Person to Bunny (1960)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Arthur Davis, Gerry Chiniquy, Virgil Ross, Harry Love
Music by Milt Franklyn
Bugs Bunny is being interviewed at his Hollywood home (a luxurious hole in the ground) on live television by Cedric R. Burrows for the “People to People” show (a spoof Edward R. Murrow and his series “Person to Person”). While the interview is in progress, Daffy Duck comes in and tries to make himself the center of attention. Bugs answers a question about Elmer Fudd with an insulting wisecrack – “His IQ is PU” – but Elmer is watching the broadcast and grabs his rifle, showing up at Bugs’ home. The broadcast devolves into chaos as Elmer winds up shooting Daffy, a quickly recovered Daffy does vaudeville-style dancing for the camera, and a rifle-toting Elmer chases Bugs out of his home.
The weakest of the Bugs-Daffy-Elmer pairings, “Person to Bunny” is burdened by director Friz Freleng’s penchant for poorly recycled gags and situations, most notably the chase involving a hollow log spun off the edge of a cliff. The pacing of the slapstick is dull, and the only original humor comes in the spoof of Murrow, whose trademark on-air smoking is kidded with an oversized ashtray and a wild overflow of smoked cigarettes; Daws Butler does a decent imitation of Murrow.
However, this is the rare cartoon where Elmer comes uninvited into Bugs’ underground home. And the carrot-inspired furnishings of the residence offer blink-and-you-miss-it humor.
“Person to Bunny” marked the final voice performance by Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd. Bryan died shortly before this cartoon was released, and it is a shame that he never received screen credit for bringing that delightfully silly character to vocal life.