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Elmer's Candid Camera Merrie Melodies, Happy Rabbit/Bugs Bunny series
Title card for Elmer's Candid Camera
Directed by	Charles Jones
Produced by	Leon Schlesinger
Story by	Rich Hogan
Voices by	Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan
Music by	Carl W. Stalling
Animation by	Bob McKimson
Layouts by	John McGrew
Backgrounds by	Paul Julian
Studio	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	March 2, 1940
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	8 minutes (one reel)
Language	English
Preceded by	Hare-um Scare-um
Followed by	Patient Porky

Elmer's Candid Camera is a 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, and first released on March 2, 1940 by Warner Bros.. It marks the first appearance of Elmer Fudd (voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan), who had evolved from Tex Avery's "Egghead," and the fourth starring appearance of the Bugs Bunny prototype (excluding Elmer's Pet Rabbit, where he was billed as Bugs Bunny, the first instance of that name being used on-screen, and a cameo in a later cartoon Patient Porky) until Looney Tunes: Back in Action (first re-seen in the final minutes of a deleted scenes montage featured on that film's DVD release).

Plot

Elmer has come to the country to photograph wildlife. As he tries to photograph a rabbit, the rabbit finds him a convenient victim to harass. This tormenting eventually drives Elmer insane, causing him to jump into a lake and nearly drown. The rabbit saves him, ensures that Elmer is all right now - and then kicks him straight back into the lake.

Evolution of the characters

The Bugs Bunny prototype with Elmer Fudd.

• In this short the Bugs Bunny prototype now resembles Bugs except for the apricot-colored mouth, furrier tail, black nose, black-tipped ears, and a different voice. This voice sounds "rural", and at times sounds rather like Daffy Duck's early voice. The laugh at the end of the cartoon ("Heh-heh-heh-HEH-heh!"), is similar to that of another character initially voiced by Blanc, Woody Woodpecker, who would debut later in the year.
• Elmer's voice is fully developed, and his appearance is similar to that in later cartoons, though he still wears Egghead's attire and has a shiny nose and cheeks. When in a mild-mannered mood, he is very much like the familiar Elmer. When enraged, as shown in the frame here, his appearance is decidedly uncharacteristic, nearly maniacal.

External links

• Elmer's Candid Camera at the Internet Movie Database
• See Elmer's Candid Camera on Dailymotion