Knight-Mare Hare

Chuck Jones's 'Knight-mare Hare' is an oddly slow-moving parody of Mark Twain's 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'. Beaned on the head by a falling apple, Bugs Bunny dreams that he is in the time of knights in shining armour. This promising set up gives way to a series of laboured exchanges. First there's a pun-filled discussion with a knight, then a tame gag with a dragon and finally a go-nowhere sequence involving Merlin, which proves to be the set up for one of the lamest final gags in cartoon history. A big problem with 'Knight-mare Hare' is Tedd Pierce's curiously lacklustre script but Jones directs the whole thing with an uncharacteristic lack of flair, making for a truly feeble cartoon experience. While I've always thought it a little overrated, Friz Freleng's Oscar winning 'Knighty Knight Bugs', which appeared a few years later, is a far better take on the Medieval Bugs scenario.