The film marks a significant shift in Daffy's personality, going from being the insane "screwball" character who (like Bugs) overwhelmed his adversaries, to a much more flawed individual, full of greed and vanity and desire for attention under the spotlight. This personality change, which was previously explored by Jones inYou Were Never Duckier andDaffy Dilly, and even earlier inFriz Freleng'sYou Ought to Be in Pictures, was done in order for Daffy to better serve as Bugs' foil. This was fueled by Bugs' popularity surpassing Daffy's quickly over the years, increasing the desire of the studio's animators to pair the two together. Since then, Daffy's earlier screwball personality has been revisited in newerLooney Tunes media such asLooney Tunes Cartoons.
Daffy Duck orchestrates a ruse to lure Elmer Fudd to Bugs Bunny's burrow, initiating a cycle of mistaken identity. Initially, Daffy incites Elmer to target Bugs under the false pretense of rabbitseason, only for Bugs to counter that it is duck season. Daffy, indignant, engages in a verbal duel with Bugs, unwittingly validating Bugs' assertions and prompting Elmer to fire upon him repeatedly. Afterwards, Daffy cunningly disguises himself as Bugs, leading to Bugs trying the same trick to reverse the situation.
When Elmer begins hunting them both, Bugs and Daffy eventually join forces to try and deceive him, a plan which fails when Elmer sees through their disguises. Tensions escalate, prompting a final confrontation where Bugs and Daffy alternately rip "Rabbit Season" and "Duck Season" signs off a tree, only to reveal an "Elmer Season" poster underneath. With Elmer now in the crosshairs and the tables turned, Bugs and Daffy assume the role of hunters and stalk Elmer with shotguns in hand.
Rabbit Fire is generally considered amongChuck Jones andMichael Maltese's best works, and is noted for its use of dialogue gags in lieu of the physical gags more typical in animation.[3] Besides the two sequels to this film, a number of other Jones shorts, includingBeanstalk Bunny andAli Baba Bunny, paired quick-witted Bugs and self-serving Daffy with (or rather against) each other.
In this short, Mel Blanc showcased his ability to make one character imitate another character's voice, in this case, Daffy Duck impersonating Bugs Bunny and vice versa. Actor and voice actorHank Azaria pointed out that as a voice actor, it is almost impossible to accomplish. At one point, he tried to do that inThe Simpsons, along with the other cast members, but none of them could do it.[4]
The "rabbit season/duck season" argument from this short became one of the references in theLooney Tunes franchise to have been analyzed both by scholars and by Jones himself (although this gag was actually used by Daffy against Porky six years earlier in the cartoonDuck Soup to Nuts). According to an essay by Darragh O'Donoghue,Rabbit Fire "stands in close relation to human experience, striving and generally failing to grasp an elusive quarry or goal."[5] Richard Thompson said that in the film, there is "the clearest definition of character roles: Elmer never knows what's going on; Bugs always knows what's going on and is in control of things; Daffy is bright enough to understand how to be in control, but never quite makes it." Jones himself refers toRabbit Fire as a "corner" picture, among his works that, "as in turning a corner in a strange city, reveal new and enchanting vistas."
The short earned an honorable mention for animation historianJerry Beck's list ofThe Fifty Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1000 Animation Professionals. Its 1952 sequel,Rabbit Seasoning, made the actual list at number 30. The style, setup, and plot ofRabbit Fire were adapted into the opening sequence of Warner Bros.' 2003 filmLooney Tunes: Back in Action.
Rabbit Fire is one of several shorts where Bugs Bunny dresses in drag to trick his enemies. Multiple scholars analyzeRabbit Fire to argue that Bugs Bunny’s drag apoearances demonstrate thecultural construction of gender,[6][7][8][9] as well as animation’s ability to expose "the constructedness of gender and sexuality through parodic redeployment".[6]
In two interviews conducted years after this cartoon was first released, directorChuck Jones fondly recalled voice artistMel Blanc improvising hilariously as Daffy when he was trying to think of another word besides "despicable". However, in the finished film, only the words from the original dialogue script[10] actually appear. Historians believe that Blanc did indeed improvise, as Jones remembered, but then Jones had decided instead to use what was originally written.[11]
Rabbit Fire and its two sequels often have two characters in the same frame for some length of time – an atypical aspect of the "Hunting" trilogy. In order to keep budgets under control, most Warner Bros. cartoons would cut back and forth between characters, rather than put two or more in the same shot, or, at least, both characters might be in the same shot, but only one would actually be animated.[12]
Rabbit Fire marked the first cartoon where Bugs and Daffy starred and appeared together. While Bugs had made a cameo inPorky Pig's Feat (which co-starred Daffy andPorky Pig), this was the first where both were the stars.
Although this is the first cartoon with Daffy's selfish side replacing his screwball side, he still hollers "hoo-hoo", a catchphrase from his screwball personality.
^Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989).Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 223.ISBN0-8050-0894-2.
^Sandler, Kevin S. (1998). "Gendered Evasion: Bugs Bunny in Drag".Reading the Rabbit: Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. pp. 154–171.ISBN9780813525389.
