Indeed he was. The mouse brought out his own piano and finished the song, leaving Bugs to play the final three notes while muttering to himself angrily under his breath.
(Interestingly, there was a Tom and Jerry cartoon made the same year with exactly the same plot. Both cartoons ended up nominated for an Oscar that year. I heard Bill Hanna- or maybe it was Barbera?- tell a story about the screening once. The Tom and Jerry cartoon was shown first- and won- and when the Bugs Bunny cartoon started, the audience laughed. Friz Freling, who directed Bugs’s cartoon, yelled that he came up with the idea first.)
I can’t believe I’m the first to cite What’s Opera Doc? which ends with Elmer & his magic helmet killing Bugs. “What do you expect in an opera - a happy ending?”
Hare Brush, directed by Friz Freleng. *"Repeat after me: “I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionare. I own a mansion and a yacht.” *
Freleng had used a similar device in an earlier short, The Hare-Brained Hypnotist, where Elmer tries to get the best of Bugs using eye-crackling mesmeric powers. Bugs quickly picks up the knack as well, and decides to teach Elmer a lesson by making him believe he’s a rabbit. Elmer, of course, proceeds to inflict on Bugs all the indignities he’s had to endure over the years, plus a couple new ones (I especially enjoyed the carrot gag). Bugs is incensed by this sudden reversal ("Who’s da comedian in dis picture, anyway?!") and an apocalyptic battle of wills ensues. Ultimately, Bugs prevails… or does he?
In yet another Freleng-directed short, Hyde and Hare, Bugs is adopted by the milquetoasty Dr. Jekyll, whose ugly addiction problem manifests itself frequently and unpredictably throughout the picture. Jekyll only transforms out of Bugs’ line of sight, though, so Bugs never picks up on the relationship. Bugs therefore spends the entire cartoon vainly trying to rescue the mild-mannered doctor while dodging the attacks of the giant apelike maniac who somehow keeps appearing out of nowhere. Eventually he just gives up and exercises the better part of valor-- a rare and humiliating rout for the normally perceptive lagomorph.
*Hyde and Hare * also features what I believe is the only example of Bugs Bunny actually behaving like a real rabbit, albeit briefly, twitching his nose and scampering timidly about on all fours. It’s a vaguely disturbing sight.
Actually, Terrifel, I was referring to two separate cartoons (I guess I should have made that clear)
I think *Hare Brush * is the on where Elmer is the artist.
But if so, what is the name where Elmer starts out in an asylum (Bugs: Ewww. Nasty medicine teaspoon) ?
Nah, I misunderstood you; *Hare Brush * was the asylum cartoon-- Freleng was never too discriminating about how apropos the title punnery was. Chuck Jones’ “similar scenario” to *Duck Amuck * was Rabbit Rampage, which came out the same year (1955). It’s interesting how much funnier *Hare Brush * is than Rabbit Rampage– Freleng obviously didn’t see anything wrong with tearing into Bugs once in a while, whereas Jones was clearly uncomfortable with the notion. As CalMeacham points out, he never tried anything like it again.