360. Crazy Cruise (1942)

Warner cartoon no. 359.
Release date: March 14, 1942.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Bob Clampett, Tex Avery (uncredited).
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Robert C. Bruce (Narrator), Mel Blanc (Various voices / Bugs Bunny).
Story: Michael Maltese.
Animation: Rod Scribner.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: This travelogue parody takes us to a crazy journey from a cruise liner.

This is another cartoon which is missing a supervision credit, even though it's another short that Tex started, and supposedly finished by Clampett. Though both director's style clash in the short, this marks the end of Tex Avery's official tenure at Warners. The man who helped revolutionise the wit and humour into these cartoons, a very venturesome director.

Since his departure from the studio; this proved to not be a heavy loss for the Schlesinger Studio. Everyone else learnt from Tex, and managed to produce some brilliant input that is on par with Tex's work, and it only gets better from then on. Tex's last official Warners cartoon ends with another typical spot-gag cartoon, set in a cruise liner; complete with recycled formulas, and the liner takes the viewer to random scenic locations of the world; which sounds in perspective unfocused even as a travelogue parody. At first, you see the cruise liner in the Caribbean, then you see the liner across the Alps, the Sahara Desert, etc. This parody sure lives up to the cartoon's title.

I suppose the unfocused of where the cruise liner heads to sequence to sequence is satirised brilliantly in the navigational map sequence occurring around the beginning of the cartoon. Mike Maltese writes and plans a great sequence which not only creates great satire, but a great challenge to animate timing-wise. The ship, seen docked from the coast of Florida, sets sail to Havanna, Cuba.

The ship stops to the "world's famous Sloppy Joe's" bar which is based on the Florida bar, famous for regular customers like Ernest Hemingway. As portrayed on the map, its clear everyone (inc. the captain) went to the bar before embarking back on the ship.

The next part features the uncoordinated paths the cruise liner follows emphasising that the sea crew are drunk, such as sailing in swirls (before stopping with the cruise liner hiccuping). This is a beautifully executed and exaggerated gag that shows great dynamics in the crazy route they are travelling. Not to mention this would have required a lot of careful attention for an effects animator in handling the scene, as not only does it need to be laid out and planned precisely; but not to mention comical timing-wise. Stalling adds to the comedic touch as he plays How Dry I Am while the cruise drunkenly sails.

For aspects that feature a lot of Tex Avery's humour; it's scattered throughout the cartoon. Not to mention, it also looks like a Avery production, judging by the rich backgrounds created by Johnny Johnsen, as well as the use of tight, realistic drawing in some scenes that Tex strictly required from his unit.


The sequence in the Egyptian desert is a striking example of continuous humour elements that you'd expect in Tex Avery's cartoons. After a camera pan of the outback in the desert, the scene takes the viewer to the Sphinx. The stone rendition of the Trylon and Perisphere, (displayed in the 1939 New York World's Fair) is wonderfully referenced and parodied in that shot.

As the narrator describes it, the Sphinx has been standing for many centuries: "Year in, year out", as well as standing there "motionless, silent, quiet". The Sphinx kills the narrator's commentary by speaking: "Monotonous, isn't it?". This is a regular gag punchline which works well in that sequence, contradicting the narrator's commentary to a tee.

Other aspects of Tex's own humour appears in the camouflage sequence. As reported by the narrator, due to "unconditioned world conditions" (supposedly referencing World War II), all ships were to be camouflaged. The ship sailing past is S.S. Yehoodi, a direct reference to Jerry Colonna. The gag itself showing the camouflage, though   corny in perspective, but as a layout it looks painstaking to make the gag as realistic as it could go.

As for scenes that show some Clampett influence in humour and timing; it's possible some of the sequences could've been his own work. Scenes which come to mind is the opening sequence in the short. The short begins at a Southern plantation in Louisiana, and the narrator reports on the financial difficulties that tobacco farms earn because of the tobacco bug. In a close up scene, the tobacco bug is revealed; eating a tobacco leaf.

Whether it was Tex or Clampett who worked on both the scene, its uncertain; though the cutout hand holding the microphone has a unique and blessing touch to it. The microphone is described to be "super-sensitive" that viewers would be able to listen to the bugs for the first time.

