The Bear and the Hare

Barney Bear is schussing down a mountain, reading a book, when he spots the track of the elusive snowshoe rabbit. He decides to hunt it, with poor results.

Barney was devised by the Harman-Ising team in the last few years of their releasing cartoons through MGM. When they stopped doing theatrical cartoons, MGM wound up with the property, usually under the direction of Preston Blair or Michael Lah, who share the credits here. It's got a goodly number of gags, well executed. The unnamed rabbit looks like Thumper from BAMBI.

While not one of my favourite cartoon characters, Barney Bear was a very funny and likable character where his sluggishness was a huge part of his charm. He was also interesting for being modelled on both his creator Rudolf Ising (who also was his first voice actor until 1941) and the mannerisms of Wallace Beery.

After ten cartoons by Ising and three by George Gordon, all decent to great, Preston Blair and Michael Lah collaborated for three Barney Bear cartoons in the late 40s. The second of the three 'The Bear and the Hare' has similar strengths and not quite so good things to the previous cartoon 'The Bear and the Bean' so there is going to be a little reiteration. It is a pretty good cartoon too but not one of the best Barney Bear cartoons. The story is a bit thin and predictable and the chemistry between Barney and the rabbit, who is otherwise an amusing character, could have been sharper and wittier, it's decent enough but a bit bland.

Once again, Barney's character design and personality is different to the one seen with Gordon and especially his creator Ising. They are certainly well executed on their own but compared to before with Gordon and especially Ising they're not the same and not as good. Barney's originally incredibly nuanced and detailed character design was quite a bit simpler to before (did like the Tex Avery-like influence) from this point onward. Meanwhile he isn't as cranky and gruff here either, there's evidence of that but from this point it's toned down in comparison, which makes his frustration a little less easy to relate to, from this point he is almost a little too nice considering who the character was based upon in the first place.

Barney is still a fun and adorable character though and he does have a situation that makes him not at all hard to root for. Just that his previous cartoons did it better.

Animation is colourful and beautifully drawn with fluid movements and meticulous attention to detail. Really liked the Avery influence and the stylised look is sleek and elegant, it's very different to before but looks great considering budgets were not as big from my understanding at this point. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, even enhancing the impact of actions and gestures.

While not hilarious or original, 'The Bear and the Hare' is still amusing and has a silly charm that makes it a likable watch. Pacing is lively and it was nice that there was more an Avery-influence to the story and flow than a Disney-like one.

In summation, not great but still pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

When I saw that this was a cartoon from MGM, I sure got my hopes up...because I thought it MIGHT just be a Tex Avery flick. However, this was not the case--and as a result, the product was a bit flat and lacked the insane stuff you'd see in an Avery film.

The cartoon consists of Barney Bear (a character clearly created with Wallace Beery in mind) chasing a white rabbit through the snow. Barney tries to shoot the thing again and again but the rabbit is just too smart for him. In the end, just when Barney is about to blast the bunny to Kingdom Come, there is a clever twist.

The cartoon isn't bad. But, the rabbit and Barney lack the chemistry of the really good pairings--such as Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, Daffy and Elmer or Donald and Chip and Dale. It's a bit flat and normal...but still enjoyable. And, if you are looking for it, it's included as a special feature on the Esther Williams DVD for "On an Island With You".

Barney Bear is hunting for snowshoe rabbits in the snow. Of course, he has his book. He finds a rabbit but he's invisible in the snow.

I'm usually fine with this old MGM character, Barney Bear, although he changes over the years. He's not the greatest but he's generally good. I don't necessarily love him hunting rabbits. There is an ironic sense of humor with all the bear traps. I would love the rabbit hunting if the rabbit is a main character. WB would do it so much better later. This is fine but nothing more.