Hare Do

“I have more fun than people.”

For this round of hunting, Elmer has a “wabbit detector.” It picks up Bugs who gives clues to Elmer to where he is and leads him off of a cliff. Bugs runs and catches a cab saying that only early risers can catch him. Elmer the driver mentions that he got up at a quarter to five. (Yes, he actually got one on Bugs this time.) Bugs runs into a theater to hide.

He clambers over people to get a seat, repeats to get a carrot, repeats to go back to his seat, and repeats when Elmer chases him. Elmer clambers over the people and an old woman (Bugs) beats him for this repeated gag. When Elmer tries to fight back, he gets thrown out. Elmer comes back in, finding  a message on the screen that informs him that he is wanted at the front. When he goes to retrieve the message, Bugs throws a pie in his face.

The chase resumes and Bugs hides in the men’s room. After Elmer runs in Bugs switches the signs and calls the usher. Fudd is again thrown out. He comes in again, but gets caught in stampedes of people leaving the intermission to smoke and returning to the film afterwards. Bugs is the one changing the sign and his fun ends when Elmer escapes. He chases Bugs to another theater where Bugs plays usher and gets Fudd to sit down. Thanks to the sunglasses on, Fudd is unaware that Bugs places him on a unicycle that leads into a lion’s stomach. The lion gets lunch and Bugs gets applause. A happy ending for all.

Personal Rating: 3

The Wabbit who came to Supper

“Oh, that you Murt? How’s every little ting?”

Bugs is on the run from Elmer and his pack of dogs. Just as he is about to meet his fate, Fudd (in his fat design) gets a telegram. Elmer’s uncle Louie has just decided that when he dies his $3,000,000.00 will go to Fudd. There’s just one catch: no harming animals. Especially Rabbits. (I dunno, maybe its a test to see if he’s worthy? Or Louie just really loves animals. Rabbits in particular.) Elmer grants Bugs his freedom and goes home to find the wabbit in his shower.

Elmer pulls a gun on him, but Bugs reminds him of his Uncle’s words. Elmer begs Bugs to leave and ultimately locks him out of the house. Bugs puts on a act that he is dying in the cold, and mentions that the scene should get him an academy award. (Here’s a legit question: WHY DIDN’T LOONEY TUNES GET ONE TIL 1948!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?) But clearly I digress. Elmer brings him in and caters to his every whim.

Soon he gets a note telling of his uncle’s passing. However, dues to tax deductibles it ends up with Elmer actually owing money. Free of his burden, he chases Bugs. Bugs tries to pass it off as New Year’s Eve, and pulling his drag routine for the first time, before finally running from the house. But at least he was kind enough to leave Elmer a gift: An Easter egg full of little rabbits.

Personal Rating: 3

Easter Yeggs

“Remember: keep smiling.”

Just in time for Easter we have a Easter-themed short to talk about. Ironically, the first time I saw this was on Easter. (It was on DVD, so it WAS a coincidence.)

We open with Bugs reading, when he overhears some sobbing. It’s the Easter Rabbit bawling his eyes out. He claims his feet hurt and Bugs decides to take over the deliveries for him. The E.R. confides to us that he always gets some idiotic rabbit to do his work for him. (I don’t know what his problem is. Even when Bugs leaves he still is whining.) Bug’s first stop is the home of a character fans refer to as “The Dead End Kid” (Hes teething on a gun, Bugs. I wouldn’t hang around.) Bugs gives him an egg, but the brat just breaks it and demands more. (This is the kind of kid you’d want to strangle if you met.)

Bugs can’t put up with him and grabs his arm. The kid screams and his giant family appear, shooting guns at Bugs. Bugs is ready to quit, but E.R. convinces him to try once more. The next stop is Fudd’s house and judging by those signs he has in his front yard, he’s ready for Easter. His plan is to kill the Easter Rabbit and make stew. (“How the Fudd stole Easter”? It has potential.) He disguises himself as a baby to lower suspicions but Bugs is now wary of children sitting alone, and breaks the egg in Fudd’s hands. The chase begins.

Elmer digs a pitfall which Bugs falls into, and floats away when Fudd tries to flood him out. They both enter a hollow log and come out the tunnel of love. Bugs tries to use magic to keep Fudd occupied, but the rabbit he pulls out of a hat is E.R. telling him to get back to work. The chase resumes with Bugs running from Fudd, the rabbit, and even the brat returns. Bugs solves two of his problems by trapping Elmer in a door and painting his head like an Easter egg, which draws the kid to him with a hammer.

