Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Headscratchers / LooneyTunes

Go To

1[[WMG:WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes]]
2* Why does Elmer Fudd hunt? Ignore his lack of success against Bugs for the moment and consider three of the all-time classic cartoons, in which Bugs and Daffy argue about which of them is to be hunted. (It's the RabbitSeasonDuckSeason TropeNamer, after all.) Every time Daffy loses such an argument, ''he gets shot'', yet recovers nicely with nothing more than some bill readjustment. Elmer's not out for the game. Perhaps sport, then? (In contrast, Yosemite Sam has also hunted Bugs on at least one occasion, but he explicitly intends to cook him, as proven when the second half is devoted to putting Bugs in the oven.)
3** Somewhere in the hunting trilogy (forget which one) this is explicitly covered when Bugs and Daffy take turns reading duck and rabbit recipes to get Elmer excited. The little guy just shrugs. "Sowwy fellas, but I'm a vegetawian. I just hunt for the sport of it!"
4** He's very devoted to his hobby.
5*** It's the first one; Rabbit Fire.
6** Not to mention the fact that [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he cries whenever he's fooled into thinking he's finally killed Bugs Bunny.]]
7*** Well, he may not be intending to kill Bugs. In the Hunting Trilogy, he shot Daffy repeatedly, and Daffy was fine, though singed. He probably just wants to hurt Bugs as revenge for all the injury the rabbit's inflicted on him.
8*** There's another where a mountain lion hides out in his home to escape hunting season. There are other animal trophies. And they all run away when hunting season's over. Elmer's comment: How long it took. ForTheLulz indeed.
9** In one short, it's for sport, in another, it's for stew. [[NegativeContinuity Of course...]]
10** ''Elmer's Candid Camera'' is considered the first appearance of Elmer. In the cartoon, he's trying to take pictures of wildlife, but a mischievous rabbit (which is a Bugs Bunny prototype) [[JerkAss keeps interrupting him and ruining his day.]] He eventually got tired of it and wanted to trap him to slow him down, but the rabbit pretended to die, thus making him upset he killed him. Well, this being Looney Tunes, he flipped the net over him and left. Then immediately afterward, Elmer goes insane and keeps chanting "Wabbits, wabbits!" as he destroys his camera. Since then, and this is just WildMassGuessing, Elmer has been hellbent on hunting down Bugs Bunny for ruining his sanity.
11** On at least one occasion, Elmer's wife wanted him to bring her a rabbit for dinner. He may be a vegetarian, but that doesn't mean she is.
12*** On the other hand, Elmer isn't always married in every short, so his motives to kill Bugs can't be always for her service. This is especially evident when he wolf whistles at dancing women on stage, or when he's attracted to Bugs in drag. Unless he...oh, no.
13* If Road Runners can't read, how does the Road Runner always know to stop for free bird seeds?
14** The pile of birdseed in the middle of the road? Even if it does have lead pellets or gunpowder in, lead supposedly tastes good, and he might have thought the black powder was just weird dust.
15** One also has to remember during ''every'' Coyote/Road Runner confrontation that the RR enjoys messing with Wile E.'s mind. He ''may'' be telling the truth about being illiterate, but more likely isn't.
16** You do realize that ''[[FridgeLogic he was holding up a sign]]'' that claimed he couldn't read, right? Unless someone made it for him and explained its purpose to him in beeps, I think this was an [[RuleofFunny intentional joke]].
17** The Road Runner is a [[RealityWarping Reality Warper]]; he can do or know whatever he wants.
18** Most animals can't actually read, but may associate phrases with certain events if trained, such as a dog learning how to roll over. Maybe The Road Runner just saw the combination of letters enough times he eventually associated food with it?
19* Because no one has yet listed it here: In "Rabbit Fire", we see Daffy getting the ''How to Cook Rabbits'' book out of Bugs' rabbit hole. Why does Bugs own a copy of a book about cooking his species? This is so bewildering that John Madden pointed it out while commentating on Creator/CartoonNetwork's Big Game between Bugs and Daffy in 2001.
20** Perhaps Bugs is a (pardon the pun) voracious reader.
21** It's a horror book to him.
22*** Bugs' hole is a TARDIS.
23*** Because Bugs always has props to hand that could cause trouble for his enemies. If he can find a use for such a book, he will.
24* Shouldn't Pepe Le Pew be able to tell that the cat isn't a skunk by the fact that she doesn't smell?
