Rabbit Romeo is a Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...

cartoon starring Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...

 and Elmer Fudd

Elmer Fudd

Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...

. The film is notable as one of the few parings of Bugs and Elmer in which Bugs is not hunted throughout the entire picture (despite Elmer using his hunting rifle every time Bugs tries to escape throughout the entire cartoon), and also notable as a cartoon in which Bugs has a romantic encounter.

Plot

Elmer receives a large package, accompanied by a letter from his Uncle Judd. In the letter, Elmer is asked to take care of the enclosed rare Slobbovian rabbit (named Millicent) until he arrives, and is promised $500 for his efforts. When he opens the box he discovers that Millicent is a huge, unattractive, female rabbit with an Eastern European/Slavic accent. When Elmer shows Millicent her room, she trashes the room and cries uncontrollably on a couch.

Elmer calls a doctor that says that Slobovian rabbits get lonely and need another rabbit to talk to. He goes out to lure a rabbit with a carrot, and catches Bugs

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...

.

When Elmer introduces Bugs to Millicent, her demeanor quickly switches from melancholic to amorous; she asks for a "laaarge keess", as she calls it. Most of the rest of the plot deals with Bugs' humorous attempts to evade Millicent's romantic advances; Bugs is often thwarted by a gun-wielding Elmer. At one point, Bugs declares that they should elope. Bugs takes a rolled up sheet and holds it out the window for Milly to slide down, but lets go of the sheet as she is doing so ("Butterfingers!").

As Millicent pounds on the door, Bugs goes and tells Elmer that Uncle Judd is at the door. Bugs offers a "bathrobe" for Elmer to slip into; as he steps into the hall, the "bathrobe" is revealed to be a bunny costume. When Elmer opens the door, Millicent becomes interested in Elmer instead, and chases after him off into the countryside. The cartoon concludes with Bugs at the door, saying "Ain't I the little matchmaker?"

Censorship

• On CBS and the syndicated Merrie Melodies show, the part where Bugs uses a goldfish to shield himself from Millicent's kisses was cut to remove the part where the goldfish is put back in the fishbowl, the goldfish takes out a pistol, returns inside his toy castle, and shoots himself (implied by the bubbles surfacing and making a gunshot sound when popped).
• On The WB!, the part where Bugs uses an electric fan to protect himself from Millicent's kisses, but her mouth destroys the fan, and then Millicent says, "Mmm, not bad for a beginner!" was cut.