The Big Snooze
Encyclopedia
The Big Snooze is a 1946 Warner Bros.
Looney Tunes
cartoon directed by an uncredited Bob Clampett
, his final cartoon for Warner. Its title was inspired by the 1939 book The Big Sleep
, and its 1946 film adaptation
, also a Warner release. The Big Snooze features Bugs Bunny
and Elmer Fudd
, voiced as usual by Mel Blanc
and Arthur Q. Bryan
.
of sorts originally used in Avery's All this and Rabbit Stew
), Elmer becomes enraged and frustrated that the writers never let him catch the rabbit "in every one of these cartoons". He tears up his Warner contract and walks off the set to devote his life to fishing. Bugs piteously protests, saying "Think what we've been for each other. We've been like Rabbit and Costello
, Damon and Runyon
, Stan and Laurel
! You can't do this! You don't want to break up the act, do ya? Bette Davis
is going to hate me for this. Think of your career. And for that matter, think of my career!" He then breaks down, sobbing. Elmer pays him no mind, however, and walks off the set with fishing pole in hand for the nearest pond. Once there, thinking he's alone, Elmer quickly falls asleep.
Bugs, stunned by Elmer's walkout, observes Elmer's nap and takes sleeping pills ("Take Dese and Doze") in order to rock Elmer's "dreamboat" by "invading" his dream and continuing to drive Elmer crazy. Symbolic of his dreamland
plight, Elmer appears nearly nude, wearing only his derby hat and a strategically placed "loincloth" consisting of a laurel wreath. The two resume their chase through a surreal landscape.
Elmer's anger at a failed pursuit through the surreal landscape, down connected rabbit holes, is promptly used against him by Bugs who forces Elmer to wear a slinky, form fitting bustier gown created from a length of green material Bugs pulls on screen from stage right.
As the fabric wraps around Elmer's body, it reshapes Elmer as a "woman" with a complete feminine hourglass figure. Elmer's feet are clad in open toed high heels to complete the outfit. Bugs adds finishing touches, a ringlet-styled wig and a poke to the abdomen, which forces Elmer to lean forward, purse his lips so Bugs can apply red lipstick, making Elmer look like Rita Hayworth.
Bugs inspects his handiwork, then introduces Elmer to a trio of literal wolves, lounging by the sign at Hollywood and Vine. Once the trio notice Elmer, one wolf hollers "hooooow old is she?", right before another wolf begins flirting with Elmer. Bugs enjoys watching the male wolves hit on Elmer, making the hunter now the hunted in a new way. The attention of Elmer's male suitors causes him to act as a damsel in distress and exclaim "Gwacious!", then flee from the wolves, pausing long enough to ask the audience, "Have any of you giwls evew had an expewience wike this?".
In an attempt to "help", Bugs persuades Elmer to follow a mad dash towards stage right, as Bugs plays the old gag "run 'this way'!", putting Elmer through a bizarre series of steps which include running on his feet and hair, hopping like a frog, as well as Russian folk dancing (Hey!).He then runs away with Bugs at high speed, mimicking some crazy dance steps suggested by Bugs, ("Hey, Doc, run 'this way'
!"). As Bugs and Elmer dive off a cliff, Bugs drinks some "Hare Tonic
(Stops Falling Hare
)" and screeches to a halt in mid-air (and says "Gosh, ain't I a stinker?"), while the dream Elmer continues to careen toward earth, finally crash-landing into the real Elmer's snoozing body as he wakes up with a start: "Oh, what a howwibwe nightmare!"
Elmer dashes back to the cartoon's original set, pieces his Warner contract back together, and tells the audience, "Oh, Mr. Warner... I'm ba-ack!" and the chase through the log begins anew. The happy Bugs faces the audience in a closeup, closing with the catchphrase from the "Beulah" character on the radio show Fibber McGee and Molly
, "Ah love dat man!"
DVD set, and as part of the compilation What's Up, Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny on Volume 3
.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoon directed by an uncredited Bob Clampett
Bob Clampett
Robert Emerson "Bob" Clampett was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., and the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil...
, his final cartoon for Warner. Its title was inspired by the 1939 book The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep is a hardboiled crime novel by Raymond Chandler, the first in his acclaimed series about detective Philip Marlowe. The work has been adapted twice into film, once in 1946 and again in 1978...
, and its 1946 film adaptation
The Big Sleep (1946 film)
The Big Sleep is a 1946 film noir directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The movie stars Humphrey Bogart as detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as the female lead in a film about the "process of a criminal investigation, not its...
, also a Warner release. The Big Snooze features 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...
, voiced as usual by Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
and Arthur Q. Bryan
Arthur Q. Bryan
Arthur Quirk Bryan was a United States comedian and voice actor, remembered best for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr...
.
Plot
In this cartoon-within-a-cartoon, Bugs and Elmer are in the midst of their usual hunting-chasing scenario. After Bugs tricks Elmer into running through a hollow log and off a cliff three times (a comic tripleTriple
Triple, a doublet of "treble" or "threefold" , is used in several contexts:* Triple metre, a musical metre characterized by a primary division of three beats to the bar...
of sorts originally used in Avery's All this and Rabbit Stew
All This and Rabbit Stew
All This and Rabbit Stew is a one-reel animated cartoon short subject in the Merrie Melodies series, produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on September 20, 1941 by Warner Bros. and Vitaphone. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger and directed by an uncredited Tex Avery, with musical...
