The Hunting Trilogy
Iconic trio of Looney Tunes cartoons from The Golden Age of Animation starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. All three are based around Elmer on a hunt in a forest during which he encounters Bugs and Daffy, who alternately work together and against each other to discombobulate Elmer and avoid becoming his latest catch.
The individual cartoons in the trilogy are:
- Rabbit Fire (1951)
- Rabbit Seasoning (1952)
- Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953)
They are considered some of the best Looney Tunes cartoons ever made, if not among the best cartoons ever, and are the source of several enduring Pop Culture references and images, not to mention a few trope names. Unfortunately, due to just how much their plots and humor revolve around gun violence, they are also among the most heavily-censored cartoons still to be found on modern broadcast or cable TV; your best bet these days for seeing any of them intact is in a DVD collection or perhaps Cartoon Network at its boldest. They may also be available on YouTube.
Not to be confused with, nor does it include, Good Will Hunting.
For tropes specific to individual installments, visit their respective work pages.
- Amusing Injuries: As always, a duck and his bill are soon parted.
- Bowdlerization: These cartoons were shown edited on a lot of network TV channels (and one cable channel), all for the same gag: Daffy getting shot in the face by Elmer.
- Versions of these cartoons shown on ABC and The Merrie Melodies Show (the syndicated version) would cut to a freeze-framed shot of Bugs looking off-camera while the audio of Daffy getting shot was still heard.
- CBS and the WB, however, chose not to give viewers the satisfaction of using their imaginations and edited both audio and visual of Daffy getting blasted.
- Nickelodeon (the one cable channel mentioned above) actually left Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! alone in the editing department, but Rabbit Fire wasn’t so lucky. The famous “no more bullets” part (where Daffy looks down the barrel of Elmer’s rifle and gets shot through his scalp) was cut.
- To quote the blog, Saturday Morning Hangover on how editing the gun violence affects the cartoons:
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"The ABC, Merrie Melodies Show, and Nickelodeon cuts you can tolerate. The CBS and WB versions aren’t recommended for theatrical cartoon lovers with short tempers...Without it [the edited scenes], they [the cartoons] just lie there, like an unsatisfied wife waiting for her husband to finish penetrating her when really he’s just humping a blanket fold." |
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- Fortunately averted once and for all by Cartoon Network, which showed all three cartoons 100% uncut.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Bugs Bunny, as always.
- 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.
- Karmic Trickster: Both Daffy and Bugs play this role throughout the trilogy, at least in regards to Elmer. This being Bugs' schtick, though, he naturally comes out on top as Daffy meets his just desserts.
- Running Gag: Daffy getting shot and his beak winding up in so many different positions.
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