The Unruly Hare
Encyclopedia
The Unruly Hare is a 1945 Warner Bros.
cartoon in the Merrie Melodies
series directed by Frank Tashlin
(and the only Bugs Bunny cartoon on which Tashlin receives credit). It stars Bugs Bunny
and Elmer Fudd
(voiced by Mel Blanc
and Arthur Q. Bryan
, respectively). One of the railroad workers at the beginning was voiced by Tedd Pierce
.
The title is a play on "unruly hair", a synonym for "wild hair", which was the pun on the first Bugs Bunny picture, A Wild Hare
.
" a little too loudly, "an unreasonable facsimile" of Frank Sinatra
. Bugs proceeds to harass the hapless Elmer all through the picture, although Elmer's rifle-blasting overreaction to Bugs' first prank prevents the audience from seeing Bugs' actions as too unprovoked.
At one point, Elmer has Bugs at gunpoint, the barrel of the shotgun poking his chest. Bugs says, "Only a rat would shoot a guy... (turns around) ...in the back!" After some more taunting, Elmer fires at point blank range, obscuring Bugs in a cloud of gunsmoke. Elmer turns to the camera and says, "So I'm a big fat wat!" Bugs suddenly appears through the cloud, unharmed, and effects a Jerry Colonna-like schtick
: "Aaah! Have some cheese, rrrat!" and stuffs a large wad of cheese into Elmer's mouth before scampering off.
At the climax, their antics manage to set off TNT in the supply store, and the explosion miraculously lays the ties and the track, followed immediately by an engine in full steam.
Bugs is riding away from Elmer at the back of the train, waving goodbye. He turns to the audience with a suddenly startled look, and leaps from the train, crashing and screeching to a halt. He then stands up, brushes himself off, and in a stark reminder of the still-raging World War II
(the cartoon was released in February, a couple of weeks before the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima
), tells the audience, "None of us civilians should be doing any unnecessary traveling these days!" He then walks off down the tracks with a pole and a knapsack over his shoulder, into the moonlight, accompanied by an instrumental bar of "Kingdom Coming
".
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
cartoon in the Merrie Melodies
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,...
series directed by Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin, born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, also known as Tish Tash or Frank Tash was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director.-Animator:...
(and the only Bugs Bunny cartoon on which Tashlin receives credit). It stars 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...
and 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...
(voiced by 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...
and 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...
, respectively). One of the railroad workers at the beginning was voiced by Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce
Tedd Pierce , was an American animated cartoon writer, animator and artist. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at...
.
The title is a play on "unruly hair", a synonym for "wild hair", which was the pun on the first Bugs Bunny picture, A Wild Hare
A Wild Hare
A Wild Hare is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short film. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, directed by Tex Avery, and written by Rich Hogan. It was originally released on July 27, 1940...
.
Plot synopsis
Elmer is a surveyor for a railroad company, and disturbs Bugs' rest by singing "I've Been Wohking on the WailwoadI've Been Working on the Railroad
"I've Been Working on the Railroad" is an American folk song. The first published version appeared as "Levee Song" in Carmina Princetonia, a book of Princeton University songs published in 1894...
" a little too loudly, "an unreasonable facsimile" of Frank Sinatra
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...
. Bugs proceeds to harass the hapless Elmer all through the picture, although Elmer's rifle-blasting overreaction to Bugs' first prank prevents the audience from seeing Bugs' actions as too unprovoked.
At one point, Elmer has Bugs at gunpoint, the barrel of the shotgun poking his chest. Bugs says, "Only a rat would shoot a guy... (turns around) ...in the back!" After some more taunting, Elmer fires at point blank range, obscuring Bugs in a cloud of gunsmoke. Elmer turns to the camera and says, "So I'm a big fat wat!" Bugs suddenly appears through the cloud, unharmed, and effects a Jerry Colonna-like schtick
Schtick
A shtick is a comic theme or gimmick. "Shtick" is derived from the Yiddish word shtik , meaning "piece"; the closely related German word Stück has the same meaning. The English word "piece" itself is also sometimes used in a similar context...
: "Aaah! Have some cheese, rrrat!" and stuffs a large wad of cheese into Elmer's mouth before scampering off.
At the climax, their antics manage to set off TNT in the supply store, and the explosion miraculously lays the ties and the track, followed immediately by an engine in full steam.
Bugs is riding away from Elmer at the back of the train, waving goodbye. He turns to the audience with a suddenly startled look, and leaps from the train, crashing and screeching to a halt. He then stands up, brushes himself off, and in a stark reminder of the still-raging World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(the cartoon was released in February, a couple of weeks before the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.The photograph was extremely...
), tells the audience, "None of us civilians should be doing any unnecessary traveling these days!" He then walks off down the tracks with a pole and a knapsack over his shoulder, into the moonlight, accompanied by an instrumental bar of "Kingdom Coming
Kingdom Coming
"Kingdom Coming" or "The Year of Jubilo" is a American Civil War song, written and composed by Henry C. Work in 1862, prior to the Emancipation Proclamation....
".
Censorship
- On the WB, the part where Elmer has his rifle pointed at Bugs and Bugs tricks him into shooting him with, "Only a rat should shoot a guy in the back" was cut.
- Some local stations (and televised prints from the early 1960s) edit out the part where Elmer is looking through his telescope and Bugs puts a pin-up magazine in front of the telescope.