The Matwix is a Looney Tunes Webtoons cartoon released in September 2001.
Plot[]
Elmer Fudd, while playing an 8-bit looking game, gets a call from Bugs Bunny, who claims Elmer is the "Chosen One", and that he must "follow the rabbit" if he wanted answers. Elmer assumes it was a prankster phoning. After the phone call, he gets up and finds Bugs Bunny in his home. Elmer promptly shoots at Bugs, but the latter manages to stop the bullets from hitting him. When Elmer asks how he did that, Bugs claims that everything Elmer sees is not real, except for him and two donuts he presents to him from which the viewer is given a choice between; if Elmer ate the red, he would see the world the way it really is; if he ate the blue, he'd see something else, "Maybe New Joisee."
Once in "the real world", Bugs tells Elmer that the future is controlled by evil gadgets created and sold at discounted prices by diabolical salesmen who are always after the rebels. Elmer believes there has been a mistake, but Bugs tells him that as the "Chosen One", he has the power to stop them, but first he must walk the path from a choice of three doors, behind one of which is the lead salesman whose defeat would result in mankind's liberation. Number 1 contains a soda machine, Number 2 contains Bugs Bunny bathing, and Number 3 contains the lead salesman.
Once inside Door 3, the lead salesman tells Elmer it is time for him to make a choice. That is, a choice between an automatic hair-cutting machine or a beauty salon-in-a-box; "All parts not under warranty. Offer may not be valid in your area". Before Elmer can protest, the lead salesman literally rubs his mouth out, declaring, "But wait, don't answer yet! We have ways of making you buy!" He sticks a bug down Elmer's shirt. Elmer finds the bug so ticklish that in the face of uncontrolled hysterics, he promptly gives his credit card to the lead salesman declaring he'll buy all of their products, thus letting down mankind. Elmer is dropped down through a trap door and falls right past Bugs Bunny, who is in Elmer's room from earlier, reading the newspaper.
Elmer then wakes up, relieved that it was all a dream, before going to back to sleep. But it turns out the adventure wasn't really a dream after all, as Elmer is in a pod facility.
Characters[]
- Elmer Fudd
- Bugs Bunny
- Top Salesman
Quotes[]
- Elmer: "Oooh, that wascawwy wabbit!"
- Elmer: "There's been a tewwible mistake. I want to go home."
- Bugs: "Look, doc. You can turn things around. You're the chosen one! But, first you must walk the path."
Parallels and References to The Matrix[]
As the webtoon is a parody of the 1999 film The Matrix, also from Warner Bros., there are many parody references to it.
- Bugs and Elmer fill the roles of Morpheus and Neo respectively, with Bugs initially appearing with Morpheus' iconic coat and glasses.
- The film's bullet time sequences are referenced when Bugs stops the bullets Elmer shot at him. Bugs himself states, "Eh, who needs fancy special effects? It's a cartoon."
- Elmer being presented with a choice of two donuts with different colored icing is a reference to the scene in which Neo is presented with the blue and red pills, the latter of which Neo took.
- The salesmen are a parody of Agent Smith.
- The scene with the top salesman tempting Elmer into buying every product references the interrogation scene from the film, complete with the "mouth melting shut" effect and an appearance by the bug the agents used.
- The final scene is similar to the scene when Neo first wakes up in the real world..
Voice Cast[]
- Billy West as Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny
Notes[]
- In the interactive portion of the webisode, no matter which donut the viewer chose first, it'd send Elmer to New Jersey and the next would send him to "the real world".
- The Matrix would be parodied again twenty years later in Space Jam: A New Legacy.
Video[]
Gallery[]
