| Falling Hare | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Robert Clampett |
| Story by | Warren Foster |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation by | Rod Scribner |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 8 minutes (one reel) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Falling Hare is a 1943Warner Bros.Merrie Melodies cartoon directed byBob Clampett.[1] The cartoon featuresBugs Bunny.[2]
In this film, Bugs Bunny tries to prevent the wrecking of an American military aircraft by agremlin. The setting is a base of theUnited States Army Air Forces. The film's finale explicitly refers to wartimerationing in the United States.
This cartoon opens with the title credits over the strains of "Down by the Riverside", then into an extended series ofestablishing shots of anArmy Air Force base, to the brassy strains of "We’re in to Win" (aWorld War II song also sung byDaffy Duck inScrap Happy Daffy two months before). The sign at the base reads "U.S. Army Air Field", and below that is shown the location, the number of planes (which includeC-45 Expeditors and aDouglas B-18 Bolo) and number of men, all marked "Censored" as a reference to military secrecy. Beneath those categories, a sign reads "What Men Think of Top Sergeant", the reply to which is covered with a large white-on-black "CENSORED!!", implying that the language of the men's reply is not suitable for the public (and would not pass scrutiny by theHays Office).
Bugs Bunny is seen reclining on a piece ofordnance (ablockbuster bomb) idly readingVictory Thru Hare Power (a spoof of the1942 book).[3] He begins laughing uproariously, andturns to the audience to share what he is reading: an assertion thatgremlins wreck American planes through diabolicalsabotage (he pronounces those words "di-a-bo-lick-al saa-boh-tay-jee"), a notion that Bugs finds ludicrous. As he continues enjoying what he considers a hilarious joke, a little yellow humanoid wearing a large blue helmet with airplane wings scuttles by and begins striking the bomb's nose with a mallet, to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad". It takes Bugs a few seconds to realize the reality of the situation, but shortly he asks the gremlin, "Eh, what's all da hub-bub... Bub?"
The gremlin explains that the bomb must be hit "just right" in order to be made to explode and gets back to work. Bugs steps in to suggest that perhaps he ought to "take a whack at it" and proceeds to wind up for a great, hard swing. He stops immediately before making contact, in the sudden realization that, thanks to the strange being, he is engaging in an insane activity. Bugs starts shouting at the creature, but it is apparently gone. Bugs then turns to the audience as he ponders whether he has just had an experience with a gremlin. The gremlin appears on Bugs' face and affirms its existence with a shout, "It ain'tVendell Villkie!" The gremlin, after that, tugs on Bugs' ears and hammers Bugs' foot with amonkey wrench and runs off.
Bugs gives chase and, from its perch on a plane's wing, the gremlin clobbers the rabbit with a monkey wrench, knocking him silly, with Bugs asking, "Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?" a reference to the 1940shortOf Fox and Hounds, featuringWilloughby. Bugs then speaks nonsensically asLennie Small, then asBaby Snooks. When he regains his senses, the now-infuriated Bugs gives chase, wielding the monkey wrench and ending up inside a plane (which ironically resembles aHeinkel He 111). The gremlin grabs the wrench and bashes Bugs' foot with it. As Bugs reacts to the pain, the gremlin locks him in, sets the plane in motion and ultimately into the air.
Bugs looks for the gremlin and ends up getting kicked by it - reacting to the creature briefly laughing to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" when it appears at the door's window - is not aware that the plane is aloft until the gremlin opens the door as Bugs comes at it full-throttle, hoping to break it open. The rabbit finds himself in midair and, after turning into ajackass (the comedy trope for being foolhardy) for a moment (as the "You're a horse's ass" motif is heard), he briefly demonstrates a heretofore-unseen ability to fly like a bird before racing through the open sky, back into the plane. Due tostrategically placed banana skins, however, he slides out the door on the other side.
The gremlin, believing that his job is done, slams the door triumphantly but opens it again when he notices it shaking. A terrified Bugs is plastered to it, with his heart pounding"4F" (Army code for drastically limiting medical condition, hospitalization required, and/or ineligible to be inducted via the draft).[4] The gremlin pries him from the door; Bugs flies off but soon settles, curled up and flat, on the bomb bay doors - which, of course, the gremlin opens. Fortunately, Bugs' feet catch on a wire but as he is hanging there, he sees that the gremlin is now steering the plane into a city and toward twoskyscrapers. Bugs rushes into the cockpit, takes control of the airplane,rolls it vertically, and flies through an extremely narrow slot between the towers to avoid what seemed to be aninevitable impact, then emerges from between the buildings in a 270°aileron roll.
The plane goes into a steep nosedive, its wingsripping off during its descent, and an air speedometer showing: "INCREDIBLE, AIN'T IT???". Bugs is helpless,airsick and melting with terror. The gremlin nonchalantly plays with ayo-yo while awaiting impact. An impossibly short distance above the ground, the plane unexpectedly sputters to a halt and hangs in the air, defying gravity. Both Bugs and the gremlin casually address the audience. The gremlin apologizes for the plane's fuel depletion, while Bugs points to a wartime gasrationing sticker on the plane's windshield and remarks, "Yeah. You know how it is wid dezeA cards!"[3][5]
Falling Hare went into production under the titleBugs Bunny and the Gremlin.Walt Disney was developing a feature based onRoald Dahl's novelThe Gremlins, and asked other animation studios not to produce any films involvinggremlins. However,Warner Bros. was too far into production on this cartoon andRussian Rhapsody to remove the references to gremlins, soLeon Schlesinger merely re-titled the cartoons as a compromise.[3]
This is one of the few Bugs Bunny cartoons to have entered into thepublic domain, as in 1971,United Artists, the copyright holder for most of the pre-1950s Warner Bros. cartoons at the time, did not renew the copyright. Despite being in the public domain, the film's usage is restricted as a derivative work of the still copyrightedA Wild Hare, which will enter the public domain in 2036.
Because of the cartoon's public domain status, it can be found on budget compilations in lower quality prints, whileWarner Home Video issued a restored print onLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 andLooney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3, with optionalaudio commentary byJohn Kricfalusi andBill Melendez (Melendez was one of the animators on the cartoon). In 1989, it was included in theMGM/UA Home Video releaseBugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons.
When theSouthern Television broadcast interruption occurred in theUnited Kingdom, the interruption ended shortly before the start of this cartoon.[citation needed]
Elements from the short have been used in other Warner Bros. works.
Animator and directorDavid Bowers writes, "Falling Hare is wonderful for many reasons, but the most fun to be had is seeing someone finally get the better of Bugs Bunny... The final big joke is a masterpiece of comic staging. Clampett pours on the suspense as Bugs and the gremlin hurtle toward the earth in a crashing bomber.Falling Hare is filled with great sight gags, but it is also exciting edge-of-your-seat stuff, decades ahead of its time in terms of action staging and cutting."[7]
Falling Hare is available on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 and Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3.
The climactic scene inFalling Hare is described in detail in theDouglas Adams novelThe Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.
| Preceded by A Corny Concerto (not explicitly billed a Bugs Bunny cartoon) | Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1943 | Succeeded by |