''Elmer's Candid Camera'' is a 1940 Warner Bros. ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American 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 1970s to the ...

'' cartoon short directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

. The short was released on March 2, 1940, and features

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 panthe ...

and an early Bugs Bunny prototype. This is the first appearance of a redesigned

, a character previously known as "Elmer" on the Lobby cards for

The Isle of Pingo Pongo ''The Isle of Pingo Pongo'' is a 1938 ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon supervised by Tex Avery. The short was released on May 28, 1938 and features an early version of Elmer Fudd. This is the first of a series of travelogue spoofs, and the first Warn ...

(1938) and

Cinderella Meets Fella ''Cinderella Meets Fella'' is a 1938 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' directed by Tex Avery and written by Tedd Pierce. The short was released on July 23, 1938 and features the third appearance of an early version of Elmer Fudd. Plot The story st ...

(1938), and even on screen in

A Feud There Was ''A Feud There Was'' is a 1938 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The short was released on September 24, 1938 and features the fourth appearance of an early version of Elmer Fudd. Plot The short begins with an establi ...

(1938) and was also referred to as "Egghead's Brother" on the

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

Publicity sheet for "Cinderella Meets Fella" (1938) which was shown on

Michael Barrier Michael J. Barrier (born June 15, 1940) is an American animation historian. Work Barrier was the founder and editor of ''Funnyworld'', the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation. It began as a contribution to the CAPA-Alpha ...

'
website
(and now voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan). It s also the fourth appearance of the prototype rabbit that would later evolve into

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 ''Merr ...

. Apart from making a fool of Elmer Fudd, the usual characteristics are absent; the voice used by

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 r ...

is closer to

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...

(without the lisp) than its mature form.

Plot

Elmer is reading a book on how to photograph wildlife. He walks along whistling as he holds the camera. He finds a rabbit and wants to take a picture of him. The rabbit finds himself a convenient victim to harass as Elmer tries to photograph him. Elmer points to where the rabbit was sleeping and tells him that he wants to take a picture of him. This tormenting eventually drives Elmer insane, causing him to jump into a lake and nearly drown. The rabbit saves him, ensures that Elmer is perfectly all right – and promptly kicks him straight back into the lake. Then, the rabbit throws Elmer's "How To Photograph Wildlife" book on his head, thus ending the cartoon as the screen irises out.

Comments by Chuck Jones

would go on to express his dissatisfaction as to how the short turned out. In his autobiography Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist, he stated:

Home media

* VHS- ''Cartoon Moviestars: Elmer!'' * VHS- ''Looney Tunes Collectors Edition: Wabbit Tales'' * Laserdisc- ''Bugs! and Elmer!'' * Laserdisc- ''Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol 2'' * DVD- '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1'' * DVD- ''

Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection The ''Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection'' is a series of DVDs released by Warner Home Video compiling ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' animated shorts. It was created as a more affordable alternative to the Looney Tunes Golden Collection s ...

: Volume 1'' * DVD- ''The Essential Bugs Bunny'' * Blu-ray- '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2'' * Blu-ray- ''

Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection ''Looney Tunes: Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection'' is a Blu-ray Disc box-set released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on December 1, 2020. It contains 60 Bugs Bunny shorts and numerous bonus features and supplementary content. The set's ...

References

External links

*
''Elmer's Candid Camera'' on the Internet Archive
1940 films 1940 short films 1940 comedy films 1940 animated films 1940s animated short films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Bugs Bunny films Elmer Fudd films Films about photographers Films set in forests Short films directed by Chuck Jones Films produced by Leon Schlesinger Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films 1940s English-language films {{MerrieMelodies-stub