The E.R. sees a rather large egg (probably belongs to a moa) and figures Bugs forgot to deliver it and decides to do it himself. It turns out to be a bomb, which Bugs lights. (I can’t figure out if he was planning that or not.)

Personal Rating: 4

Hare Tonic

“I gotta go back and heckle that character.”

Elmer has just bought Bugs from the market and is planning on making a wabbit stew for his dinner. At the Fudd residence, Bugs rings a bell and when Elmer leaves to answer what he thinks is the telephone, Bugs escapes. He stops short and figures that before he leaves he might as well have fun with Fudd first.

He pretends to be a radio announcer and says that all rabbits that have been bought lately have a disease known as Rabbititus. (Symptoms include: seeing spots, coated tongue, having fits, and believing you are a rabbit.) Fudd falls for it and tells Bugs to leave. Bugs can’t as he points to the sign proclaiming the premise is quarantined. He starts faking symptoms and heckling Fudd.

Elmer gets visited by Dr. Killpatient (Bugs in disguise) who asks to see the infected rabbit. He calls Elmer in to a room that he painted spots all over. Tricking Elmer into multiplying numbers, he declares that he too has caught the disease. Eventually Elmer gets wise and tries to catch him. Bugs tells him the audience has the disease and Fudd flees again. Bugs tells us we’re fine and says that if we were sick, we’d see spots, (like the ones on screen?) get dizzy, (is the screen moving?) and everything going dark. (IT DOES!)

Finally, this is the only other time I recall Bugs popping out of the end drum instead of Porky. (The other being “Baseball Bugs“)

Personal Rating: 3

Hare Remover

“All out of expewamentew animaws. I’ll have to twap a wabbit.”

So now that the site is two years old, I’m trying to improve it anyway I can. So now if I can’t find a clip, I’ll still try to find a picture for the short.

In this short, Elmer is a scientist. He never says what he is working on, but I assume it’s a standard Jekyll/Hyde formula. He gives some to his lab dog, who rushes out to eat grass. (I only assume it does not work, you don’t need to  invent something that makes dogs eat grass.) Since that was his last “guinea pig,” Fudd decides to trap a lagomorph. (To use Latin.)

He sets up a trap, and Bugs comes out, amazed such obvious traps still exist. Taking pity, he decides to play along and gets in. (Notice Elmer seems to have buck teeth in this short?) Back at the lab, the formula seems to have no effect on Bugs. Elmer gives up. (Scientists have to be used to failure, so I guess it’s true when he says he’s a horrible scientist.) To calm him down (or maybe to give him a taste of his own medicine,) Bugs gives him a drink of the concoction. I still don’t know if it works. Elmer freaks out, so does it only work on people? He runs to join his dog in grass eating but on the way he runs into a bear, leaving his hat behind.

The bear walks to the lab, and when Bugs sees the ursine wearing Fudd’s hat he assumes the potion did it. He whips up something to turn him back. The bear drinks it and hates the taste. Bugs flees for his life. The bear takes a bite out of Bug’s carrot to remove the taste in his mouth. Fudd comes back and seeing the bear with the carrot, also assumes the stuff worked. He whips up a potion to remove the effects, but the bear is not drinking that again. Bugs reappears and Elmer flees from what he now knows is 100% bear.

Bugs advises him to play dead, and just like in “Wabbit Twouble” it works. Fudd is relieved, but Bugs acts like a bear to torment him. Elmer continues to play dead while the real bear concludes that the two are insane.

Personal Rating: 3

What’s Opera, Doc?

“Oh mighty warrior of great fighting stoooock! Might I inquire to ask, ‘Ehh, What’s up Doooc?!'”

This is the greatest cartoon ever. (Or so says “The 50 Greatest Cartoons” I’d trust it.) While I don’t personally agree, I can agree this is some fine work.(In my opinion, it’s “Porky In Wackyland” which is also on the list.) This whole cartoon is an opera, and Elmer (as Siegfreid) sings that he is hunting wabbits. Bugs appears and Fudd tells him he will use his spear and magic helmet. (Which can control weather) Bugs runs away just as Elmer gets wise.

Bugs renters the picture in disguise as Brunhilde. (Riding the world’s fattest horse, I might add.) They dance and sing and proclaim their love just as Bug’s disguise falls off. In his fury, Elmer conjures up many forces of weather to kill da wabbit. (Blanc yells Elmer’s line of “SMOOOOOOG!” The man is a good yeller.) After this, Elmer sees Bugs is dead (Yes, really.) He feels remorse and carries Bugs into the sunset. As the cartoon ends, Bugs asks us if we honestly expected a happy ending.

Personal Rating: 5

Stage Door Cartoon

“Bewieve it or not, I’m hunting a cewtain wascawwy wabbit.”