25** Since Pepe's entire shtick is based around the fact that he doesn't realize ''he'' smells -- or at least, smells bad -- no, not really.
26*** In one of the shorts he makes a comment implying that he does know he smells ("When you are a skunk, you learn to hold your breath for a long, long time")
27** [[ImAManICantHelpIt He's A Man, He Can't Help It]]
28** Skunks only smell when they spray.
29* What is with all those trucks that sometimes run over Wile E. Coyote? How is it the drivers don't see a coyote in the middle of the road?
30** Who says they don't? It's a wild coyote vs. a truck. There's no danger that a coyote's going to damage the truck, so you just keep on going. That's kinda how roadkill works.
31** At least one short ends by revealing that one of the trucks is owned by the "Road Runner Freight Hauling Co." No doubt their standing orders say ''brake for everything... except that one coyote.''
32** Several shorts show that Roadrunner is the one driving the truck.
33* How is this one not in here? Foghorn Leghorn is in a box but the kid digs him up and goes to check the box but says "I just might be in there" Is he?
34** Of course he is. Schrö dinger's Cat anyone?
35** RuleOfFunny.
36** If we want to know the answer, we'd have to check the box first.
37* The end of ''High Diving Hare''. [[AchievementsInIgnorance "I know this defies the law of gravity, but I never studied law."]] If he's aware that it's illogical, then that shouldn't work.
38** The joke is that he ''does'' know that it's illogical, but since he never technically studied law, he can always feign ignorance later if they try to arrest him for breaking the law of gravity.
39** RuleOfFunny.
40** He's aware that it defies gravity, but isn't aware that said awareness prevents his AchievementsInIgnorance from working, so it works anyway.
41* Why do people hate Daffy Duck in the AnimatedActors shorts and the second live-action movie? I like Daffy because he's a ComedicSociopath and Bugs, to me nowadays, seems like a smug douche. They never really go into detail about why we're supposed to like Bugs more and you would think that Bugs would be the more egotistical one in the relationship from knowing how popular he was.
42** It's just a part of his character.
43** Chuck Jones was more philosophical about it: We love Daffy because he's a mirror image of us. We love Bugs because he's as wonderful as we wish we were.
44** His audience usually consists of the same cartoons whose spotlight he's been stealing for over a century, they aren't exactly the most unbiased of audiences.
45* All those times Sylvester chases after Tweety just to eat him, why doesn't Granny ever... you know... feed Sylvester some cat food? It would be like if Sylvester is fed then he won't be hungry to attempt to eat Tweety.
46** Well, half the times Sylvester isn't Granny's cat, and many of ''those'' times Tweetie isn't Granny's bird, either, since some don't have Granny at all.
47** Slappy Squirrel of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' was once asked a similar question, and in her GenreSavvy, NoFourthWall way replied, "Oh. Yeah. Six minutes in the checkout line. We'll have 'em in hysterics with that."
48** My cats are well fed and they still sometimes hunt other animals including birds in the backyard, and any cat owner knows that if you have another pet (like a mouse, hamster, bird, fish) you have to protect it from the cat. Cats hunt by instinct even if they are well fed. Silvester looks like a normally well-fed animal (unlike the Coyote that is so thin) and Granny doesn’t seem to be the kind of person that won’t feed her pets, so is just instinct.
49* Sylvester appears to have absolutely no loss aversion. He will hunt Tweety down and try to eat him no matter how much the effort hurts or humiliates him, even though the baby bird could barely qualify as a snack. Why does Sylvester even bother? Aren't there other ways he can get food? Or does the universe hate him so much that any other way will be met with failure?
50** ItsPersonal.
51** That is typical of cartoon villains.
52*** After all he IS a pussshhthy-cat! Unsure if Sylvester even qualifies as a typical villain. He's just a slobby, instinctual cat.
53* Why does Elmer always go hunting after the same rabbit? Can't he just go and kill another rabbit and leave Bugs alone?
54** He doesn't seem to be hunting Bugs specifically. He's just hunting "wabbits" and somehow always manages to come across the same one. With his luck, even if he ''tried'' avoiding Bugs and going for other rabbits, he'd end up encountering Bugs anyway.
55** Maybe he does hunt other rabbits and succeeds in his aim. But it's not funny, so we don't need to see it.
