Hare-Brained Hypnotist, The (1942) *** (out of 4) Nice short has Elmer Fudd trying to use hypnotism to capture Bugs Bunny but the plan backfires. Elmer does get some sweet justice when Bugs turns him into the rabbit and he finally gets to harass Bugs. This early Bugs Bunny short manages to have some pretty good laughs and I've always enjoyed the animation from this period. There are many good sequences but there's no doubt that the best one is at the end when Elmer thinks he's the rabbit and gets to mess around with Bugs by giving him some of his own medicine. The movie is a minor classic but there were certainly better shorts out there.

Elmer reads that one can hypnotize "dumb animals" so when he's out hunting one day (and reading the book at the same time), he comes across a bear. Lo and behold - it works! He puts the bear to sleep and has him float around like a canary. He then realizes this is his chance to finally capture the elusive Bugs Bunny.However, Bugs, as well know, is anything but a "dumb animal," and turns the tables on dumb Mr. Fudd. By the way, does Elmer's laugh annoy anyone else out here? It annoys me. This is one guy I don't mind getting the short end of the stick when it comes to Bugs Bunny's mayhem. He's right on when he calls Elmer "a jerk" in this story.The last third of this picture is excellent, however, when Elmer turns into a rabbit and asks Bugs, "What's up, doc?" He then drives Bugs crazy.That's one thing about these cleverly-written cartoons; the smarter Bugs doesn't always prevail, as we see in here.

Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny find themselves as each other thanks to Elmer's faulty attempt to hypnotize Bugs. I found this cartoon to be clever and funny for the most part and the change between the personalities of the two main characters was interesting. I didn't really care for the ending as it just seemed that the powers that be told Friz to wrap it up to keep the length of the short to a lean 7 minutes even and it seemed like a non-ending more than anything else. But overall I did enjoy this one a lot. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.My Grade: B+

"The Hare-Brained Hypnotist" is probably not one of the better cartoons in the Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd series, but it still has its good moments. Elmer hypnotizes a bear to chirp and fly like a canary bird, and as it does so, the familiar song "Listen to the Mockingbird" can be heard, thanks to the cleverness of Carl W. Stalling. When Elmer sticks his rifle in Bugs' rabbit hole, Bugs grabs the rifle and starts a tug-of-war with Elmer. They both apply this same tug-of-war gag a little later, after Bugs hypnotizes Elmer and switches roles with him. And while Bugs talks to the audience and munches on a carrot, Elmer hides behind him and shoves two more carrots in Bugs' mouth.This cartoon was directed by Friz Freleng, who wasn't crazy about Elmer Fudd and probably felt uncomfortable using him. This could be why he allowed Elmer and Bugs to switch roles in the second half of the picture, so that Elmer does not appear to be nearly as idiotic as he usually does. It is not often that we see Bugs as the fall guy, thus proving that nobody, not even Bugs Bunny, wins ALL the time. So when he becomes the victim instead of the prankster, he sure does take it hard! In any event, Friz need not have worried about Elmer for long, because another one of Bugs' adversaries was soon to take root. The name: Yosemite Sam!