Elmer is hunting Bugs and has a genius idea of using a fishing pole. Bugs hooks it to Elmer’s pants and then offers to help reel him in. Finding him too small, Bugs throws him back and then Fudd chases him into the city. There, Bugs hides in a theater for cover and Elmer follows. He traps Bugs on stage where in order to please the crowd, he dances, and then plays a piano Elmer is hiding in.

When the curtain comes up again, Bugs gets Elmer to dive into a glass of water and then gets him to make faces at the audience. Bugs puts on a disguise and the next thing Elmer knows, he’s being arrested by a sheriff, (Pretty much a Proto-Yosemite Sam.) for his indecency. As they leave, a Bugs Bunny short comes on and the sheriff insists they watch.

It turns out to be the cartoon we are watching right now and when Elmer sees Bug’s putting on a disguise he pulls off the sheriff’s clothes to reveal… a sheriff in his underwear. As the sheriff takes Fudd away to be hung, Bugs reveals he disguised himself as the music conductor.

Personal Rating: 3

A Corny Concerto

“Gweetings, music wovers.”

Its a parody of “Fantasia” which is one of the finest films ever. So what would a Looney Tune based on it be? About 629,087,356.5 times better!  (Give or take.)

Our host is Elmer (as parody of Deems Taylor) and he lets us know the first segment will be “Tales from the Vienna woods” (All the while his dicky is giving him problems) It is a classic tale of a hunter going after Bugs. Since Elmer is on host duty, it’s none other than Porky who takes on the job. (One of the very few times Porky appeared on screen with Bugs.) Porky’s dog finds Bugs and learns that this will not be so easy.

Porky and the dog dive into a bush which Bugs is hiding in, and soon Bugs tosses their gun away. It lands in a tree infuriating a squirrel who takes aim and fires. The three hold their chests assuming the worst. Porky and the dog turn out to be fine, but when Bugs peeks at his supposed wound he passes out. Porky and the dog try to get his hands open to see the wound and instead find a BRA! Bugs screams, places the brassiere on the two’s heads, and dances into the sunset.

Elmer informs us that the next segment will be “The Blue Danube” (As his pants fall down now) It is a tale of the ugly duckling. This time however, it really is a duckling as opposed to a swan. A baby Daffy to be precise. (There you have it. Clampett also created “Baby Looney Tunes”) He wants to join a family of swans, but the mother refuses to have him around. The family is spotted by a vulture who decides to have the cygnets for brunch. (He doesn’t want Daffy either)

The mother swan passes out when she finds out, and Daffy flies to their rescue. He knocks the vulture out and hands him TNT which kills him. (I’ve seen this part on an episode of Bill Nye) Daffy is now accepted as part of the swans family and swims with them. (His reflection crashes into a tree)

Personal Rating: 5

Back Alley Oproar

“Boy, am I Sweepy!”

A remake of an old cartoon called “Notes to You” (I should really talk about these cartoons in chronological order. I apologize for any confusion)

Elmer is tired. So tired in fact, that he leaps into his bed before the light goes out. Unfortunately, Sylvester has chosen his fence to sing for the night. Elmer throws many objects at him to shut up but the only one that manages to hit is a pair of shoes. Sylvester used these to stomp out the second Hungarian rhapsody but Elmer ties him up and covers his mouth. (Did those shoes just change color?)

Soon the putty tat is at it again and he greases Elmer’s steps and scatters tacks at the bottom. Elmer gets a golf club and slips and hurts his feet, then turns around and does it again to get his gun. Sylvester has his understudy come in to take his place, but Elmer pins him up against a wall with the gun anyway. He lures Fudd back to sleep with a lullaby and as soon as he is back in bed wakes him up again. Elmer has had enough and grabs some dynamite. But as soon as he lights the fuse, it blows up. In heaven, Elmer takes some solace that he should be able to get some sleep, but Sylvester was caught in the blast too, and now Elmer has to put up with his 9 (Or is it 19?) lives as well.

Personal Rating: 4

Porky Pig Show/Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show

These are two different programs, but both were designed to show the finest short films Warners had to offer. Porky is extra awesome, so why not let him have his own show? The intro showed many people and even some fellow toons going to Porky’s barn to watch some of his finest work.

As for the other show, It spawned from the Bugs Bunny Show and was popular enough to stay on the air for 14 years! The opening cast line remained pretty much unchanged except Hippity Hopper was replaced with Sylvester Jr. and they added Pepe and (thank goodness) Porky. It’s a shame that these classics don’t play on TV anymore. Kids today don’t know what entertainment is.

Personal Rating: (Based on the openings) 3