Elmer's Candid Camera

Elmer's Candid Camera is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on March 2, 1940, and features Elmer Fudd and an early Bugs Bunny prototype.

This is the first appearance of a redesigned Elmer Fudd, a character previously known as "Elmer" on the Lobby cards for The Isle of Pingo Pongo (1938) and Cinderella Meets Fella (1938), and even on screen in A Feud There Was (1938) and was also referred to as "Egghead's Brother" on the Vitaphone Publicity sheet for "Cinderella Meets Fella" (1938) which was shown on Michael Barrier's website (and now voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan). It is also the fourth appearance of the prototype rabbit that would later evolve into Bugs Bunny. Apart from making a fool of Elmer Fudd, the usual characteristics are absent; the voice used by Mel Blanc is a low-pitched generic voice, and his laugh is a prototype of Woody Woodpecker.

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
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:

"In this cartoon we find Bugs stumbling, fumbling, and mumbling around, vainly seeking a personality on which to hang him dialogue and action, or— in better words than mine—'walking around with his umbilical in his hand, looking for someplace to plug it in.' It is obvious when one views this cartoon, which I recommend only if you are going to die of ennui, that my conception of timing and dialogue was formed by watching the action in the La Brea tar pits. It would be complimentary to call it sluggish. Not only Bugs suffered at my hands, but difficult as it is to make an unassertive character like Elmer Fudd into a flat, complete shmuck, I managed. Perhaps the kindest thing to say about “Elmer's Candid Camera” is that it taught everyone what not to do and how not to do it."

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: Volume 1
 * DVD – The Essential Bugs Bunny
 * Blu-ray – Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2
 * Blu-ray – Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection