Robot Rabbit
Encyclopedia
Robot Rabbit is a Warner Bros.
animated
short
of the Looney Tunes
series. Originally released to theaters on December 12, 1953, it stars Bugs Bunny
and Elmer Fudd
as its main characters.
farmer who is happily going about his chores singing "In a Little Red Barn (On a Farm down in Indiana)
". Halfway through the song, he realizes Bugs has joined his singing. At the end of the chorus of the song, Bugs dives into his hole, and stumps of half-eaten carrots fly into the air. Elmer angrily laments "Ooh, that wascally wabbit's been in my cawwots again!", and then rushes into his house to retrieve a shotgun. After shooting into an empty hole (Bugs had conveniently left the hole, then does his "fake dying" act), Elmer exclaims "The rabbit kicked the bucket"; then he and Bugs start dancing as a result until Elmer begins to realize Bugs is still very much alive.
This prompts Fudd to call "ACME Pest Control" ("Hewwo? ACME Pest Contwol? Weww, I've got a pest I want contwolled.") for a robot with the express purpose of evicting Bugs. The robot initially confuses a mule and Elmer — who was trying to explain to the robot what a rabbit looks like — for his intended target before getting the early upper-hand. Bugs quickly evens the score by luring his antagonist under a rotating water sprinkler, causing the robot to rust. Elmer however quickly resolves this setback by oiling the robot up.
Later, Bugs disguises himself as a female robot (where he literally throws a wrench into their "relationship"), before finally causing the robot to follow him through a construction site and beneath a pile driver
. Back at home, Elmer starts wondering how the robot fared, before Bugs greets him by dumping the robot — or what is left of it — onto the floor; it is presumed that the robot was crushed underneath the pile driver. As Bugs walks off, he comments to himself, "You know, one of these days, these scientists are going to actually invent something that will outsmart a rabbit."
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,...
animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
of the Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
series. Originally released to theaters on December 12, 1953, it stars 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...
as its main characters.
Summary
Elmer Fudd is shown as a carrotCarrot
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...
farmer who is happily going about his chores singing "In a Little Red Barn (On a Farm down in Indiana)
In a Little Red Barn (on a Farm down in Indiana)
"In a Little Red Barn " was a popular song written by Joe Young, Jean Schwartz, and Milton Ager in 1934. It used the same harmonic structure as the 1917 "Back Home Again in Indiana"...
". Halfway through the song, he realizes Bugs has joined his singing. At the end of the chorus of the song, Bugs dives into his hole, and stumps of half-eaten carrots fly into the air. Elmer angrily laments "Ooh, that wascally wabbit's been in my cawwots again!", and then rushes into his house to retrieve a shotgun. After shooting into an empty hole (Bugs had conveniently left the hole, then does his "fake dying" act), Elmer exclaims "The rabbit kicked the bucket"; then he and Bugs start dancing as a result until Elmer begins to realize Bugs is still very much alive.
This prompts Fudd to call "ACME Pest Control" ("Hewwo? ACME Pest Contwol? Weww, I've got a pest I want contwolled.") for a robot with the express purpose of evicting Bugs. The robot initially confuses a mule and Elmer — who was trying to explain to the robot what a rabbit looks like — for his intended target before getting the early upper-hand. Bugs quickly evens the score by luring his antagonist under a rotating water sprinkler, causing the robot to rust. Elmer however quickly resolves this setback by oiling the robot up.
Later, Bugs disguises himself as a female robot (where he literally throws a wrench into their "relationship"), before finally causing the robot to follow him through a construction site and beneath a pile driver
Pile driver
A pile driver is a mechanical device used to drive piles into soil to provide foundation support for buildings or other structures. The term is also used in reference to members of the construction crew that work with pile-driving rigs....
. Back at home, Elmer starts wondering how the robot fared, before Bugs greets him by dumping the robot — or what is left of it — onto the floor; it is presumed that the robot was crushed underneath the pile driver. As Bugs walks off, he comments to himself, "You know, one of these days, these scientists are going to actually invent something that will outsmart a rabbit."
Goofs
- The audio when Bugs remarks that "this cigarette machineCigarette machineA cigarette machine is a vending machine that takes cash in payment for packets of cigarettes. Vending machines often dispense packs containing 16 or 18 cigarettes, although the dimensions of the packaging are the same as the equivalent pack containing 20....
" was going to cause him no end of trouble is coupled with animation where Bugs' mouth does not move.
Censorship
- On ABC, the two times that the robot mistakes a mule and Elmer for rabbits and shoots them with his laser gun were cut.
- On CBS, in addition to the ABC cuts, the following scenes were cut:
- The part where Elmer shoots the rabbit hole where Bugs (presumably) is and Bugs feigning that he's near death (leading to the famous "Wabbit Kicked the Bucket" part) was cut.
- The part where Bugs and the robot chase each other back and forth under an active pile driver at a construction site was cut (but not the end where Bugs stops by Elmer's house to dump the pounded remains of his robot).
- The syndicated Merrie Melodies Show only edited the part where the robot shoots Elmer after Elmer imitates a rabbit by replacing it with a still shot of the mule after it's been blasted in the face.
Trivia
- Elmer Fudd's cover of "In Old Indiana" was featured in Bugs vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video StarsBugs vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video StarsBugs vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video Stars is a 1988 animated television special broadcast on CBS. October 21, 1988. The story revolves around two competing television stations that show music videos from classic Looney Tunes shorts...
.