Hare Brush

Hare Brush
Merrie Melodies (Bugs Bunny) series
Bugs, wearing what would be Elmer's hunting outfit, hunts Elmer, dressed in a rabbit costume.
Directed by	I. Freleng
Produced by	Eddie Selzer (uncredited)
Story by	Warren Foster
Voices by	Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan (uncredited)
Music by	Milt Franklyn
Animation by	Ted Bonnicksen Art Davis Gerry Chiniquy
Layouts by	Hawley Pratt
Backgrounds by	Irv Wyner
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	May 7, 1955 (USA)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 minutes 1 second
Language	English

Hare Brush is a 1955 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short, featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

Hare Brush pokes fun at Freudian psychoanalysis, psychiatric medication, hypnosis, and the cliches of other Bugs Bunny shorts. Along with What's Opera, Doc? and Rabbit Rampage, it is one of first three cartoons where Elmer Fudd actually defeats Bugs Bunny.

Plot

In the boardroom of the Elmer J. Fudd Corporation, the board of directors meets to discuss a serious threat to the company's future. The CEO, Elmer Fudd, is suffering from mental illness and believes himself to be a rabbit. The board unanimously agrees to commit Elmer to "The Fruitcake Sanitarium" {"It's Full of Nuts"}.

Elmer, now wearing a rabbit suit, sees Bugs Bunny walking past and lures him to the window with a carrot. Bugs naively says "You mean I can have that, and plenty more? And all I have to do is to open the window?" Bugs goes inside, while Elmer hops out the window. Bugs lies in Elmer's bed to "keep it warm for him."

Viennese psychiatrist Dr. Oro Myicin arrives to begin treating Elmer's delusion and is stunned to see Bugs instead. He declares Bugs as the worst case of "rabbitschenia" he has ever seen. When Myicin tells Bugs to call himself Elmer Fudd, Bugs shakes hands saying, "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Fudd!"

Dr. Myicin tells Bugs that he is not Elmer J. Fudd, Bugs is Elmer J. Fudd. Thinking that Myicin is a "screwball", Bugs then attempts to psychoanalyze the doctor instead. Irked, Myicin gives Bugs a psychiatric pill which makes him very vulnerable to suggestion. Once it takes effect, the doctor forces Bugs to repeat ad nauseam: "I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht."

Soon after, Dr. Myicin releases Bugs from the sanitarium as "cured" of the belief that he is a rabbit and convinced that he is Elmer Fudd. Upon picking him up, Elmer's chauffeur tells Bugs that since it is Wednesday, he has packed his forest clothes and shotgun. Bugs decides to relax by hunting.

Dressed in Elmer's hunting clothes, Bugs tells the audience, "Be vewy quiet. I'm hunting wabbits." He then follows "wabbit twacks" to Elmer, who asks, "What's up, Doc?"

Realizing that Bugs is going to shoot him, Elmer jumps back into his rabbit hole. Bugs then aims his shotgun and screams, "Awwight, you scwewy wabbit! Come out ow I'ww bwast you out!"

Elmer pokes out his head and Bugs attempts to shoot him. But Elmer plugs the shotgun with his finger and causes it to backfire.

An infuriated Bugs chases Elmer into a cave, only to have Elmer sic a live bear on him. As a terrified Bugs flees, Elmer tells him to play dead. The bear, concluding that Bugs really is dead, buries him alive under a cliff ledge. Bugs then falls out of the underside into a stream far below.

Returning to his rabbit hole, Elmer is terrified to find Bugs waiting for him. Aiming his shotgun in Elmer's face, Bugs screams, "No wabbit's gonna outsmawt Ewmew J. Fudd!"

But before he can fire, an IRS agent taps Bugs on the shoulder, and asks, "Pardon me, did you say you were Elmer J. Fudd?" Bugs replies, "Yes. I am Ewmew J. Fudd, miwwionaiwe. I own a mansion and a yacht." Bugs is then arrested, like Al Capone, for non-payment of $300,000 in back taxes. As the T-man hauls him away, Bugs demands in vain to be released, protesting, "I'm hunting a scwewy wabbit!" This time, the last line belongs to Elmer: "I may be a scwewy wabbit, but I'm not going to Awcatwaz!", suggesting that he was just pretending this whole time.

Edited versions

• When the short aired on ABC, the following scenes were removed to make the short suitable for younger viewers:
  • The establishing shot of the mental hospital "The Fruitcake Sanitorium: It's Full of Nuts" due to a Standards and Practices rule they had at the time that forbade the mention or ridicule of mental illness.
  • Bugs (as Elmer) getting shot in the face after Elmer (as Bugs) plugs his rifle.
  • Bugs (as Elmer) diving into the pond and hitting his head on a rock.

External links

• Hare Brush at IMDb

Preceded by Sahara Hare

Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1955

Succeeded by Rabbit Rampage