Editing Rabbit Fire (section)

{{Short description|1951 American animated short film directed by Chuck Jones}}
{{redirect|Wabbit season|the ''[[Married... with Children]]'' episode|List of Married... with Children episodes#ep88{{!}}List of ''Married... with Children'' episodes|the 2023 California wildfire of the same name|Rabbit Fire (2023)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox film
|name = Rabbit Fire
|image = RabbitFire Lobby Card.png
|caption = Lobby card
|director = [[Chuck Jones|Charles M. Jones]]
|story = [[Michael Maltese]]
|animator = [[Ken Harris]] <br> [[Phil Monroe]] <br> [[Lloyd Vaughan]] <br> [[Ben Washam]]
|layout_artist = [[Robert Gribbroek]]
|background_artist =  Philip de Guard
|starring = [[Mel Blanc]]<br>[[Arthur Q. Bryan]]
|music = [[Carl Stalling|Carl W. Stalling]]
|producer = [[Eddie Selzer]] 
|studio = [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]] 
|distributor = [[Warner Bros. Pictures]]<br>[[The Vitaphone Corporation]]
|released = {{Film date|1951|05|19|U.S.}}
|color_process = [[Technicolor]]
|runtime = 7:33
|language = English
}}
'''''Rabbit Fire''''' is a 1951 ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon starring [[Bugs Bunny]], [[Daffy Duck]], and [[Elmer Fudd]].<ref name=Beck>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |last2=Friedwald |first2=Will |title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons |date=1989 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0894-2 |page=223}}</ref> Directed by [[Chuck Jones]] and written by [[Michael Maltese]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/60/mode/2up |pages=60–61}}</ref> the cartoon is the first in Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two cartoons following it being ''[[Rabbit Seasoning]]'' and ''[[Duck! Rabbit, Duck!]]'' It is also the first cartoon to feature a feud between Bugs and Daffy. Produced by [[Eddie Selzer|Edward Selzer]] for [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]], the short was released to theaters on May 19, 1951 by [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] and is often considered among Jones' best and most important films.

The film marks a significant shift in Daffy's personality, going from being the insane "screwball" character who (like Bugs) overwhelmed his adversaries, to a much more flawed individual, full of greed and vanity and desire for attention under the spotlight. This personality change, which was previously explored by Jones in ''[[You Were Never Duckier]]'' and ''[[Daffy Dilly]]'', and even earlier in [[Friz Freleng]]'s ''[[You Ought to Be in Pictures]]'', was done in order for Daffy to better serve as Bugs' foil. This was fueled by Bugs' popularity surpassing Daffy's quickly over the years, increasing the desire of the studio's animators to pair the two together. Since then, Daffy's earlier screwball personality has been revisited in newer ''Looney Tunes'' media such as ''[[Looney Tunes Cartoons]]''.