Rabbit Fire
| Rabbit Fire | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Production company | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date | May 19, 1951 |
| Run time | 7:03 |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan |
| Producer(s) | Edward Selzer |
| Music composed by | Carl Stalling |
| Story by | Mike Maltese |
| Director(s) | Charles M. Jones |
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Rabbit Fire is the two hundred and eighty-seventh Looney Tunes theatrical short. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on May 19, 1951. It was produced by Edward Selzer, written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. It is considered the first part of Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two cartoons being Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!
Bugs and Daffy argue about who should Elmer Fudd get to shoot.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Bugs: Say, Doc. Are you tryin' to get yourself in trouble with da law? Dis ain't wabbit huntin' season.
Elmer: It's not?
Bugs: No, it's duck huntin' season.
Daffy: That, sir, is an in-mitigated frab-rication! It's wabbit season!
Bugs: Duck season!
Daffy: Rabbit season!
Bugs: Duck season!
Daffy: Rabbit season!
Bugs:: Duck season!
Daffy: Rabbit season!
Bugs: Rabbit season!
Daffy: Duck season!
Bugs: Rabbit season!
Daffy: Well, I say it's Duck season, and I say fire!
(Elmer shoots Daffy in the beak, causing it to spin)
Daffy: Hmph. Let's try that again...
Bugs: Ok.
Daffy: I'LL start it this time!
Bugs: Rrright!
Daffy: Rabbit season!
Bugs:: Duck season.
Daffy: Rabbit season!
Bugs:: Rabbit season.
Daffy: DUCK SEASON, FIRE!!
(Elmer shoots Daffy in the beak again, causing it to go behind his head)
Daffy: Ok... This time, YOU start it.
Bugs:: Whatever you say... Wabbit.
Daffy: Duck! FIRE!!
(Elmer flips Daffy's head upside down by blasting it)
Daffy: What's the matter? Everything's upside-down! That's strange. Can't make heads or tails of things.
Elmer: Well, what do you know? No mowe buwwets.
Bugs: No more buwwets! Hey, laughin' boy! No more bullets.
Daffy: No more bullets? Here, let me see that thing...
(Elmer's rifle shoots in Daffy's face)
Elmer: Well, what do you know? One buwwet weft.
Bugs: One buwwet left? Hey, laughin' boy! There was...
Daffy: I know, I KNOW!
Elmer: I'm sowwy, fewwas, but I'm a vegetawian. I just hunt for the sport of it. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Bugs: Oh, yeah? Well, there's other sport besides huntin', ya know!
Daffy: Anyone for tennis?
Daffy: You're despicable. Yes! You're despicable! And, and... and picable! And you're very, definitely despicable! How a person can get so, so despicable in one lifetime is-is beyond me! It isn't though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that! It isn't that's that! Goodness knows! It isn't-! It's... it's... despicable.
Bugs and Daffy: Shhhhhhhhhh...
Bugs: Be vewy, vewy quiet. We're huntin' Elmers!
Daffy: Hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah!
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||
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Locations
Objects
- 1000 Ways to Cook A Duck cookbook
- Recipe #1: Filet of Duck Bordelaise Madre De Butter
- Recipe #2: Duck Polonaise Under Glass
- Recipe #3: Barbequed Duck Meat with Broiled Duck Milanese
- 1000 Ways to Cook A Rabbit cookbook
- Recipe #1: Rabbit Au Gratin De Gelatin under tubed leather
- Recipe #2: Chicken-fried Rabbit with Cottontail Sauce, Braised in Carrots
Vehicles
Production
Development
The working title for this short was "What's Up Duck?"
Filming
Music
The music was composed by Carl Stalling.
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: May 19, 1951 in theatres
Behind the scenes
- The title is a play on "rapid fire." You're welcome.
- Daffy's new personality makes a debut here, from becoming a screwball, to a more greedy duck who longs for the spotlight
- Daffy's catchphrase, "You're despicable" makes its debut.
Errors
- When this cartoon was released on DVD, the audio pitch is significantly lower. The low-pitched version of the cartoon is still prevalent in subsequent TV airings and on home media releases.
Everlasting Influence
- This short is the first installment in what is considered Jones' "hunting trilogy." The story continues in Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!
- This short would be used in The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie.
- The "Rabbit Season, Duck Season" gag would go on to be used in later Looney Tunes media like Looney Tunes: Back in Action and Space Jam: A New Legacy
- The gag would also be used in popular culture.
- Missy watches the short in the Young Sheldon episode "A Mother, a Child, and a Blue Man's Backside."
Young Sheldon.
Critical reception
In other languages
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