Horst in Translation ([email protected]) Season time! But what season is it actually? Rabbit season or duck season? This is the first of a trilogy of cartoons that is considered to be among the finest (and certainly most famous) of Warner Bros's cartoon work in the 1950s. These 7 minutes were made almost 65 years ago by the usual trio of Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese and Mel Blanc, who voices the two protagonists and the elephant. Only Elmer was done by somebody else. Of course, as always, Bugs is way too smart to be caught and Daffy gets his fair share too, but the ending this time shows us Elmer as the loser. Not too often the case in short films where Bugs and Duffy appear. He is usually more of an observant despite being the hunter of course. I think this is a solid little short film. It has its moments, such as the aforementioned elephant, Bug in drag, Bugs posing as Daffy and Daffy posing as Elmer and a funny little discussion contest by our two heroes which season it currently is. Good stuff. Recommended.

Mightyzebra Looney Tunes made three episodes where Daffy tries to make Elmer shoot Bugs Bunny, so he cannot be shot himself (in each episode it is REALLY Duck season). This is the first of the three, the ones to follow are "Rabbit Seasoning" and "Duck Rabbit Duck!" This is my personal favourite of the hunting trilogy, because I prefer the animation and the jokes to the other two. Elmer is a strangely likable character whom many viewers of this cartoon will love and Daffy, despite being cruel, does not behave as cruelly as he does in the rest of the trilogy, or in some of his later episodes. If you are familiar with Elmer Fudd, you will probably know that in this episode he is hunting rabbits. Daffy leads him (in an intelligent way) to Bugs' burrow and tries to make Elmer shoot Bugs, but ends up shooting Daffy instead. The jokes are very clever and if this is your first episode with Daffy, Elmer and Bugs, you will, very likely, find this incredibly amusing.I recommend this to people who like episodes where Daffy is more crafty than crazy and if you like slapstick in Looney Tunes at least a little bit. Enjoy "Rabbit Fire"! :-)

tavm Of the three shorts directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese that starred Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd in the "Hunting Trilogy" series, this, Rabbit Fire was the first. When I originally saw this as a nearly 10-year-old kid in the late '70s, I laughed out loud at the way Bugs kept tricking Daffy into saying, "Duck season, fire!" with the result of Elmer shooting the duck's face and Daffy's beak either falling off, or spinning, or his head hanging upside down. Other funny stuff involves the wabbit and duck impersonating each other in costume, their reading recipes of what each other would taste like followed by "mmmm-mmm" sounds, Bugs fooling Elmer with his female disguise (again!), an "elephant gun" gag, and the final twist that I won't reveal here. After all these years, this is one of my favorites among many classic Warner Bros. cartoons.

MisterWhiplash One of the creme de la creme of the Looney Tunes cartoons (almost overplayed when I was a kid, though never under-valued by me), Rabbit Fire is the cartoon that puts a different kind of edge on the cartoon form- it's funny, but almost in a satirical way. This is the kind of stuff that almost shouldn't be funny for kids, but more for adults; if not for the randomness of it all, the banter might go over their heads completely.Although I always thought of this episode as one unto itself and not part of a "trilogy" as I have read, this is definitely the most popular of the three, as I remember practically every line by memory. Elmer is having his Jonesin' for 'Hunting Wabbits', and gets perpetually mixed up as Bugs and Daffy have a back and forth over 'Duck season...rabbit season'. There's one scene involving cross-character dressing that is the key gag in the short, and it always keeps me cracking up. The last moment, in a way, is kind of deep. Who knows what season it is for hunting anyone, anyway? It's a little classic in the world of hand-drawn insanity, and one of only several times Daffy Duck has worked perfectly in a three-piece grouping.