Of course, the gag is that the bug responds by satirising the fast-speech patter of the tobacco auctioneer from the Lucky Strike cigarette commercials heard in Your Hit Parade.) Another great scene which appears to share some of the wackiness and spirit in animation is evident in the insect-eating plant sequence.

The 'victim', being a bumblebee, flies at the scene, and ends up caught in the trap from the plant. The bee flies over the plant causing it to spit out shouting "OUCH!" in agony. Such sharp delivery on voice as well as timing.

Other scenes which show some great aspects of delivery and gag punchline are also evident in some scenes. A scene that sticks to my mind fondly, with an unpredictable punchline would be during the oil field scene. In this scene, the narrator looks at the ground rumbling, and remarks with amazement: "Oh, here comes a gusher for them now".

Just as the ground rumbles, one would expect the oil to strike immensely, but the irony of the gag is that it doesn't. Instead only a small drop of oil falls out from the field, landing on a spittoon. This was a great gag which can pleasantly surprise you.

Another scene with a pleasant sendoff would occur during the Alps sequence, featuring the mountain goat. The narrator explains of how the goat enjoy the dangers of leaping peak-to-peak in the alps. During the leap scene, Stalling adds to the right touches: matching the timing precisely by playing London Bridge is Falling Down in the underscore. And then, the goat falls to the ground after leaping all the peaks. Nevertheless, the goat continues to leap in rhythm to the rhyme until at the last note, the goat falls off the cliff by continuous leaping. Another great scene which is entertaining gag-wise, as well as becoming a n advantage for Stalling to make the sequence work.

As for gags that I think don't hold up too well, it would be the some scenes centring on animals. Another scene featured in the Alps, is the group of St. Bernard dog who carry spirit drinks in aid of those who are lying unconscious in the snow. The leader of the pack is seen carrying a keg of scotch, next in line is another St. Bernard carrying a keg of soda. As for the puppy St. Bernard, he carries a small keg of 'Bromo'. Bromo, of course, is medicine which is mostly used for indigestion and heartburn.  I don't personally understand the perspective or purpose of that gag? Was the gag supposedly that each St Bernard in line are seen carrying small pieces of aid, going from strongest (spirits) to weakest (indigestion pills).

In the Africa sequence, another corny gag features a line of animals; which at first are seen lining up with alertness and patience. As it turns out, the camera pans to the right revealing a mother zebra aiding its child by a 'water hole'. As you know, its a rancid pun on 'water holes' which are popular for animals to bathe in the wild lands of Africa.

The next to last sequence in the film, is another satirical scene in creating suspense killers. The narrator gives some commentary to add depth and tension to the scene; a territory which is dominated by "ferocious giant cannibals". The territory is known as the "Brawla-Brawla Soo-it Region". For those who don't know, this is a parody name taken from the lyrics of then popular song: The Hut-Sut Song.

The next scene features a pair of famous, experienced hunters who are caricatures of Friz Freleng and Ted Perice, follow the pgymy into the deep canopy of the dangerous territory. As the narrator says, "They plan to capture a couple of these giants alive!".

After a clattering off-screen sound, the pygmy rushes out gibbering in his native language. In a close-up scene animated by Bob McKimson, he continues to speak in that gibberish tone; until he converts to English, "Look, they got them! They got them!". "They" is revealed in the next shot that the two giants have indeed caught hold of the hunters, but they are compressed between the giant's fingers, resembling rollup cigarettes, leading to the humorous "King Size" lineup from one of the giants.

The final sequence is almost certainly Clampett's own sequence. Note how the gag is the same conception seen from a previous Clampett spot-gag cartoon: Africa Squeaks. Instead of deers looking cute and helpless, we get a group of cute bunnies scampering around looking harmless and lacking self-defence.


At the height of World War II, it seemed the right way to stereotype the Japanese by caricaturing them as a vulture, a metaphor on the enemy. Just as the vulture dive-bombs towards the bunnies, they immediately respond by hiding behind some weeds, and reveal some aircraft artily they use to fire at the vulture.

