at a distance with a branch, causing Elmer to blindly follow the towel. Bugs says, "I do this kind of stuff to him all through the picture." Elmer almost falls off a cliff. He looks at the miraculous view of the Grand Canyon. Just when he sees that Bugs is the one pulling these gags, Bugs runs off, with Elmer giving chase after retrieving a gun from his tent.

However, when he tries running after Bugs with his rifle, he runs into a black bear instead. The bear starts growling, and so Elmer turns to a wildlife handbook for advice, which states "When confronted by a grizzly bear, lie flat on the ground and play dead. Above all, remain absolutely motionless!"

The bear soon gives up after sniffing Elmer's "B.O." from his feet, but Bugs has more fun with Elmer when he climbs on Elmer and starts growling exactly like the bear. "Funny situation, ain't it?" Just as Bugs starts biting Elmer's foot, Elmer sees what's going on and grabs his rifle. Bugs runs away when the bear returns and Elmer ends up hitting the bear instead. A chase ensues with Elmer and the bear running through the trees to the chase sequence of William Tell. Finally, the bear freaks Elmer out when he rides on top of him.

Eventually, Elmer gives up and quickly packs everything back into his car including, at first, the tree that was next to his tent. On his way out, he stops back at the sign and reads it again. This makes him think that it's baloney, and to teach the park not to give false advertisement he starts chopping the sign to bits. The park ranger appears, a stern look on his face. Elmer is in prison for destruction of government property, where he's thankful that he's finally "wid of that gwizzwy bear and scwewy wabbit! West and wewaxation at wast!" But he turns to find out that somehow he's sharing his cell with both Bugs and the black bear. Each of them chews a carrot and asks, "Eh, pardon me, but ... um, how long are ya in for, Doc?"

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Notes[]

  • For this cartoon, Elmer was redesigned as a fat man (based on voice actor Arthur Q. Bryan's own physique) in an attempt to make him funnier. The "fat Elmer" would only make four more appearances -"The Wabbit Who Came to Supper", "The Wacky Wabbit", "Fresh Hare", and "Any Bonds Today?" - before returning to the slimmer form by which he is better known. This cartoon was the only time, though, that the Fat Elmer also had a red nose.
  • The title card credits are written in "Elmer Fudd-ese"; that is, written the way Elmer would say them ("Superwision: Wobert Cwampett" and so on).
  • It has been suggested on various forums dedicated to classical animation that this cartoon originally began production under Tex Avery and was completed by Clampett when Avery left the Warners' studio in 1941. The evidence given to support this contention include the reddish nose sported by Elmer Fudd in this cartoon (Avery had given Elmer such a nose in "A Wild Hare"), Bugs' design, the unique credit sequence (Avery had previously done such tinkering with the credits of "Tortoise Beats Hare"), and the credits for Dave Monahan and Sid Sutherland.[3]
  • This is the only "Fat Elmer" cartoon still under copyright, the rest are in public domain.
  • This is one of the rare cartoons where Bugs is the aggressor rather than the victim. Clampett would re-use this similar kind of role-reversal in "The Wacky Wabbit" the following year, again with the fat Elmer Fudd. These was made during Bugs' early days when the Warners' directors were still feeling the rabbit out.
  • It is odd for a black bear to be referred to as well as portrayed in name and nature as a grizzly bear. In real life, black bears would not be fooled by humans playing dead since they are more prone to be scavengers.
  • In December 2018, Bugs' fat imitation of Elmer became an Internet meme known as "Big Chungus". Big Chungus became a playable character in Looney Tunes World of Mayhem in April of 2021, and made a cameo in Space Jam A New Legacy.
  • On several prints of the cartoon that had been shown in syndication over the years, the 1941-42 Merrie Melodies ending was replaced by Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) with the 1939-1940 Merrie Melodies ending logo.[4][dead link][5]
  • While the USA Turner "dubbed version" retains the original 1941-1955 rendition ending music,[6] the EU Turner "dubbed version" replaces the original 1941-1955 rendition with the 1938-1941 rendition.[7]
  • Vitaphone release number: 413

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
All This and Rabbit Stew
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1941
Succeeded by
The Wabbit Who Came to Supper
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
Elmer Fudd Cartoons
1937 Little Red Walking Hood
1938 The Isle of Pingo PongoCinderella Meets FellaA Feud There WasJohnny Smith and Poker-Huntas
1939 Hamateur NightA Day at the ZooBelieve It or Else
1940 Elmer's Candid CameraConfederate HoneyThe Hardship of Miles StandishA Wild HareGood Night Elmer
1941 Elmer's Pet RabbitWabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to SupperAny Bonds Today?The Wacky WabbitNutty NewsFresh HareThe Hare-Brained Hypnotist
1943 To Duck .... or Not to DuckA Corny ConcertoAn Itch in Time
1944 The Old Grey HareThe Stupid CupidStage Door Cartoon
1945 The Unruly HareHare Tonic
1946 Hare RemoverThe Big Snooze
1947 Easter YeggsA Pest in the HouseSlick Hare
1948 What Makes Daffy DuckBack Alley Op-RoarKit for Cat
1949 Wise QuackersHare DoEach Dawn I Crow
1950 What's Up Doc?The Scarlet PumpernickelRabbit of Seville
1951 Rabbit Fire
1952 Rabbit Seasoning
1953 Upswept HareAnt PastedDuck! Rabbit, Duck!Robot Rabbit
1954 Design for LeavingQuack Shot
1955 Pests for GuestsBeanstalk BunnyHare BrushRabbit RampageThis Is a Life?Heir-Conditioned
1956 Bugs' BonnetsA Star Is BoredYankee Dood ItWideo Wabbit
1957 What's Opera, Doc?Rabbit Romeo
1958 Don't Axe MePre-Hysterical Hare
1959 A Mutt in a Rut
1960 Person to BunnyDog Gone People
1961 What's My Lion?
1962 Crows' Feat
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
2012 Daffy's Rhapsody
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