All hail Elmer Fudd! At last, he’s getting some respect (like Rodney Dangerfield)—and his own video collection. Elmer Fudd has toiled long and hard in the cartoon vineyards, giving us all a lot of laughter. This selection of Warner Bros. cartoons captures some of Elmer Fudd’s greatest movie moments. In What’s Up Doc? he emerges as a song-and-dance vaudeville star; in What’s Opera, Doc? he expands his vocal repertoire to include Wagnerian opera; in The Rabbit of Seville he inadvertently marries Bugs Bunny; and in Hare Brush he comes to think he is Bugs Bunny! (In fact, Hare Brush may be the ultimate twist on the relationship of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.) Like so many cartoon stars, Elmer Fudd went through something of an evolution on-screen. His immediate ancestor was a bulbous-nosed character named Egghead, whose silly voice was patterned after radio comedian Joe Penner. Gradually, Egghead was softened and rechristened. Radio actor Arthur Q. Bryan (a regular on the Fibber McGee and Molly program) supplied the new voice, with its comic crossing of “r” and “w,” and the west is histowy. Yes, Elmer Fudd’s taken quite a beating from Bugs Bunny and other adversaries over the years, but he’s also won a place in our hearts. He’s the unsung hero of Looney Tunes’ cast of characters and in my opinion, he’s one of the best! —Leonard Maltin