Note however that during the gag, you will find one rabbit facing its back away from the camera, whilst the other two are facing front as they play. It's a difficult challenge to animate, in not revealing the rabbit's face before the gag can be revealed. Much of that sequence was given to Rod Scribner, who met the challenge greatly. And so, the bunny who was hiding behind this time was Bugs Bunny, seen wearing his Civil Defence helmet. He has the last line, "Eh, thumbs up, doc! Thumbs up!". Just at the iris-out, Bugs' ears form to a "V for Victory" sign, whilst the underscore heard is We Did It Before (And We Can Do It Again). Thus, this ends the cartoon on a patriotic note.

While it's a shame that the blog will no longer be reviewing shorts directed by Tex Avery, it is without doubt for the greater good. As a cartoon, this wasn't much of a great sendoff to a brilliant legacy Tex brought to Warner Bros., though this was unintentionally the last Warner short he worked on. Not to mention, Tex gets a fresh start, a better start once he hops over to MGM Studios, making himself an even bigger name. As a spot-gag cartoon, this was average at best. It had some charming, innovative moments like the navigation map sequence, which to say the least was original. Bugs Bunny's little cameo at the end was also a pleasant surprise to end the cartoon, for his popularity was only growing rapidly in the beginning of his career. In all, it was an average short; which doesn't have too many exciting moments but for the sequences I've given good comments about, I'd suggest you'd take a look.

Rating: 2.5/5.

356. Aloha Hooey (1942)

Warner cartoon no. 355.
Release date: January 31, 1942.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Tex Avery/Bob Clampett (uncredited).
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Sammy Seagull), Pinto Colvig (Cecil Crow), Sara Berner (Hawaiian bird).
Story: Michael Maltese.
Animation: Virgil Ross.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Sammy Seagull shows a shipmate, Cecil Crow, in how to attract a dame, as they take an eye on a Hawaiian bird dancer.

By the time the cartoon had reached theatres, it was already established by the Studio that Clampett had took over Tex Avery's unit after his departure, but its surely plausible that during the short's production; this was indeed one of the shorts that was started by Tex, but finished by Clampett. In fact, it's a little harder to distinguish whose style is dominant in the cartoon, but as the short's credits don't give any answers--I'd like to say that this feels more like a Tex Avery cartoon, to be on the safe side.

Why I say so? Not only does the cartoon feature gags very much in Tex's style, but from an animation point (backgrounds, character designs and all); it looks like a Tex Avery short. Reflecting on other aspects such as timing: its hard to identify or finger point whose scene is which. At that point, both Tex Avery and Bob Clampett were already pressing their feet hard on the accelerator, as Tex's last few shorts had slicker pacing and more out-of-the-norm gags, whereas Clampett was just starting to break out from his bad working habits from producing mundane Porky Pig shorts. To say whose the dominant director of the short, in my opinion, is inconclusive.

The opening shot is a prime example of how two characters should be introduced to one another, especially when written for an animated short. Michael Maltese demonstrates the character's personalities from not only their own genus, but from their geography.


Cecil Crow is already established as a Mid-Western dim-witted crow "from Iowa", whereas Sammy Seagull was created as a sailor, and it seems fitting to fit both personalities from different cultural aspects; creating good exposition.

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the alliterated names Maltese or whoever conceived, as it's just generic names anybody could create for a character: it lacks juice or appeal. In fact, in the dialogue for the introduction scene, Maltese writes in alliteration a few times, mainly heard in Sammy's intro: "the sailor the sailor from Singapore to the South Seas". The short, too, marks the return of voice actor Pinto Colvig, who for a few years left Hollywood to work for Fleischer over at Florida, and his distinctive voice is put to good use as he voices the Crow.

The whole opening is written simply to not only introduce the characters, but to also set the cartoon's ambition to carry the plot.
Both have arrived from distant places but to a tropical island. Cecil's excuse was he was "tired of farmin'", and opted to seek after some "Hula-hula dancers" looking like Dorothy Lamour, who at the time was a popular actress for her Hula figure, most notable for starring in the original Road to... comedies. And so, the Seagull agrees to help out with Seagull in finding a dame for him. Out with his telescope from under the sheet of a lifeboat, they spot just the right bird: which is the Hawaiian bird dancer, who is designed to resemble Lamour.

Following that, the two birds depart the ship to the tropical island where they are greeted by the Lamour bird. The rest of the cartoon, however, is mainly the seagull and the crow motivating themselves in an attempt to win the girl's affection. The scenes with Sammy Seagull, though, aren't fulfilling at all, and the scenes lack much creativity as well as gags that Tex or even Clampett didn't offer.

