Rabbit Seasoning



""Awfully unsporting of me, I know, but, what the hey, I gotta have some fun!""

- Daffy Duck in the opening

Rabbit Seasoning, voted no. 30 on The 50 Greatest Cartoons list, was a 1952 Looney Tunes short, the second in a trilogy of Bugs-Daffy-Elmer cartoons known as The Hunting Trilogy, the others being "Rabbit Fire" (1951) and "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!" (1953). The short revolves around another Bugs, Daffy, and Elmer team-up in which Daffy is trying to save his skin once more -- only to be foiled by Elmer's typical incompetence again and again.

This short is also part of The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes list.


 * Pronoun Trouble

"Bugs: I know, you go up and act as a decoy and lure 'im away. Daffy: No more for me thanks, I'm driving!"
 * Amusing Injuries: By this point, Daffy is mildly irritated at being shot by Elmer Fudd.
 * Attractive Bent Gender: Elmer falls for one of Bugs' female disguises once again.
 * Bowdlerization: See the Rabbit Fire entry for information on what was edited from this cartoon.
 * Casual Danger Dialog: Bugs Bunny, as always.
 * Duck Season! Rabbit Season!: "Would you like to shoot me now, or wait until you get home?"
 * Elmuh Fudd Syndwome
 * Hollywood Healing: Though Daffy hardly seems injured by his shotgun blasts to the face anyway, all it seems to do is misplace his beak.
 * Iron Butt Monkey: Daffy.
 * Non Sequitur Thud: After getting a face full of shotgun, Daffy comes back down in the rabbit hole, and delivers this.


 * Parental Bonus: Daffy after he gets shot yet again by Elmer: "No more for me, thanks! I'm drivin'!"
 * Pronoun Trouble: Trope Namer
 * Running Gag: Daffy getting shot and his beak winding up in so many different positions.
 * Something Else Also Rises: Elmer's hat, when the crossdressed Bugs kisses him (also, the rifle going off as Elmer staggers away in post-kiss catatonia).
 * Screwy Squirrel: Daffy, though also out to save his own hide, admits to taking enjoyment out of sending Elmer on Bugs. He isn't quite as successful as he is usually however.
 * Smug Snake: Bugs is practically a non-villainous example of this. He's content to just sit back and let Daffy defeat himself, not even so much as flinching the constant smug look on his face when Daffy yells at him.
 * In which case, Bugs is arguably more a Guile Hero or a Magnificent Bastard (depending how sympathetically you view him) as, unlike a traditional Smug Snake, he is just that good (though can lean into one in other shorts). Daffy arguably plays it more straight. He is wilier than Elmer, but his ego insists on taking on the much more competant Bugs as well.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Elmer. He seems to have forgotten that Bugs himself is a wabbit.
 * And Daffy, despite his attempts at 'self preservation' he will chastise the gun wielding huntsman right to his face.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: Bugs in one of his most famous moments.