Frigid Hare

Having once again taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque, Bugs Bunny tunnels to Antarctica in this entertaining Chuck Jones short. The story has Bugs trying to help a little penguin being hunted by a very unpleasant Eskimo. The big selling point to this one is the adorable penguin, whose little waddle will make even the most cold-hearted among us smile. The scene where the penguin rescues Bugs from a fall is something only Chuck Jones could think of. There are laughs to be had, for sure, but this is one of those shorts that's heavy on the cute factor. The animation is great with well-drawn characters and backgrounds and nice colors. Carl Staling's music is lively and fun. Mel Blanc's voice work is flawless. It's a good cartoon but not something everybody will enjoy. If you don't like cartoons with cute characters like Tweety and Pussyfoot, you probably won't like this.

Not the Danny DeVito penguin I assure you.

Bugs is on his way to Miami beach but, like usual, he cannot read a map to save his life (it must be kinda tough to do underground I guess) and ends up in the South Pole.

After inadvertently saving the life of a cute little penguin from an Eskimo hunter (in the south pole?) the penguin becomes too attached to Bugs to let him leave. Though Bugs cannot bear to look into the Penguin's sad little eyes he shoves him away to get back to his vacation to Miami.

Only the little Penguin falls right into the hands of the hunter again and Bugs must use his old tricks of outsmarting and extreme cunning to save his life again.

Funny? Yes. Cute? Yes. But still not as many laughs as you're used to getting from Bugs.

Frigid Hare (1949)

*** (out of 4)

Jack Warner gives Bugs Bunny two weeks vacation so the rabbit begins digging for Miami Beach but takes a wrong turn and ends up at the South Pole. Once there he gets involved with a small penguin who is being hunted by an eskimo. Some will probably be offended by the nature of the Eskimo because of how he's drawn and some of the dialogue thrown at him but we must remember the times that this was made. With that out of the way, this remains a cute and charming short but it's certainly not a classic. The relationship between Bugs and the penguin is pretty cute and there are plenty of laughs to keep the thing moving. The action sequences aren't as violent as you might expect and the final gag is a good one.

Chuck Jones's 'Frigid Hare' is a great little cartoon which introduced the seldom used character of the tiny penguin in formal wear. Perhaps a little too cutesy to ever have become a star alongside the more anarchic characters, the penguin nevertheless proves a great foil for Bugs Bunny. When Bugs takes yet another wrong turning on the way to Miami beach and ends up at the South Pole, he quickly becomes implicated in the chase between a sweet little penguin and a big, dumb Eskimo. While its possible that the Eskimo stereotype may offend some, everything else about this cartoon is so warm (despite its setting) that only the most hard-hearted of critics would deny its appeal. The interplay between Bugs and the penguin is beautifully executed and there's a fantastic chase sequence between Bugs and the Eskimo brought about by what is perhaps Bugs' most convincing drag routine of all time! It all leads to a clever and unpredictable punch line that'll make you laugh and go "awww" in equal measures.

Frigid Hare is another Bugs Bunny cartoon in which he should have taken a "left turn at Albuquerque" and ends up at the South Pole. It's here that he meets a little penguin who he saves from a hunter who wants to capture him. When he tries to get back to Miami Beach, however, the penguin wants to follow him. Bugs pushes him on his way but the little snow-bird ends up in the man's bag. So the rabbit now has to outsmart him...This is both a cute and funny cartoon made by a man who knows how to make that combination work: Chuck Jones. Supposedly, this cartoon was banned recently because of the way the man in this short was drawn and depicted in characterization. While there might some traces of a stereotype here, I don't think any harm was intended. Anyway, I highly recommend Frigid Hare. It's on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 1.