''French Rarebit'' is a 1951

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' animated short, directed by

Robert McKimson Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePa ...

and written by

Tedd Pierce Edward Stacey "Tedd" Pierce III (August 12, 1906 – February 19, 1972) was an American screenwriter and voice actor of animated cartoons, principally from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s. Biography Pierce was the son of a stockbroker, Samue ...

. Released June 30, 1951, the cartoon features

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

. The title is a takeoff on "

Welsh rarebit Welsh rarebit or Welsh rabbit ( or ) is a dish consisting of a hot Cheese sauce, cheese-based sauce served over slices of Toast (food), toasted bread. The original 18th-century name of the dish was the jocular "Welsh rabbit", which was later fo ...

", which is also known as "Welsh rabbit".

Plot

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, after hitting a bumpy patch in the road, a delivery truck carrying several crates accidentally loses one marked "Carrots from U.S.A.".

was inside this crate and, as he sits in the road, surrounded by carrots, he tries to figure out where he is. He sees signs indicating the

Rue de la Paix The rue de la Paix (English: Peace Street) () is a fashionable shopping street in the center of Paris. Located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, running north from Place Vendôme and ending at the Opéra Garnier, it is best known for its jewe ...

, the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is lo ...

, and the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

, and realizes he is in Paris; he decides to "stroll down ze boulevard and look over the monsewers and mademoysels". Two French chefs, Louis and François, spot Bugs at the same time and both decide to cook him as a dinner special for their respective restaurants. Bugs is initially unaware of what is going on when each chef secretly measures him, but catches on quickly and notices the two separately approaching him with a

tureen A tureen is a serving dish for foods such as soups or stews, often shaped as a broad, deep, oval vessel with fixed handles and a low domed cover with a knob or handle. Over the centuries, tureens have appeared in many different forms: round, re ...

at the ready. François happily strides back to his restaurant, convinced he has captured the rabbit. Bugs meets him at the entrance and asks what the chef has in the "toureen". When François replies, Bugs asks if he can have a peek. "Hmm...sorta short-eared critter, ain't he, doc?" Bugs says when it is revealed that it is Louis inside. François demands to know what Louis has done with his rabbit. Louis corrects his rival, stating that the rabbit is his. Bugs steps in and stokes an uptick in the squabble by whispering in each of their ears suggestions as to what he would do in similar circumstances. As things escalate, Bugs whispers to the audience, "What a revolting display of

temper Temper, tempered or tempering may refer to: Heat treatment * Tempering (metallurgy), a heat treatment technique to increase the toughness of iron-based alloys ** Temper mill, a steel processing line * Tempering (spices), a cooking technique where ...

." François comes out on top, snatches Bugs and dumps him into a large pot on his stove. After the chef describes the meal he is going to prepare, Bugs suggests the best way to serve him would be "a good old

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Back-bay

Bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

Bunny Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit spec ...

Bordelaise, a la Antoine" from the famed Antoine's of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. François asks for the recipe, which Bugs refuses to provide, but when François "een-seests," Bugs decides to demonstrate it on him. He disguises François as a rabbit, dips him in

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

, pickles him, and stuffs him full of every spicy ingredient in the kitchen (including "

hot peppers Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for t ...

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

bay rum Bay rum is a type of cologne and aftershave lotion. Other uses include as under-arm deodorant and as a fragrance for shaving soap, as well as a general astringent. Origins It is a distillate that was originally made in Saint Thomas "and probabl ...

horseradish Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and used worldwide ...

, 'muleradish', and a dash of

Tabasco sauce Tabasco is an American brand of hot sauce made from vinegar, tabasco peppers (''Capsicum frutescens'' var. ''tabasco''), and salt. It is produced by McIlhenny Company of Avery Island in south Louisiana, having been created over 150 years ago by ...

") before coating him in flour, dumping him into a stew pot and adding fresh vegetables. Louis arrives and tells Bugs (thinking he is François) that the rabbit is his and proceeds to take the stew pot and all that is in it with him. François whacks Louis on the head with a

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...

. Louis expresses surprise that this 'delicacy' in the pot is his counterpart. François says "You were expecting maybe

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

?" (A catchphrase from

The Fred Allen Show ''The Fred Allen Show'' is a long-running American radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's, Ipana, Sal Hepat ...

). Louis asks, "Monsieur François! Wha' Happa'?!" François tells him that Bugs knows the coveted recipe from the famous Antoine, inspiring Louis to demand that Bugs now show ''him'' the recipe. Bugs agrees and plays out the same food preparation routine; he then places the two of them into an oven (identified on the door as ''La Oven'') with a carrot, which has a stick of

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

in it. After the dynamite explodes, the two goofy chefs, having survived the blast, jauntily sing Alouette, adding, with a cheer, ''"Vive Antoine!"'' as they baste themselves. As the cartoon closes, Bugs remarks, "Poi-sonally, ''I'' prefer hamboigah."

Home media

The short can be found (uncut) on the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French Rarebit 1951 films 1951 animated films 1951 short films Animated films set in Paris Merrie Melodies short films Films directed by Robert McKimson Films scored by Eugene Poddany Films scored by Milt Franklyn Bugs Bunny films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films 1950s English-language films Films about chefs Films set in restaurants