French Rarebit
French Rarebit | |
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Production company | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
Distributor | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date | June 30, 1951 |
Starring | Mel Blanc Tedd Pierce |
Producer(s) | Edward Selzer |
Music composed by | Eugene Poddany Milt Franklyn |
Story by | Tedd Pierce |
Animation | Rod Scribner Phil DeLara Charles McKimson Emery Hawkins |
Director(s) | Robert McKimson |
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Title card | |
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Second title card | |
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French Rarebit is the three hundred and thirty-seventh Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on June 30, 1951. It was written by Tedd Pierce, produced by Edward Selzer and directed by Robert McKimson.
While taking a stroll in Paris, France, Bugs winds up in the middle when two Frecnh chefs of two restaurants, Louis and François, want him for their dinner menu. To avoid becoming the special of the day, Bugs comes up with a recipe to outwit the two kooky cooks.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Bugs: Eh, personally, I prefer hamburger.
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||
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Locations
Objects
- Mallet
- Frying pan
- Ingredients for Louisiana Back-bay Bayou Bunny Bordelaise ala Antoine (mentioned)
- Wine Barrel
- Pickle Jar
- Hot Sauce
- Chili Peppers
- Bay Leaves
- Bay Rum
- Hot Mustard sauce
- Horse radish
- Mule radish
- Tabasco Sauce
- Flour Barrel
- Sliced carrots
- Sliced parsnips
- Sliced potatoes
- Sliced asparaguses
- Onions (optional)
- One whole carrot (stuffed with a long-fused stick of dynamite)
- Rolling Pin
- Stew pot
- Oven
Vehicles
- Delivery truck
Production
Development
Filming
Music
The music was orchestrated by Milt Franklyn, with the musical score done by Eugene Poddany.
This is the only Bugs Bunny short to have Eugene Poddany provide the music score.
It also contains the following cues:
- "The Latin Quarter"
- "Alouette"
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: June 30, 1951 in theaters
Behind the scenes
- The title is a play on the British dish "Welsh rarebit," which is also known as "Welsh rabbit."
- The working title for this cartoon was, "Hassenpfeffered Hare," which is a pun on the German/Dutch stew Hasenpfeffer.
- This is the final short to have a fade in on the orange color rings before Bugs Bunny's headshot appears in the intro sequence.
- Unlike most cartoons reissued during the time, the original closing title card was kept, although the original Bugs Bunny Introduction card was plastered over by the 1956-64 version.
- This marks the final appearance of Freleng's "hold the onions" gag which debuted in Pigs is Pigs.
Legacy
- Francois would later appear in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode "Yelp!," and later, near the end of the direct-to-video film, Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas as Wile E. Coyote's personal chef which Daffy Duck had hired for him as his Christmas present.
- The scene where Chef François does the "chef's kiss" has become a meme and GIF depicting such in pop culture.
Home availability
- In the United States:
- November 2, 2004: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 on DVD.
- August 29, 2023: Warner Archive Collection releases Gay Purr-ee on Blu-ray.