Hasenspäße

Like all great tales of the American west, this one starts with (a well drawn sequence of) manly men 'working on the railroad'. Manliest of all is their surveyor, Mr. Fudd, who picks up the song where the others left off with that unmistakable speech impediment of his. Meanwhile Bugs is reading 'Hare Raising Tales' when he hears this "Frankie Sinatra, or an unreasonable facsimile" come along. Yes, you guessed right, Bugs' favourite garden spot is in the way of progress on the move. When Elmer whips out his measuring equipment, the first trick up Bugs's little white gloves is an attempt to seduce the little fellow! Failing this, he fakes a forest fire. He should watch out he doesn't get arrested. They keep singing tunes too, like they are stuck in some kind of big ole' musical.

Elmer grabs for his shotgun but in yet another unexpected twist, the Wabbit without fear actually urges the old Fudderhead to shoot him in the back. Bugsy seems to be convinced the laws of the Loonyverse will make sure a hero never gets hurt. Or maybe he's just confident the various escape routes back to his hole are fail proof. Only when Elmer starts throwing dynamite around (one of the few instances in a Warners cartoon where the use of TNT actually seems reasonable) does this bunny start to get worried. When all else fails, our gray Hare-o falls back on his usual closing gambit: turning the tables on his adversary by making use of the very thing he is trying to stop (i.e. the railroad). He also manages to sneak in a totally unrelated (to the plot, not the times) public service announcement.

4 out of 10