I was rewatching my “Golden Ages” collection of Looney Tunes, when I came across an episode I thought a trifle extreme in its implications (even for early Looney Tunes ).
As we all know, Bugs Bunny occasionally dresses in drag to befuddle his opponents. In this episode, right near the end, he is escaping from an (early) Elmer Fudd when he runs into a woman’s dressing-room and dresses in women’s underwear; then when Fudd opens the door, Bugs screams in pretend outrage. This flusters Fudd for a second, but he then throws open the door, runs into the room, slams the door shut behind him, and the two struggle off-screen; Bugs then runs out (without underwear) and escapes. Then, a delivery man delivers a big package to Fudd filled with baby bunnies. The end.
I was watching this with my wife, and we both sort of thought the same thing: is the “gag” that Fudd raped Bugs in that dressing room, producing all those baby rabbits? :eek:
Delivery men don’t deliver babies. Storks deliver babies.
This was also after Elmer realized that he was not going to get anything from Uncle Louis’ inheritance and finally was able to rid his house of Bugs (the rabbit who overstayed his “welcome” just as the title character of The Man Who Came to Dinner overstayed his).
Even after de-rabbitizing his house, Elmer cannot win, because more rabbits appear on his doorstep unannounced.
A rather weak punchline to the cartoon, IMHO, but nothing like you are reading in to it.
I think it could go either way (which is why I phrase it in the form of a question). That Elmer is the ‘dad’ of these baby bunnies makes the punchline ‘funnier’ and fits with the previous scene, but only of course if one has a truly perverted sense of humour …
Note that the baby bunnies arrive in a big egg that says “Happy Easter.” Bunnies are traditionally given as (ill-advised) gifts on Easter. Bugs had been goofing around with the holidays (Happy New Year, etc.) earlier in the episode. The gift of a bunch of bunnies assured that Elmer would never be rid of bunnies even if he got rid of Bugs.
So I don’t think it had anything to do with Elmer raping Bugs, though that might make for a good cartoon, too.
I’m trying to recall whether there was ever a real suggestion of sex in a classic Looney. Certainly there were many references to sexiness at the “gams” level, horndogs and temptresses, peeping tom gags, all that sort of thing. But actual sex? I don’t think so.
In the one with the “Nature Boy”, (“Unga-Bunga-Bunga!”) it appears as though they made out in the Tunnel Of Love. They chase each other in there, then emerge arm-in-arm. “Gosh, Nature - I didn’t know you cared!”
There’s also the one where Pepe LePew actually nails painted-tail Sylvester doggie-style. “Ah! Le Sexe du chien!” But I’m not sure that one was canon.
I think they were fighting in the room, not making little bunnies. Anyway, Bugs Bunny is male so even if Elmer did have sex with him, I don’t think the bunnies could have been theirs.
).
