Plot

An energetic dog needs a night's rest if he's going to be ready for rabbit hunting at dawn. A crafty rabbit does everything he can to keep him awake.

The hunting dog is haunted by the rabbit after the rabbit overhears the hunter telling the dog: You'll never catch that rabbit unless you get a good night's sleep.—Reidar Lyng <groucho@phc.chalmers.se>

It's nighttime. A hunter and his dog arrive at the Happy Hunting Lodge. The dog flies out of the car the moment the door is open. He immediately finds a rabbit hole and frantically digs and barks and points. His master has to pull him away. "Don't worry, Speedy," says the hunter as he drags his dog into their cabin. "We'll get up at five in the morning and really blast that bunny." The bunny overhears and reacts with horror. He tiptoes up to the door of the cabin and listens to the rest. "Remember, boy," the hunter continues. "You'll never catch that rabbit unless you get a good night's sleep." The rabbit is hit with an idea. He won't let the dog get a good night's sleep -- or any sleep at all.—J. Spurlin

It's nighttime. A hunter and his dog arrive at the Happy Hunting Lodge. The dog flies out of the car the moment the door is open. "Hey, Speedy!" calls the hunter. "Come back here!' The dog immediately finds a rabbit hole and frantically digs and barks and points. His master has to pull him away.

"No, no, no, Speedy. Not now. It's too late to hunt rabbits. Aw, come on. Let's get some sleep." The rabbit pops out of his hole and wipes the sweat off his brow.

"Don't worry, Speedy," says the hunter as he drags his dog into their cabin. "We'll get up at five in the morning and really blast that bunny." The bunny reacts with horror. He tiptoes up to the door of the cabin and listens to the rest. "Mm-mm! I can taste that fried rabbit now." The rabbit reacts with even more horror.

"Remember, boy," the hunter continues. "You'll never catch that rabbit unless you get a good night's sleep." The rabbit is hit with a thought.

"Now get plenty rest," the hunter says as he tucks his dog into bed. "Lots of sleep, boy. Remember, you won't catch that rabbit unless you get a lot of sleep."

The moment the lights are out, the rabbit goes into action. He's not going to let that dog get a wink of sleep. His first step is to turn on the kitchen faucet -- just enough to make it drip. And then he puts a pan under it. The dog winces with each drop. He gets out of bed, goes into the kitchen and turns off the faucet. The moment he steps back into bed, the rabbit turns the faucet back on, making the drips come just a bit faster. The dog pulls out the spigot in anger, only to get smacked with a stream of water. He puts his finger in the hole and the faucet, which he's holding in his other hand, magically sprays him in the face.

After fixing the problem, he heads back to bed soaking wet, with no idea there's a crafty rabbit in the cabin. The dog turns off the ceiling light on the way, giving the rabbit a new idea. The bunny ties the cord to the pendulum of the cuckoo clock, which makes the light turn on and off as the pendulum swings back and forth. The dog gets up, pulls the cord off the pendulum, and for good measure, unscrews the light bulb. With cartoon logic, the light bulb continues to go on and off. What to do? The dog swallows the light bulb. That seems to solve that problem, but the moment the dog gets back into bed, light from his eyes, ears and mouth flicks on and off, on and off.

After fixing the second problem, he snuggles back into bed. Outside, the rabbit has a phonograph. He plays an album called "The Storm," performed by the California Sunshine Boys. The dog is jolted out of bed. He looks out the window and sees lightning and rain. But it's only the rabbit, flicking a flashlight on and off, spraying a hose against the window and shaking a metal sheet for thunder. The dog tries plugging his ears with cotton. Not quite good enough. He puts two plungers over his ears. Still not quite good enough. He pulls off the plungers and tries a pillow: he puts it in one ear and pulls it all the way through his head until it comes out the other ear. The rabbit appears from behind his bed frame and looks at the pillow in fear. He immediately pulls it out. And the dog reacts as if run through with electricity.