Sammy is pulling tricks towards the Hawaiian dancer in a way to impress her, such as Sammy flying in the sky like an airplane. I suppose, the gag is that he is flying in the style of the plane, and creates a love heart in the shape of a cloud form.

I suppose, to a minority it might be amusing, but from the reviewer's perspective, I expected a bigger send-off, it just seems too tame a gag for Tex or Clampett's taste. The other gag which Sammy uses to impress the dancer is a gag in the same category, for the seagull does another gag acting as a dive-bomber; and that's literally all the gag is to it.

Comparing the gags of the Crow's attempt to woo the Lamour bird, the gags are better anticipated and show a fresh comparison between the crow and the seagull's personalities. The Crow character is already portrayed as a dim-wit, whereas the seagull is already the ideal everyman. A problem with that personality is its difficult to execute broad, vaudeville gags to a wonder-boy character, especially when doing it right.


Characters like Cecil Crow, on the other hand are much easier to conceive broader gags. In his attempt to charm the Lamour bird, he attempts to copy the actions of Sammy Seagull, but finds that he loses his speed limit and falls directly under the sea.

The underwater sequence is a great showcase for character animation by Rod Scribner, who captures the dimwitted persona very well into the character. The crow is still puffing his cigar underwater, and not having any sudden realisation that he's underwater.

What's a gag without the crow striking a flame through his matchstick whilst underwater? Only Tex (or Clampett) could have made such a gag look so subtle. Until, the crow remarks: "Gosh, I didn't know you could light this underwater..UNDERWATER?". Cecil's double-take was also greatly caricatured with Rod, who hits the accents right. The second gag in his third attempt to impress the dancer, is another great showcase of comedic timing, hitting it right on the beam. In a attempt to copy the Seagull's actions as a dive-bomber; he starts off with an average lift-off, but just then he ends up jerking consistently, and spazzes up like an engine going out of hand. These are both great scenes which blends in well to the character's instincts.

After a series of gags from a competition between the Seagull and the Crow, the competition breaks off into a dilemma for Cecil Crow. After an avoidance from the shark, Cecil quietly inhabits himself inside a turtle shell, hiding out of fear. Discovering quickly that another turtle resides in that shell, they both start fighting inside the shell, causing a racket. The part where supposedly the crow is raising his fist inside the shell to slam the turtle really shows power and monument weight in animation, that you feel the pain. Note how the turtle greatly resembles, Cecil Turtle, who had appeared earlier in the Bugs Bunny short, Tortoise Beas Hare. To make this even more coincidental, both the characters in the scenes were supposedly called "Cecil" (even though the turtle is unnamed in the short).

Areas which appear to show some of Tex Avery's humour is evident in some of the scenes, as well as scenes that I've already covered. In the first attempt of attracting the girl's attention, the first goal was to retrieve a clamshell successfully.

The seagull did the task effortlessly. For Cecil Crow on the other hand, the goal backfired. As soon as the crow opens the clamshell, we find a protesting clam inside the shell yelling incoherently before squirting water into the crow's face.

The sort of juvenile humour feels like it was executed the way Tex would have done it, though in some respects Clampett was certainly more juvenile than Tex. Another gag, appearing in the short's climax, is almost certainly Tex's own where we get an introductions scene of the cartoon's villain: a vicious gorilla. His jersey clearly labels him as "The Villain", but just to get cocky, the back of his jersey reads: "As if you didn't know" which is a decent tongue-in cheek gag which Tex adored.

Not to mention; you get the idea that the pacing is still building up; much like how Tex Avery and Clampett were building up their pace both in that same period; that its once again hard to distinguish whose timing is which. I'm going to suggest this might have been Tex Avery's work, for he did experiment a lot with rapid pacing, especially extensive use of dry-brushing effects.

The scene of the crow narrowly escaping the shark's jaws just features a beautifully rapidly paced scene, as well as a beautifully executed gag that it works on its own. Just as fires out the scene like a missile, all of his feathers fall out of the scene, making the gag feel more believable and convincing.