56** According to "The Big Snooze" (1946), Elmer made a contract with Creator/WarnerBros to chase the same rabbit, aka Bugs Bunny, for the benefit of the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes. The plot of the episode is that he doesn't want to chase Bugs and be humiliated, but he does so anyway because he promised the company. Also seen in this short, he's always in Bugs' presence simply because he can't escape him. When he tried, Bugs proceeded to annoy him until he returned to his contract. Maybe it's just me, but I would sure as hell chase down a rabbit if he constantly bugged me hours on end.
57* If Wile E. Coyote wants to eat the Road Runner, why do half his plans involve crushing him? It seems there would be very little left to eat if he did that, and what would be left would be little more than a red, feathery paste
58** "Roadrunner burger."
59** Chuck Jones described Wile E. Coyote using George Santayana's definition of a fanatic-"someone who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim". He doesn't care about eating the roadrunner anymore, he just wants this one particular bird DEAD.
60* Why oh why is it that every time Yosemite Sam is in a different persona or position... he always wears that bandit mask? The strangest example is when he was a prison guard, who the hell would hire someone that looks like a criminal to perform the job of keeping criminals behind bars... also I remember the times he tries to marry a rich widow for her money, it's surprising the widow doesn't find anything wrong with that bandit mask he wears all the time.
61** Somebody must have realized this in the Animation Renaissance of TheNineties, as Sam was often shown without it in shows like ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' (where he was a teacher and, later, asst. principal). This Troper thinks he looked naked without it.
62*** Actually, he wears it in that series too.
63** Same reason Krusty from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' always wears the clown makeup. It just became an irrevocable part of the character, and it looks weird any time they try to change it.
64* I've always wondered and - forgive me if I'm incredibly dense - but is the Roadrunner as smart as Wile E. Coyote or is he dumb? As he is a bird, the way he regards Coyote's attempts at catching him looks like he's full-on oblivious to it rather than careless, and has the speed as his luck to escape whenever he does feel threatened. On the other hand, he has displayed minor hints of competency when dealing with his foe (like in the newer CGI shorts of ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow''), so he can't be flat out stupid after all. This is confusing. Is he a bird-brain, or is he a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] to all of Wile's advances?
65** [[RuleOfFunny Depends on what's funnier.]]
66* So Wile E. Coyote has money to buy all those unuseful Roadrunner-hunting machines but he has no money to buy food?
67** WordOfGod says he's simply a fanatic who will never give up and it's simply his hobby.
68** Also, at one point in that "Adventures of the Roadrunner" pilot (I think you can find it as a bonus feature on one of the ''Looney Tunes'' [=DVDs=]), one of the kids watching the show asks why Wile E. chases the Roadrunner in the first place. Wile E. then pauses and explains that the reason he chases the Roadrunner is that roadrunners are the most delicious things on Earth (at least to coyotes). So there's that. Plus, where exactly CAN he buy food? He lives in the middle of the desert, I doubt that there are any grocery stores around.
69*** In case of food, he's buying it online (I heard it somewhere, but I don't know is this a WordOfGod). Plus, "WesternAnimation/LittleGoBeep" reveals that he needs to catch a Roadrunner to make his father proud.
70* In ''Hare-Way to the Stars'', Marvin does know that the Orbit of Venus, Earth, and Mars are vastly different, right? He could just wait an hour or two and Venus would stop being obscured by the Earth, thus he wouldn't need to blow it up.
71** If that is the case, it proves how pettily war-like he is.
72** He might just be very impatient. Or he just didn't think of that. Either or.
73* Why was that boy from "A Day at the Zoo" named Egghead? He's not a nerd; he's TooDumbToLive.
74** He was named Egghead, more because in his earlier cartoons, he had a literal egg-shaped head.
75* In "Honey's Money" (1962) after Yosemite Sam marries that widow, she makes him do the housework. Considering that she's now rich, wouldn't she have servants and maids on hand to do it instead?
76** RuleOfFunny.
77* In "Big House Bunny", shouldn't Sam be fired/arrested for imprisoning the innocent Bugs?
78* Has Granny ever even had the thought to seperate Sylvester from Tweety or even just rehome the cat or bird entirely? She berates the cat multiple times yet that doesn't usually stop him, and even if that doesn't work she's still not taking safety measures for her canary. Those cage bars are wider apart than the state of Texas and she still thinks it's a good idea to let her (assumedly) 5 foot long cat near the cage.
79* Granny seems to neglect to keep her cat indoors as well. Poor kitty wouldn't have made it for long if he wasn't a toon.

Top