| The Unruly Hare | |
|---|---|
 Title card for the short | |
| Directed by | Frank Tashlin |
| Story by | Melvin Millar |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Animation by | Cal Dalton |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 7 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Unruly Hare is a 1945Warner Bros. cartoon in theMerrie Melodies series directed byFrank Tashlin and written by Melvin Millar.[2] The cartoon was released on February 10, 1945 and starsBugs Bunny andElmer Fudd.[3] The film was one of only two Bugs Bunny cartoons directed by Frank Tashlin atWarner Bros., the other being 1946'sHare Remover.[4]
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The cartoon opens up on somerailroad workers, insilhouette, who are singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad". Elmer is asurveyor for a railroad company, and the path of the new railroad goes directly over Bugs' current residence, as indicated by the signs.[5] Elmer disturbs Bugs from reading "Hare Raising Stories" by singing "I've Been Wowking on the Waiwwoad". Bugs comments, "Hey! That sounds likeFrankey Sinatra, or an unreasonable facsimile," then, after holding up a "P-U" sign, plays tricks on Elmer by making him see lovely ladies from an "Eksquire" magazine. Elmer kisses him, and in response, Bugs asks, "Is you is or is you ain't my baby?". Elmer realizes that he has been tricked, and Bugs runs to another hole in the ground and dives in. Elmer shoots down the hole. Elmer remarks, "I hate wittle, gway wabbits."
Bugs lights a match, making him see aforest fire through his surveying telescope, causing Elmer to panic. Bugs then, dressed up as afireman, goes up aturntable ladder, slides down afireman's pole, and deliberately squirts water from aseltzer bottle into his mouth, causing him to blow up into abowling pin. Bugs laughs,telling the audience, "What a maroon! What a dope! Imagine! Asking for it!" Elmer suddenly appears behind him, all soaked and wet, and Bugs deliberately flicks his nose, then bends the barrels of his gun so that they each shoot the bullet behind him. Elmer shoots, and his bullets hit each of the two targets Bugs is holding. Bugs congratulates him for winning ("You win, Doc!"), then puts sixcigars in his mouth, then runs away before they explode. Elmer chases Bugs, on thewarpath against him, as the cigars and theblackface disintegrate.
Bugs jumps into histree stump. Elmer shoots down the tree stump. Bugs, unscathed, pops up out of a hole, walks up to him, and asks him, "Eh, what's up, Doc?", to which Elmer replies, "I just put a cwazy wabbit out of his misewy." Bugs tells the audience, "It's murder, he says! How gruesome." As he peeks down the tree stump with Elmer, he whispers, "Don't look now, Doc, but you missed me." Elmer realizes his mistake, becomes enraged, literally turning red, and Bugs honks his nose, and runs back to the hole, and shouts "Geronimo!" before jumping down the hole. Bugs sticks a dummy head of himself up out of the hole to see if Elmer is still there. The dummy head gets bonked, literally shaking Bugs. Elmer celebrates, thinking he finally got him, and gets back to work. However, this time, Bugs appears on his surveying telescope. Elmer gets riled, saying, "Thewe's something scwewy awound hewe!", to which Bugs replies, "Eh, could be you, Doc."
Bugs kisses him, and Elmer sticks the gun into Bugs' mouth, then lifts him off his surveying telescope, and Bugs, doing aJoe Besser impression, taunts him, "Oh, you and your old gun, you craaazy!", which makes Elmer angry. Elmer has Bugs at gunpoint, the barrel of the shotgun poking his chest, pushing him. Bugs says, "Eh, only a rat would shoot a guy...in the back!". Elmer starts to pull on the trigger. After Bugs taunts, "I reiterate: only a big, fat rat would shoot a guy in the back." Elmer fires at point blank range, obscuring Bugs in acloud of gunsmoke. Elmer turns and says, "So I'm a big fat wat!". Bugs suddenly appears through the cloud, unharmed, and effects aJerry Colonna-likeschtick ("Aaah! Have some cheese, rrrat!"), and stuffs a large wad ofcheese into Elmer'smouth before scampering off back to his tree stump. When Elmer tries a stick ofdynamite on Bugs, Bugs gets Elmer into afootball game and abaseball game with the dynamite as the ball, until it literally follows Bugs, then sets off near a pile ofrailroad wood posts.
Bugs undermines his own efforts, since the explosion instantly lays thetracks andrails in their intended location.[5] The creation of the railroad is followed immediately by the passing of anengine in full steam, Bugs riding in the back and waving goodbye to the cowering Elmer. The film ends with a reference to travel conditions in theUnited States home front during World War II. Bugs jumps off the train, and while "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"[5] plays softly on the underscore, he closes the cartoon telling the audience, "Eh, I almost forgot. None of us civilians should be doing any unnecessary traveling these days." He decides to walk the tracks instead, to the tune of "Kingdom Coming" and seen in silhouette to iris-out.
| Preceded by | Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1945 | Succeeded by |