The second scene which features some beautiful timing and staging would be the starfish scene. Once again, the scene requires some beautiful and appealing dry brush work which makes the animation look very inventive, but also convincing in force. In a close-up shot, Cecil Crow struggles to pull the starfish from the top of his head, and then leading to a fight between the Cecil and the starfish, but as you'd expect: the starfish defeats him validly.

This leads to a mini fight scene, where the violence occurs behind a shrub, but the violence can still be visualised through the crashing motion that it gives. After a series of failures of impressing the girl, Cecil Crow finally defeats the villain of the short and wins the girl's affections. I guess the irony of the scene was that the crow failed to complete such simpler tasks, but had the knack to fight the vicious gorilla. And so, the new couple embrace one another and kiss. The final scene, though, ends in a very wimpy sense. Sammy Seagull bids them farewell as the sun sets. In the final scene, Cecil Crow and his new mate both wave back goodbye as they fly away from the tropical island, and followed by new offspring. It's a pretty weak way to end the short, for it lacks satire and taste: especially from a director like Tex, who would always satirise an ending to make it a suitable payoff. Here, it ends at a Disney-ish
sendoff.

Over who the dominant director of the cartoon was, its still debatable, but like I said, I'm more willing to say its a Tex Avery short. In all, this short was pretty weak in terms of satire. Though alliterated names are fun, here it just seems to lack creativity, but that's not all: some of the gags created themselves lack creativity. In all fairness, the character development in the short was paid off well, and believable enough in that sense. Cecil Crow at least saved the short from its uninspiring moments. I suppose the fact that the short was supposedly worked on by different directors, and yet the outcome didn't really meet to good results? Who knows. It wasn't a terrible short, but it felt so uninspiring, and especially reviewing the short was very uninspiring; as apart from the faster pacing delivered in the cartoon's action scenes; the rest of the cartoon is overall, mundane.

Rating: 2.5/5.

351. Wabbit Twouble (1941)

Warner cartoon no. 350.
Release date: December 20, 1941.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Bob Clampett. (Tex Avery uncredited).
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny / Bear), Arthur Q. Bryan (Elmer Fudd).
Story: Dave Monahan.
Animation: Sid Sutherland.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Elmer Fudd goes off to Jellostone National Park for "peace and wewexation", but finds he'll finds he'll not get any, not when Bugs Bunny's on the loose.

A great Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by none other than Bob Clampett. Oooh, no, Tex Avery-errr...no, it was both, er..there's no easy answers. As the credits suggest, a lot of people would accept that the cartoon was directed by Clampett. Enthusiasts and historians would suggest otherwise. Based with some historical evidence, as well as the cartoon itself, you can't deny but believe that Tex Avery himself had some involvement in the cartoon.

According to Bob Clampett, as well as Tim Cohea (a.k.a. Sogturtle), it was Tex Avery himself who redesigned Elmer Fudd as fat to make him a more accurate caricature of his voice actor: Arthur Q. Bryan.

The animation and look of the cartoon LOOKS like it was directed by Tex Avery, but some sequences or scenes suggest that Clampett directed portions of that, and in some cases both of the directors' styles clash in the entire cartoon. How much Tex worked on the cartoon before his departure of the studio, as well as how much did Clampett direct the cartoon, and who was the overall director of the short: we'll never know. On the other side, I'd thought I'd take a look at the cartoon to decide which scenes appear to represent which director, as well as reflect on the cartoon itself, and not just debates on who was the director.

As for what would appear to be Clampett's direction, I can take a theory. Though Tex's style does appear in pieces throughout the cartoon: I can't help but theorise that Clampett directed his interpretation of Bugs Bunny's characteristics in the cartoon.

He doesn't act much different compared to his previous cartoons, but the opening scene of Bugs at least appears to suggest so. Elmer Fudd has arrived at "Jellostone National Park" (as you know, the "Yellowstone" pun predates Yogi Bear, though with a slightly different spelling).

As soon as Bugs catches his eye on Elmer, he immediately chooses him as a victim for pranks and chaos. This sort of characteristics was very much what Clampett used for later Bugs Bunny cartoons, making him an even more rebellious character.

