I must be in a horrid mood today. Everybody else is proclaiming 'Long-Haired Hare (1949)' as one of the premium Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoons, but I just couldn't get into it. I've laughed my head off at 'Tortoise Beats Hare (1941),' 'The Hare-Brained Hypnotist (1942),' and even 'Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944),' but somehow this one only managed to raise a few chuckles. Maybe it's because many of the gags seemed so predictable the dynamite autograph pen, for example, or the alum prank that manages to shrink Giovanni Jones' head. But, of course, not all the jokes fall into this mould: Bugs' stint as the respected composer "Leopold" (a reference to Leopold Stokowski, who notably appeared in 'Fantasia (1940)') is quite brilliant, especially when he uses his position to torture the hapless opera singer, who is obliged to comply with his every signal. Bugs' unquenchable sadism is in full force here, and when he says "this means war," he really means WAR!
Out in the country, Bugs Bunny is enjoying his music, first with a banjo, then with a harp, and then a tuba. Each time, an angry opera-singer named Giovanni Jones, furious at the musical distraction, destroys the instrument and assaults Bugs in some creative manner. The rabbit is civil enough to disregard the first two incidents, but finally declares war on the third. He follows Jones to the Hollywood Bowl concert hall, where he carefully and strategically carries out his retribution. Many of the Looney Tunes cartoons, such as 'What's Opera, Doc? (1957)' are well-known for actively satirising upper-class society, and the opera is perhaps the most "upper-class" of all past-times. The maestro Chuck Jones has done many better cartoons {'Feed the Kitty (1952)' perhaps being the greatest of all}, but no Looney Tunes fan should miss 'Long-Haired Hare.' Don't let my indifferent review stand in your way, because you'll probably love it.
