''Pre-Hysterical Hare'' is a 1958 Warner Bros. ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' cartoon 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. The short was released on November 1, 1958, and stars Bugs Bunny and

Elmer Fudd Elmer J.''Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheo ...

. The two are in their usual hunter-and-bunny antics, but set in the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

. This cartoon marks one of the few instances where Elmer Fudd is voiced by somebody other than

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

Arthur Q. Bryan Arthur Quirk Bryan (May 8, 1899 – November 30, 1959) was an American actor and radio personality. He is best remembered for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr. Gamble on the radio comedy ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' and f ...

, being voiced by

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...

Plot

The opening scene depicts Bugs and Elmer in the modern day, with Elmer's gun blasting at Bugs repeatedly. Bugs finally pauses long enough to tell the audience: "Someday, they'll outlaw this annual madness known as Rabbit Season." He hops over a stone dike, but either the ground on the other side is not firm enough to support him, or he lands with too much force. Bugs assumes that he has fallen into a cave possibly belonging to giant Native Americans. This assumption comes from a giant powder horn on the wall with odd writing on it (the writing briefly changes to English: reading "TIME CAPSULE — CIRCA 10,000 BC TO BE OPENED 1960 AD," then reverts to its original format as Bugs approaches it). Much to his surprise, when he opens it, a reel of film pops out. This he transports (off-camera) back to his hole and views through his own film projector. During the opening, a variety of clashes take place amidst the palm trees and other tropical surroundings, i.e. dinosaurs fighting each other (an inaccuracy) including a Brontosaurus chased by a Tyrannosaurus rex, a Mammoth and a

Parasaurolophus ''Parasaurolophus'' (; meaning "near crested lizard" in reference to '' Saurolophus)'' is a genus of herbivorous hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous Period, abou ...

, a

sabre-toothed tiger ''Smilodon'' is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids. It is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals and the best known saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related ...

and a ''

Pteranodon ''Pteranodon'' (); from Ancient Greek (''pteron'', "wing") and (''anodon'', "toothless") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of . They lived during the late Cr ...

'' and a Stegosaurus and an Allosaurus battling, before we are introduced to Elmer Fuddstone (A Caveman version of Elmer Fudd), who emerges from his cave and announces that he is hunting sabre-toothed wabbit (sic) (A prehistoric version of Bugs). A sabre-toothed rabbit hole now appears on the screen — albeit covered by a rock. Its inhabitant pushes it aside and emerges, looking very much like Bugs, albeit with less-well-groomed fur and longer teeth. Elmer Fuddstone now appears, spear in hand, and huddles low to the ground. He continues on, up into a tree, where he rips a vine off one branch and ties a loop in one end like a lasso. The looped end he allows to fall to the ground, but when the prehistoric Bugs passes by, he pulls on the string and Elmer falls down. Next, the prehistoric Elmer grabs a hollow stick, into one end of which he places a poisonous berry, but as he prepares to blow it at Bugs, he suffers the effects of the projectile's consumption as the rabbit blows it in his mouth first. Bugs asks him: "What's up, Doc?" whereupon Elmer blasts the "tweachewous wabbit" for not allowing him to hunt him and thus provide his killer's family with clothes and food. Bugs feigns guilt and, under the pretext of wanting to help, mentions that somebody is going to invent gunpowder one day, closely followed by guns. This entices Fuddstone to begin developing gunpowder almost at once, and shortly thereafter he demonstrates this to Bugs. He rubs a wooden stick in a small skin bag of gunpowder, which explodes. Elmer is now high in an old tree, ashen-faced and much the worse for wear, but he maintains a triumphant look upon his face. Bugs searches for items out of which to manufacture a gun, in the end settling on the hollow stick that previously contained the toxic berry Elmer swallowed by mistake for a gunbarrel, and "a taro root for a stock." Elmer grows impatient, but Bugs soon attaches the root to one end of the stick, pours in powder and pebbles, packs it down tight and hands the finished product to his pursuer. He lights the fuse with an extremely primitive version of a cigarette lighter, but right before he fires, Bugs removes the stock and plugs it into the other end of the barrel, causing Elmer to shoot himself in the face. The film ends, and Elmer Fudd finally takes the initiative to climb down into Bugs' hole. However, Fudd does not notice that he is holding his gun so that it points at him; so repeating his ancestor's mistake, he shoots himself. Bugs says, "That's what I think.", and he laughs as the cartoon finishes.

Background music

This is one of six cartoons (and the only Bugs Bunny cartoon) scored by using stock music by John Seely of

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

from the Hi-Q library because of a musicians' strike in 1958. The others are '' Hook, Line and Stinker'', '' Weasel While You Work'', '' Hip Hip-Hurry!'', '' Gopher Broke'', and '' A Bird in a Bonnet''.

References

External links

* {{Robert McKimson 1958 films 1958 animated films 1958 short films Animated films set in prehistory Animated films about dinosaurs Films directed by Robert McKimson Films set in 1960 Looney Tunes shorts Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Bugs Bunny films Elmer Fudd films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films 1950s English-language films