A bit later, the rabbit has a new scheme. He puts roller skates on the sleeping dog's feet, then sounds the fire alarm. The dog leaps out of bed, loses control of himself and rolls right to the basement. He falls down the steps and, with more cartoon magic, continues to fall from the upstairs staircase. He tumbles off screen and then somehow tumbles back up from the basement and finally comes to a crashing halt.

The dog fluffs his pillow and tries to sleep yet again. With tissue paper and a comb, the rabbit makes the sound of a fly. With a feather, he tickles the dog. The dog takes a flyswatter near the bed and smacks himself in the face. The rabbit pulls the same trick, only this time he has replaced the flyswatter with a mallet. The unwitting dog smashes his own head with it, giving himself an enormous lump.

Something is up. The dog lights a candle and looks around the room and under his bed. Meanwhile, the rabbit replaces the candle with a lit stick of dynamite. The dog can't find anything so he gets back into bed and tries to blow out what he thinks is a candle. It won't go out. He tries a second time, and it still won't go out. With his hands covering the sides of his muzzle in order to aim his breath, he tries a third time and the dynamite explodes. His hands are still covering his muzzle. He takes a peek inside and his eyes widen with horror.

A bit later, we see the poor dog with a bandage over his nose and several pairs of bags under his eyes. The rabbit is hardly through tormenting him. He picks up the phone, dials the operator and puts the receiver next to the dog's ear. "Number please! Number!" says the operator with the usual high-pitched nasal intonations typical of girls in her profession. The words come pouring out at top speed. "I'm sorry, they do not answer. Your three minutes are up. That number has been disconnected. Deposit ten cents for five minutes please. We do not have that information. Long distance. At the sound of the tone the time will be exactly twelve-five please. Number please! Information." The dog squeezes the receiver so hard, the operator's tongue comes out of the ear piece as we hear a strangled cry. And then the receiver goes limp.

That was the last straw. The dog slides back into bed and falls against the pillow with a dopey grin on his face. The happy rabbit pops up from under the bed and hits a spoon against a pan. Nothing. He tries again. Nothing. The rabbit lifts the dog's eyelids. One eyeball says "out," the other says "cold." The rabbit panics. He pours a bucket of water over the dog's face. He blows a horn directly into his ear, sticking it all the way through until it comes out the other ear. He slides the horn over the dog's teeth as if he were brushing them. He removes the dog's tuft of red hair and beats his head with the horn. He squeezes the dog's nose, which makes a honking noise. He pulls out the dog's tongue and twangs it. He places a bell over the dog's head and hits it with a hammer. Nothing works.

Now it's dawn. And the rabbit himself is exhausted. He yawns just as the hunter's alarm clock goes off. The hunter leaps out of bed and gets dressed at top speed. "Okay, Speedy, time to get up. Let's go. Let's get that rabbit!"

He pulls off Speedy's blanket and shakes him awake. "Come on, boy. Wake up. Let's go get him." The dog has a sudden burst of energy and runs toward the door, but before he can get there, he deflates, turns back and climbs back into bed. The hunter runs back in and shakes him again. "Come on, you had plenty of sleep, let's go." The dog gets back out of bed and runs out the door holding his pillow under his head.

He runs toward the rabbit hole with his head and pillow on the ground. "That-a-boy, Speedy! Get in there and get him!" The dog is still running, but he isn't going any place because the pillow is blocking his way into the hole. The hunter removes the pillow and the dog falls in, sliding through a long, winding path until he ends up in the rabbit's den. The dog sees the rabbit in bed and growls menacingly. The rabbit wakes up and cowers.

We cut back to the hunter, who is excited by the loud barking he hears. "Go get him! Dig him out there, dig him out there, boy! Bring him out there, dig him out!"

Suddenly all goes quiet. "Hey, Speedy. What's the matter down there?" We cut back to the rabbit's den. The rabbit and the dog are both lying on the bed. They are both worn out.

The dog suffers a final calamity. The candle is still lit. The rabbit taps the dog, who is closer to it and points, indicating he should blow it out. It's just a candle, but when he blows it out, the candle -- as cartoon logic demands -- blows up in his face. We iris out.