PLAYERS: "Elmer Fudd", "Bugs Bunny". Director: CHARLES M. JONES. Story: Rich Hogan. Animation: Bob McKimson (sic). Music director: Carl W. Stalling. Color by Technicolor. Producer: Leon Schlesinger. Copyright 2 March 1940 by The Vitaphone Corp. A Warner Bros. "Merrie Melodies" cartoon. U.S. release: 2 March 1940. 1 reel. COMMENT: Aside from - as some people might say -- its historical importance as the first appearance of a somewhat unrecognizable Elmer Fudd (he is deliberately costumed to look old-fashioned), this early Bugs Bunny has not a great deal to recommend it. The pacing is slow and Bugs is even allowed a sham death scene. All the same, Bugs does have a certain appealing vitality which helps to make tolerable some of the predictable and overlong gags. And I am real sorry to disappoint all you movie historians, but Elmer Fudd makes a guest appearance in Tex Avery's 1939 Believe It Or Else.

I am a great fan of Looney Tunes, so I was all for seeing Elmer's Candid Camera. It is one of Elmer Fudd's first cartoons, but sadly it is not one of his best. It is not completely terrible, the animation is very beautifully coloured and detailed and the music is wonderfully orchestrated and lively in tempo which helps to give Elmer's Candid Camera some energy. Mel Blanc and Arthur Q Bryan are great, though they is even better in later cartoons, and Elmer is still rather likable. However, the rabbit character that looks like Bugs but doesn't act like Bugs is not very likable, he lacks verve and he is too sadistic at times as well. The humour also feels flabby rather than funny, the dialogue is not as fresh or as witty and the gags not as clever or imaginative. The story was a good idea but drags badly in the middle that the cartoon lacks momentum. There was the sense that everything was trying to find its feet. Overall, could have been much more, it's not a complete disgrace but it is towards the "my least favourite" end of the Looney Tunes spectrum. 5/10 Bethany Cox

In Elmer Fudd's first ever appearance we do not get the Elmer we know and love but fatter guy with a huge head and an ugly bulbous nose. He puts together a 'camera' (snigger) and heads to the woods to take pictures of wildlife. Once there he settle for a picture of Bugs Bunny. Or at least something very remotely resembling (and sounding nothing like) Bugs Bunny. Bugs then proceeds to torment him for no good reason. The cartoon feels like the Itchy and Scratchy parody 'Worker and Parasite' from an episode of The Simpsons. The one even Krusty himself yells 'What the hell was that?' to. Neither Bugs nor Elmer seem at all familiar and act way out of character. Not very good at all.

This little gray rabbit with the perfect powder puff cotton tail and the wacky laugh seems to be Bugs Bunny's Dad!!! This early version of B. Bunny is also seen in a cartoon with an earlier version of Elmer Fudd called "Hare-Um Scare-Um". And as I said before, Bugs' grandpa seems to be the little white/pink bunny in the early "Porky's Hare Hunt" and another film, "Prest-o Change-o".In this funny little gem, Elmer Fudd hopes to get a new hobby going: photographing wildlife. He tries many times to get pics of squirrels, birds, and a cute little gway wabbit, but the wabbit keeps thwarting poor Elmer's efforts.I do prefer the true personality of Bugs, the one that Tex Avery created and Chuck Jones refined, but this cartoon is very endearing.