. . . "The Goldbug" does not shy away from ANY of the gruesome details readers will remember from the original story. Whether the initial talking skull or being buried alive; and from the yodeling sexton through explosions wilting limp over Charnel Tunnels twinkling with eerie starlight, it's all here. There are even a few echoes of other Poe masterworks, as when Bugs makes sure that Fat Elmer hears the tintinnabulation of "The Bells," or as Looney Tuners subtly remind Edgar Allan's fan base of the strangling corset that killed "Annabelle Lee" by having Bugs reveal that item of lingerie--in robin's egg blue--cinched tightly around Mr. Fudd's middle through an act of sartorial vandalism (probably the main reason why THE WACKY WABBIT uses Fat Elmer to begin with, rather than the three-times a lesser man, Regular Elmer). Of course, Gold Fever was the main character flaw for the Master of the Macabre's original Goldbug protagonist, which is highlighted by the violently gory grand finale of THE WACKY WABBIT. If a young Master Poe had seen this Looney Tune during his formative stage, his later literary output surely would have turned out even MORE warped and twisted, and that's saying something.

To those of you who haven't seen an early Elmer Fudd, this might be a bit a shock to see. In his first year or two, Elmer - who began as "Egghead" - is a bigger, taller man in his early cartoons. He looks a bit older, too, at least to me. You almost wouldn't recognize him if you didn't hear him unable to pronounce his "r's" and hear the voice of Arthur Q. Bryan. Actually, most of the Looney Tunes stars all looked different than they started: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, even little Tweety. In this cartoon as with about all of them with Elmer, you get Bugs. With the famous rabbit, you'll notice his longer ears and chubbier cheeks.As "cartoon historians" have pointed out, many of the Looney Tunes efforts didn't have the cutting-edge, wild and wacky humor until around 1945 when The War was over. You especially see that in these early '40s Looney Tunes. This is an example: it's okay, but there aren't many laugh-out-loud antics, and a third of this cartoon turns out to be almost a musical with three songs: two by Elmer and one by Bugs.Overall, recommended only to die-hard Looney Tunes fans who are happy to see Bugs and Elmer no matter what.

The major Warner Brothers characters, at least the early ones, evolved over time into the characters best known today. Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Tweety all started out looking quite different in the beginning. But perhaps the most involved and extensive changes were made by Elmer Fudd. He started out as Egghead, got a name change to Elmer and then a physical change of appearance not once, but twice! This is the early, more rounded Elmer. Probably one of the best of the early Elmers and an excellent short. Well worth watching. Recommended.

In this very good short Elmer Fudd is a gold prospector in a desert.He is constantly singing"Oh Susana".He has to face the hard conditions of the desert and also a certain Bugs Bunny out to demolish his every hope.One of my favorite shorts.Bugs and Elmer are real threats to each other.Bugs here is quite sinister too.Elmer doesn't even provoke him.The hopeless Elmer seems quite mad in the end when he laughs having taken his own gold tooth out.Serves to point how demented Warner Bros toons can be.Much better than today's sugary toons.