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Elmer Fudd was even less believable than a talking rabbit

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For a start, Elmer Fudd was a hunter who only really ever hunted one rabbit: Bugs Bunny. Admittedly, this was certainly a noble beast, given that it was so often depicted as being taller than he was, considerably smarter and that it possessed a trait largely unheard of among rabbits: the ability to talk. However, imagine explaining that choice of career to a psychiatric professional.

That Elmer Fudd had a speech impediment which prevented him from correctly naming his quarry is perhaps more an unfortunate coincidence than an unrealistic career choice. I imagine, for example, that there is more than one solicitor with a lisp, and I sincerely hope the successful applicant to the position of 'temporary part-time libraries North-West inter-library loan business unit administration assistant' did not have a stammer. What's unbelievable is his stubbornness and determination in hunting just one particular rabbit instead of simply picking a more viable target. But then perhaps he just likes the challenge.

What I'm not clear on is Elmer's motivation for picking on 'poor' Bugs. There is a possibility he's simply hunting for food. Rabbits are, after all, commonly hunted in such a way and a rabbit the size of Bugs could theoretically provide quite an ample meal if he weren't so scrawny. But the relative slightness of his frame make Bugs a fairly poor choice for a meal. Far more productive would be to gather a number of smaller, more relatively proportioned and no doubt easier to catch rabbits.

Maybe it's a trophy thing. Some hunters like to proudly display their catches, and a rabbit the size (and fame) of Bugs would be quite the trophy. But surely this particular rabbit would be more valuable alive. Bugs Bunny is, after all, a talking rabbit. But, dear old Elmer always carried a shotgun, which probably isn't the most ideal means of catching something you want to keep alive. There aren't many people who would pay good money for the cadaver of a creature that used to be able to do something others of its species can't. So, that's clearly not it.

Perhaps it's some form of vendetta. Elmer has, after all, been hunting this creature for nearly seventy years and has been out-witted, quite humiliatingly, on every single attempt. It's only logical that after all that time, he'd want to get some form of revenge.

And yet, one would think he'd just give up. Clearly this catch is not meant to be his. If he's so desperate to kill rabbits, he'd be better off buying a pair of them and breeding his own. They do, after all, breed "like rabbits" and it wouldn’t be long before he had a farm full of them to pick off as he saw fit.

It's completely nonsensical. Seventy years is a long time to be chasing the same creature with such spectacularly unsuccessful results. I'm therefore lead to believe that Elmer Fudd is the least believable character of the two. Bugs can talk, which is unique to say the least, but even his large size isn’t exclusive. For the most part, all Bugs ever attempted to do was evade the hunter that was attempting to kill him, which sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Elmer was just too stubborn to be realistic.


Tags: Bugs Bunny | Elmer Fudd