Though, compared to how Clampett's treatment of the character, Bugs is less cynical in the cartoon. I suppose its an unfair observation. For one, this is still an early Bugs Bunny cartoon, and Tex Avery only directed four Bugs Bunny cartoons: making this a difficult theory to accept, for Tex could have likely experimented with a characteristic like that, he definitely explored different personalities for Bugs: like in Tortoise Beats Hare. Not to mention, Tex's typical line-ups are all over the cartoon too, and in the scene of Bugs tricking Elmer from walking off the canyon in a close-up saying "I do this kind of stuff to him all through the picture", is pure Tex.

This will be the last time I will reflect on a sequence or scene, that I feel was possibly directed in Clampett's style. Most of the scenes that surround around Elmer and the bear feel a lot like Clampett's work: not just timing-wise, but gag-wise, too. When Elmer confronts the bear, he pulls out his survival guide book on how to survive face-to-face with a bear.


Following the rules, he lies flat on the ground, "remaining absowutewy motionless". The bear sniffs Elmer's body, but as soon as he sniffs Elmer's groin, he cringes away from his body and mutters "Pee-ew", and walks away.

Only Clampett would use such a suggestive gag, and thus making the gag feel innocent at the same time. Following forward, Elmer confronts the bear once more leading him in mortal danger.

This results in a little comedic chase scene where they hide from tree-to-tree in sync to William Tell. The scene that follows afterwards, feels also a lot like Clampett. Both Elmer and the bear, unknowingly are hiding at a single tree. The gag shows Elmer and the bear sticking out from different body parts, and popping out at different poses bizarrely. The timing and animation, by Rod Scribner is pretty rapid and it's at Clampett's level. It gets so when Elmer finds the bear chewing on his hat and he rushes out with the bear sitting on Elmer's shoulders, but gets knocked out by a tree branch.

Looking at the cartoon technically, you'll notice that the camera department do an effective job at giving the cartoon a breath of fresh air: the feeling that the canyon looks believable. The opening establishing shot from the title credits to Elmer driving his car in rhythm to the Conga is all done by overlays. The backgrounds by Johnny Johnsen, for the opening scene was painted at three separate levels, so: during the pan each level moves each at a different pace to give the opening shot an environmental look. It goes to show how the camera department filming the shot at separate levels, were not reliant on the device used at Disney: such as the Multiplane camera. The following scene in a close-up of Elmer shows the camera shaking in rhythm to the Conga, is one of the nicest, and most subtle touches to this short.

Another scene of Elmer washing his face (from a prank schemed by Bugs) also features a decent camera pan to give the national park a rich sense of scenery. As for the gag, Elmer has washed his face from "waking up". He reaches for the towel but doesn't realise Bugs has it attached to a long pole. This reaches him further from the edge of the canyon, and stands in mid-air, unknowingly. He looks at the scenic view, admiringly: "What a gwand view of the canyon from up here..Up here?!", and he rushes back to land realising he was conned by Bugs.

 The opening scenes of Elmer and Bugs are a great piece of interaction as Bugs is immediately established as a trickster, and Elmer Fudd being a more vulnerable 'non-hunting' character...who is looking for a relaxing vacation. After Elmer begins to set up the tent and campsite, his tent happens to be planted on top of Bugs' home, after Bugs tricked Elmer with the "Camp here" sign.


This leads to a tug-of-war gag where Elmer attempts to tug his tent out of Bugs' hole, but after a struggle he pulls it out but finds Bugs tied the tent into knots. Bugs reaches out and puts on another persona by greeting him, "Welcome to Jellostone, doc...a restful retreat".

There is a great little subtle giveaway from Bugs who smirks to the audience, "Oh brother", which is a great way to establish what the entire cartoon will be (and plus the "all through the picture" line, too).

Then, Bugs compresses Elmer's bowler hat to his head. Elmer, seeking revenge, grabs his arms down the rabbit hole, but afterwards finds Bugs tied his hands in a knot, too, which is a great followup from the tent gag. And so, after fixing his hands, he blocks Bugs' door with a board and nails as he hammers it to the ground, "That'll hold him alright, (chuckles)". Bugs, opening the board open like an attic door steps out mocking Elmer's voice and transforming to his physical form. The gag of Bugs' transform to Elmer's body is very comical, surreal but somewhat very unsettling to watch, too.

For one of Bugs' schemes, and not so belonging to a specific directorial style, would be the sequence of Bugs' confusing Elmer's sense of time during his nap. As he is napping in his hammock, Bugs walks over to Elmer's hammock and begins to paint a pair of specs black. Virgil Ross animates some very decent axis movement on Bugs' heads in the scene. He places the glasses on Elmer, and sets the alarm clock to an earlier time.

