| Fresh Hare | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | I. Freleng |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Musical direction: Carl W. Stalling Orchestration: Milt Franklyn (uncredited) |
| Animation by |
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| Layouts by | Owen Fitzgerald (uncredited) |
| Backgrounds by | Lenard Kester (uncredited) |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | |
Release date |
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Running time | 8 minutes (one reel) |
| Language | English |
Fresh Hare is aWarner Bros.Merrie Melodies cartoon directed byFriz Freleng, written byMichael Maltese, and produced byLeon Schlesinger.[1] It was released to theatres on August 22, 1942.[2]
In this short, the rotund early-1940s version ofElmer Fudd is portrayed as aMountie, earnestly attempting to arrestBugs Bunny, who is, according to several posters attached to forest trees, wanted dead or alive (preferably dead). After following the rabbit tracks to aburrow, Elmer tries to lure Bugs out with a carrot. This works, at least with Bugs' hand, and Elmer initially succeeds in getting a handcuff around the rabbit's wrist. Somehow, though, Bugs works his arm free of the cuff – out of sight in his burrow – and attaches a bomb in its place. Elmer, attached to the bomb via the other handcuff, panics when he pulls it out of the burrow. He frantically searches for his keys, only to find that Bugs has them and, leaning against a nearby tree, is nonchalantly twirling them around his finger while munching a carrot. Bugs deliberately takes his time going through each and every key, but does not find the correct one until the bomb explodes off-screen. Elmer, who is completely unharmed by the explosion, tells Bugs that he has been found guilty of committing a litany of crimes. The crimes (here corrected for Elmer'srounded-l-and-r speech) are as follows:
"Resisting an officer,assault andbattery,trespassing,disturbing the peace, miscellaneousmisdemeanors,public nuisance,traffic violations, going through aboulevard stop,jaywalking,triple parking,conduct unbecoming to a rabbit", and (again) "violating traffic regulations."
As Elmer reads, Bugs takes his Mountie hat and impersonates a superior officer: "Attention! Why, look at you! You call yourself a Mountie! You're a disgrace to the regiment! I'm gonna drum you out of the service!" He then tears off Elmer's uniform, revealing a tightened corset and polka-dot undershorts.
When Elmer realizes he's been tricked, he begins to give chase — after pausing to put his miraculously refurbished uniform back on. The chase eventually involves a path beneath the snow, which ends abruptly when Elmer runs into a pine tree. The impact causes all the snow to fall off the tree, which revealsChristmas decorations, and Elmer emerges from underneath with snow on his face that gives him aSanta Claus appearance. The songJingle Bells plays in the background, and Bugs says to the astonished Elmer, "Merry Christmas, Santy!" and burrows his way out of Elmer's path.
Elmer rediscovers Bugs's footprints and follows them. He finds Bugs taunting a snoweffigy of Elmer the Mountie. Bugs announces he is going to punch it square in the nose, saying Elmer can't catchhim, let alone catch acold. Elmer has crept up behind Bugs and is tapping his foot, waiting to catch the rabbit by surprise. However, as Bugs finishes his wind-up for the punch, he turns around at the last moment and slugs the real Elmer square in the nose, propelling him backward into an ice-wall and revealing a heart with an arrow through it. Bugs again burrows away.
After some more hijinks and another failed chase, a weeping Elmer gives up and labels himself as a "disgwace to the wegiment" for failing to catch the rabbit since he is a disgrace to the regiment (alluding to Bugs' earlier statement), at which point Bugs willingly turns himself in. At headquarters, Bugs isblindfolded andsentenced to death byfiring squad (despite the fact that most of his alleged crimes were essentially misdemeanors). As the firing squad prepares to execute Bugs, Elmer tells him that he can make one last wish, which prompts Bugs to say, "I wish, I wish," and to break into the song "Dixie". The scene then, in anon sequitur, transitions into aminstrel show in the south (a commonlycensored scene on televised airings of this short), where Elmer, Bugs and the firing squad, now all inblackface, perform the chorus of "Camptown Races", with Bugs onbanjo and Elmer ontambourine, to which Bugs asks the audience, "Fantastic, isn't it?"
The "minstrel show" sequence at the end of the short was edited in multiple ways on various networks in the United States. OnCartoon Network andTNT, an iris quickly fades out after Bugs breaks into and starting to sing Dixie. OnTBS, the ending audio of the short stays intact, but while the unedited audio played, TBS's edit repeatedly plays Bugs breaking into Dixie with Elmer shockingly looking at him multiple times until the soundtrack ends as the iris fades out.
In 2003,WVTV Channel 18 inMilwaukee, Wisconsin aired the short unedited during apublic domain cartoon program, without any advance warning.[3]
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata| Preceded by | Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1942 | Succeeded by |