Slick Hare
Encyclopedia
"Slick Hare" is a 1947 Merrie Melodies
Bugs Bunny
cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng
. It parodies the Mocambo nightclub
in Los Angeles
—in the cartoon referred to as "The Mocrumbo". Mel Blanc
voices Bugs and an impression of Humphrey Bogart
, while Arthur Q. Bryan
voices Elmer Fudd
. When Bogart comes to the Mocrumbo for dinner, waiter Elmer Fudd needs to serve fried rabbit in 20 minutes— or else. When looking in the kitchen, Elmer finds Bugs Bunny
—but Bugs is more interested in having fun with the celebrities than being served for dinner.
The title is yet another pun on "hair," from a time when hair slicked down by oil was a popular fashion style for men.
Besides playing up many celebrities of the time, this cartoon is also noted for giving viewers an "inside look" at the kitchen of the Mocambo. The problem is, the view was not that flattering. According to a DVD commentary for this cartoon, one of the writers, Michael Maltese
, managed to get a look at the kitchen of the Mocambo, and drew what he saw—including grease dripping from the refrigerators and crates of vegetables lying around on the ground. As Maltese put it in the DVD commentary, "I almost got my ass in a sling!" for this.
It should also be noted that while the cartoon plays on Bogart's famous "tough guy" image, it also recognizes that Bogart was a softer man in real life, as he was more interested in Lauren Bacall
's needs than resorting to violence.
The cartoon opens with various shots of 1940s celebrities dining and drinking at the Mocrumbo club—including such personalities as Frank Sinatra
(depicted exaggeratedly thin, so much so that he slips into his straw while trying to take a sip from his drink) and Ray Milland
(in a parody of The Lost Weekend, he pays for his drink with a typewriter
and receives miniature typewriters as change). Fudd is a waiter at the Mocrumbo and comes out to find that his next customer is Humphrey Bogart.
Bogart lets Elmer know that he wants fried rabbit, within 20 minutes—or else! (pulling out a tommy gun
). This puts Elmer in a bind, as the restaurant is "fwesh out of wabbit." However, during his frantic search for one, Elmer hears the familiar sound of Bugs munching on some carrots in a corner of the kitchen. Elmer lets Bugs know that Bogart wants to "have" him for dinner. Bugs immediately dresses in a tailcoat
and wants to have a peek at what is cooking. Elmer quickly puts a mirror into a pot. Bugs, taking a look inside, soon realizes that he himself is the main course.
Bugs eventually manages to escape the kitchen, dressing like Groucho Marx
in an attempt to fool Elmer—but Elmer is dressed as Harpo
. Bugs tries to make a getaway, but is stopped by the large abdomen of Sydney Greenstreet
. He runs into Carmen Miranda
's dressing room and hides in her iconic fruit headdress. Carmen then performs a song and as she exits the stage, Elmer starts chasing Bugs. Elmer runs away from the audience leaving Bugs to dance to the orchestra's samba
rhythms.
Bugs then makes his way back to the kitchen, where he revels in the audience's appreciation of his performance ("Ah, my public! How they love me! A-huh-huh!" [the little laugh being a Jack Benny
shtick]). Fudd then runs towards Bugs, and Bugs immediately pretends to be a waiter ordering pies and twice splatters Elmer in the face. The third time (a comic triple), Elmer throws the pie at Bugs, but he ducks and it sails out into the seating area, hitting Bogart in the face. Bogart walks into the kitchen, grabs Elmer and asks him, "Why did you hit me in the face wid a coconut custard pie wid whipped cream?" Bogart then warns Elmer that he has just 5 minutes to come up with his fried rabbit. Elmer searches frantically, but cannot find one in time. Bogart returns, and sticks his hand in his jacket menacingly. Elmer thinks he's about to die, but Bogart only pulls out a handkerchief to dab his forehead as he says resignedly, "Baby will just have to have a ham sandwich instead." Upon hearing "Baby", Bugs jumps out of his hiding place and takes his place as the main course (Lauren Bacall
being "Baby"), noting, "Remember, garçon
, the customer is always right! If it's rabbit Baby wants, rabbit Baby gets!" before howling and wolf whistling at Bacall.
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
. It parodies the Mocambo nightclub
Mocambo
The Mocambo was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8588 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It was owned by Charlie Morrison and Felix Young.-History:...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
—in the cartoon referred to as "The Mocrumbo". Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
voices Bugs and an impression of Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, while Arthur Q. Bryan
Arthur Q. Bryan
Arthur Quirk Bryan was a United States comedian and voice actor, remembered best for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr...
voices Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...
. When Bogart comes to the Mocrumbo for dinner, waiter Elmer Fudd needs to serve fried rabbit in 20 minutes— or else. When looking in the kitchen, Elmer finds Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
—but Bugs is more interested in having fun with the celebrities than being served for dinner.
The title is yet another pun on "hair," from a time when hair slicked down by oil was a popular fashion style for men.
Besides playing up many celebrities of the time, this cartoon is also noted for giving viewers an "inside look" at the kitchen of the Mocambo. The problem is, the view was not that flattering. According to a DVD commentary for this cartoon, one of the writers, Michael Maltese
Michael Maltese
Michael "Mike" Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon shorts.-Career:...
, managed to get a look at the kitchen of the Mocambo, and drew what he saw—including grease dripping from the refrigerators and crates of vegetables lying around on the ground. As Maltese put it in the DVD commentary, "I almost got my ass in a sling!" for this.