), Elmer becomes enraged and frustrated that the writers never let him catch the rabbit "in every one of these cartoons". He tears up his Warner contract and walks off the set to devote his life to fishing. Bugs piteously protests, saying "Think what we've been for each other. We've been like Rabbit and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
, Damon and Runyon
Damon Runyon
Alfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the...
, Stan and Laurel
Stan Laurel
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
! You can't do this! You don't want to break up the act, do ya? Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
is going to hate me for this. Think of your career. And for that matter, think of my career!" He then breaks down, sobbing. Elmer pays him no mind, however, and walks off the set with fishing pole in hand for the nearest pond. Once there, thinking he's alone, Elmer quickly falls asleep.
Bugs, stunned by Elmer's walkout, observes Elmer's nap and takes sleeping pills ("Take Dese and Doze") in order to rock Elmer's "dreamboat" by "invading" his dream and continuing to drive Elmer crazy. Symbolic of his dreamland
Dream world (plot device)
Dream world is a commonly used plot device in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. The use of a dream world creates a situation whereby a character is placed in a marvellous and unpredictable environment and must overcome several personal problems to leave it...
plight, Elmer appears nearly nude, wearing only his derby hat and a strategically placed "loincloth" consisting of a laurel wreath. The two resume their chase through a surreal landscape.
As the fabric wraps around Elmer's body, it reshapes Elmer as a "woman" with a complete feminine hourglass figure. Elmer's feet are clad in open toed high heels to complete the outfit. Bugs adds finishing touches, a ringlet-styled wig and a poke to the abdomen, which forces Elmer to lean forward, purse his lips so Bugs can apply red lipstick, making Elmer look like Rita Hayworth.
Bugs inspects his handiwork, then introduces Elmer to a trio of literal wolves, lounging by the sign at Hollywood and Vine. Once the trio notice Elmer, one wolf hollers "hooooow old is she?", right before another wolf begins flirting with Elmer. Bugs enjoys watching the male wolves hit on Elmer, making the hunter now the hunted in a new way. The attention of Elmer's male suitors causes him to act as a damsel in distress and exclaim "Gwacious!", then flee from the wolves, pausing long enough to ask the audience, "Have any of you giwls evew had an expewience wike this?".
In an attempt to "help", Bugs persuades Elmer to follow a mad dash towards stage right, as Bugs plays the old gag "run 'this way'!", putting Elmer through a bizarre series of steps which include running on his feet and hair, hopping like a frog, as well as Russian folk dancing (Hey!).He then runs away with Bugs at high speed, mimicking some crazy dance steps suggested by Bugs, ("Hey, Doc, run 'this way'
Walk this way (movie line)
"Walk this way" is a recurrent pun in a number of movies and television shows, most notably movies by Mel Brooks. It may be derived from an old vaudeville joke. It refers to the double usage of "way" in English as both a direction and a manner....
!"). As Bugs and Elmer dive off a cliff, Bugs drinks some "Hare Tonic
Hare Tonic
Hare Tonic is a 1945 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce. It stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd making this the second cartoon directed by Jones to co-star the two . Voice characterizations are by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q...
(Stops Falling Hare
Falling Hare
Falling Hare is a 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert Clampett, starring Bugs Bunny. The title is another play on words. The word "hair" and "hare". As "falling hair" refers to impending baldness, while in this cartoon's climax, the title turns out to be descriptive of Bugs' situation....
)" and screeches to a halt in mid-air (and says "Gosh, ain't I a stinker?"), while the dream Elmer continues to careen toward earth, finally crash-landing into the real Elmer's snoozing body as he wakes up with a start: "Oh, what a howwibwe nightmare!"
Elmer dashes back to the cartoon's original set, pieces his Warner contract back together, and tells the audience, "Oh, Mr. Warner... I'm ba-ack!" and the chase through the log begins anew. The happy Bugs faces the audience in a closeup, closing with the catchphrase from the "Beulah" character on the radio show Fibber McGee and Molly
Fibber McGee and Molly
Fibber McGee and Molly was an American radio comedy series which maintained its popularity over decades. It premiered on NBC in 1935 and continued until its demise in 1959, long after radio had ceased to be the dominant form of entertainment in American popular culture.-Husband and wife in real...
, "Ah love dat man!"
Availability
The Big Snooze is available in a restored version on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 is a DVD box set that was released by Warner Home Video on November 2, 2004. It contains 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements.-Related releases:...
DVD set, and as part of the compilation What's Up, Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny on Volume 3
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 is a DVD box set from Warner Home Video that was released on October 25, 2005. It contains 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical short subject cartoons, 9 documentaries, 32 commentary tracks from animators and historians, 11 "vintage treasures from...
.
External links
- The Big Snooze at the Big Cartoon DatabaseBig Cartoon DataBaseThe Big Cartoon DataBase is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows and cartoon shorts....