As the alarm rings momentarily, Elmer looks up the sky and to his belief, "Night, alweady". Tex (or Bob) paces the scenes a little slower in order to build up the whole gag: e.g. we get a whole scene of Elmer undressing and getting ready to bed, and this is all paced slowly to make the next build-up unpredictable.

As soon as Elmer goes to sleep in his bed, Bugs removes the glasses off his face, and motions a morning rooster call. Elmer wakes up, once again fooled: "Well I'll be doggonned, morning alweady. How time fwies." As explained earlier, Elmer walks over to get ready for a morning wash, with Bugs tricking Elmer to almost fall off the canyon. Though this shows Bugs being a trickster to a vulnerable character, its a lot more tamer and innocent compared to the sadistic gags Bugs would pull, at least in cartoons directed by Clampett.

One of the highlights of the cartoon would be the scene of Bugs Bunny masquerading as the black bear Elmer previously encountered. As he is still lying down motionless, Bugs does his dirty work by pretending to be the bear bouncing on top of him. The sequence, animated mainly by Rod Scribner and Virgil Ross both show what character animation really is about, and its advantages.

The first half animated by Scribner, shows Bugs kissing Elmer on the lips, and Elmer blushes and grins. The animation and expression alone is perfectly well-executed in the foolishness of Elmer, and the expression alone is very human.

This leads to a piece of action of Bugs flicking Elmer's nose continuously like a speed ball. The scene afterwards, animated brilliantly by Virgil Ross, features Bugs Bunny's performance as a grizzly bear which is very well humanly animated, and the accents are spot on.

He impersonates the bear's mannerisms to a tee, and thus makes the gag enjoyable that way: such as chewing on Elmer's shoe, as well as his hand motions. In between his performance, he turns to the audience momentarily commentating: "Funny situation, ain't it?" which is a typical line-up of Tex Avery. This plan finishes when Elmer finds Bugs is the culprit, but at the wrong time slams his gun at the bear; off-screen: and hence more havoc for Elmer.

The last few scenes of the cartoon, Elmer begins to frantically pack his belongings from the camp site, and at one point accidentally taking a giant tree with him. He jumps back onto his car and rushes for his life, but just before he departs: he spots the sign to the national park, which he considers to be false advertising.

Elmer scoffs, "Bawoney!", and begins to damage the sign from the national park furiously, until he is caught by a sturdy, intimidating ranger who is tapping his foot looking at Elmer coldly. Just as Elmer begins to cool his temper, he realises he has been caught by the park's ranger and begins to realise his crime for damaging properly. He sheepishly responds, "Hewwo" and chuckles nervously.

The following scene after, Elmer ends up in prison, but looks on the brighter side: "Well, anyway: I've wid of that gwizzly bear and scwewy wabbit. West and wewaxation at wast!". That is, until the cartoon's last shot where Elmer discovers that isn't the case. For his cellmate happens to be Bugs Bunny who responds: "Ahh, pardon me but, uh, how long you in for doc?" and chews on his carrot. On top of the bunk is the same grizzly bear who responds in his dumb voice, "Uh, uh yeah yeah, pardon me doc, but uh, how long you in for doc?" and chews his carrot sloppily. A great conclusion for the cartoon, for this is a another dilemma for Elmer, but closes at the right moment.

Despite the controversy over who the real director of this cartoon was, Wabbit Twouble still holds up as an all-round entertaining cartoon. The carton wonderfully establishes the duelling duets of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, and thus it would make a prime example of what a Bugs/Elmer cartoon is. The title card credits which is meant to be spelt in representing Elmer's speech impediment is some really good satire on Elmer, and thus making it a rare gag on the title credits themselves. The Fat Elmer design is a little unsettling, especially if you're used to watching a thinner Elmer Fudd. Personally, I don't mind the redesign; as I still think Elmer Fudd when I watch the character: even if he put on a few pounds. Overall, the cartoon has a lot of entertaining, charming moments: the gags are inventive, and the characterisations of Bugs Bunny is still as insightful as ever, with the cartoons becoming funnier from each new cartoon.

Rating: 4/5.