It should also be noted that while the cartoon plays on Bogart's famous "tough guy" image, it also recognizes that Bogart was a softer man in real life, as he was more interested in Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
's needs than resorting to violence.
Plot
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
(depicted exaggeratedly thin, so much so that he slips into his straw while trying to take a sip from his drink) and Ray Milland
Ray Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
(in a parody of The Lost Weekend, he pays for his drink with a typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
and receives miniature typewriters as change). Fudd is a waiter at the Mocrumbo and comes out to find that his next customer is Humphrey Bogart.
Bogart lets Elmer know that he wants fried rabbit, within 20 minutes—or else! (pulling out a tommy gun
Tommy Gun
Tommy Gun may refer to:*Thompson submachine gun or Tommy gun, a submachine gun*"Tommy Gun" , a song by The Clash...
). This puts Elmer in a bind, as the restaurant is "fwesh out of wabbit." However, during his frantic search for one, Elmer hears the familiar sound of Bugs munching on some carrots in a corner of the kitchen. Elmer lets Bugs know that Bogart wants to "have" him for dinner. Bugs immediately dresses in a tailcoat
Tailcoat
A tailcoat is a coat with the front of the skirt cut away, so as to leave only the rear section of the skirt, known as the tails. The historical reason coats were cut this way was to make it easier for the wearer to ride a horse, but over the years tailcoats of varying types have evolved into forms...
and wants to have a peek at what is cooking. Elmer quickly puts a mirror into a pot. Bugs, taking a look inside, soon realizes that he himself is the main course.
Bugs eventually manages to escape the kitchen, dressing like Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
in an attempt to fool Elmer—but Elmer is dressed as Harpo
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
. Bugs tries to make a getaway, but is stopped by the large abdomen of Sydney Greenstreet
Sydney Greenstreet
Sydney Hughes Greenstreet was an English actor. He is best known for his Warner Bros. films with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre, which include The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca .-Biography:...
. He runs into Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
's dressing room and hides in her iconic fruit headdress. Carmen then performs a song and as she exits the stage, Elmer starts chasing Bugs. Elmer runs away from the audience leaving Bugs to dance to the orchestra's samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
rhythms.
Bugs then makes his way back to the kitchen, where he revels in the audience's appreciation of his performance ("Ah, my public! How they love me! A-huh-huh!" [the little laugh being a Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
shtick]). Fudd then runs towards Bugs, and Bugs immediately pretends to be a waiter ordering pies and twice splatters Elmer in the face. The third time (a comic triple), Elmer throws the pie at Bugs, but he ducks and it sails out into the seating area, hitting Bogart in the face. Bogart walks into the kitchen, grabs Elmer and asks him, "Why did you hit me in the face wid a coconut custard pie wid whipped cream?" Bogart then warns Elmer that he has just 5 minutes to come up with his fried rabbit. Elmer searches frantically, but cannot find one in time. Bogart returns, and sticks his hand in his jacket menacingly. Elmer thinks he's about to die, but Bogart only pulls out a handkerchief to dab his forehead as he says resignedly, "Baby will just have to have a ham sandwich instead." Upon hearing "Baby", Bugs jumps out of his hiding place and takes his place as the main course (Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
being "Baby"), noting, "Remember, garçon
Garçon
Garçon is the French word for boy.In English, and various other languages, it was adopted in the specific meaning of a waiter, especially of low rank in a larger establishment, who serves customers food and/or drinks. However, in France, it is considered rude to address a waiter as garçon...
, the customer is always right! If it's rabbit Baby wants, rabbit Baby gets!" before howling and wolf whistling at Bacall.
See also
- List of Bugs Bunny cartoons
- Mickey's Gala PremiereMickey's Gala PremiereMickey's Gala Premier is a Walt Disney cartoon produced in 1933, directed by Burt Gillett. It features several famous Hollywood film actors from the 1930s.Some sources claim this cartoon is called "Mickey's Gala Premiere"...
- Mickey's Polo TeamMickey's Polo TeamMickey's Polo Team is a short animated film, directed by David Hand and first released on January 4, 1936. The short featured a game of polo between four of Disney's animated characters and four animated caricatures of noted film actors...
- Mother Goose Goes HollywoodMother Goose Goes HollywoodMother Goose Goes Hollywood is an 1938 Walt Disney animated short featuring parodies of Mother Goose nursery rhymes and caricatures of Hollywood celebrities from the 1930s. It is the 73rd of the series....
- The Autograph HoundThe Autograph HoundThe Autograph Hound is a 1939 American Donald Duck cartoon which features Donald Duck as an autograph hunter in Hollywood. Many celebrities from the 1930s are featured. This is the first cartoon where Donald Duck is featured in his blue sailor hat....
- Hollywood Steps OutHollywood steps outHollywood Steps Out is a 1941 short Merrie Melodies cartoon by Warner Brothers, directed by Tex Avery. The cartoon features caricatures of Hollywood celebrities from the 1930s and early 1940s.- Plot :...
- Hollywood DaffyHollywood DaffyHollywood Daffy is a 1946 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by an uncredited Friz Freleng , written by Michael Maltese, and starring Daffy Duck.-Plot:...
- What's Cookin' Doc?What's Cookin' Doc?What's Cookin' Doc? is a 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Bob Clampett and starring Bugs Bunny. The title is a variant on Bugs' catch-phrase "What's up Doc?". It also hints at one of the scenes in the picture....
- Felix in HollywoodFelix in HollywoodFelix in Hollywood is a 1923 short featuring Felix the Cat. In the episode, Felix goes to Hollywood and meets Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, William S...