Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny
Encyclopedia
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny is a Warner Bros.
cartoon starring Bugs Bunny
and Elmer Fudd
, with cameo appearances by Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
. The cartoon was part of the television special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over
, which aired May 21, 1980.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny is one of four Bugs Bunny cartoons produced during 1979-1980, the first new shorts since 1964's False Hare
.
In a dream
sequence, a young Bugs (styled and sharing the same mannerisms as Bugs' nephew Clyde
) is excited about a school-free summer when he runs into a young Elmer Fudd. The youthful Bugs and Elmer reprise many of the classic Bugs-Elmer cartoon scenes, including the "death scene" and Bugs threatening to report juvenile Elmer to the authorities. At one point, Elmer is about to fall from a cliff, but doesn't fall because they "haven't studied gravity yet." Later, Bugs leaves a book about gravity and Elmer finds and reads it so the next time he's about to fall from a cliff, he did fall since now he had already studied gravity, prompting him to adopt ignorance as his motto. During the fall, Wile E. Coyote appears and asks him to move over and leave falling to people who know how to do it.
In the end, Elmer obtains a machine gun (which actually fires corkscrews) and shoots Bugs repeatedly after he crashes into a tree. The dream ends, and the adult Bugs - conscious and apparently never having felt the effects of his own injury - remarks about how he and Elmer probably were "the youngest people to ever start chasing each other." Of course, Bugs could be wrong - a young Wile E. Coyote runs by, chasing an unhatched Road Runner.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
cartoon starring Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
and Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...
, with cameo appearances by Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese...
. The cartoon was part of the television special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over
Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over
Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over is a Looney Tunes television special which aired on May 21, 1980. It features three new cartoons at the time, which featured Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters. The theme of this special is Springtime...
, which aired May 21, 1980.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Bunny is one of four Bugs Bunny cartoons produced during 1979-1980, the first new shorts since 1964's False Hare
False Hare
False Hare is a 1964 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short starring Bugs Bunny and the Big Bad Wolf who had previously appeared in Now Hare This . Released on July 28, 1964, the cartoon was written by John W...
.
Plot
On the last day of school, children emerge from a one-room schoolhouse, gushing with joy about summer vacation. Bugs Bunny separately shares this enthusiasm but then quickly realizes how silly this is. While wondering how absurd all this is aloud, he crashes into a tree and falls unconscious.In a dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
sequence, a young Bugs (styled and sharing the same mannerisms as Bugs' nephew Clyde
Clyde Rabbit
Clyde Rabbit is a Looney Tunes character who appeared in two shorts. He is the nephew of Bugs Bunny.- Appearances :Clyde Rabbit made his first appearance in His Hare-Raising Tale. Clyde visits his Uncle Bugs and Bugs narrates about playing baseball , going to the moon , and being in the military....
) is excited about a school-free summer when he runs into a young Elmer Fudd. The youthful Bugs and Elmer reprise many of the classic Bugs-Elmer cartoon scenes, including the "death scene" and Bugs threatening to report juvenile Elmer to the authorities. At one point, Elmer is about to fall from a cliff, but doesn't fall because they "haven't studied gravity yet." Later, Bugs leaves a book about gravity and Elmer finds and reads it so the next time he's about to fall from a cliff, he did fall since now he had already studied gravity, prompting him to adopt ignorance as his motto. During the fall, Wile E. Coyote appears and asks him to move over and leave falling to people who know how to do it.
In the end, Elmer obtains a machine gun (which actually fires corkscrews) and shoots Bugs repeatedly after he crashes into a tree. The dream ends, and the adult Bugs - conscious and apparently never having felt the effects of his own injury - remarks about how he and Elmer probably were "the youngest people to ever start chasing each other." Of course, Bugs could be wrong - a young Wile E. Coyote runs by, chasing an unhatched Road Runner.
Sources
- Beck, Jerry and Will Friedwald, "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons," Henry Holt and Co., New York, 1989. (ISBN 0-8050-0894-2).