A Wild Hare

Here is Tex Avery's magnificent film in which we are first introduced to a brownish-gray colored hare named Bugs, although we really don't hear his name spoken in this film. Yet that immortal phrase, "What's Up Doc???" is here, and Bugs is a sly, bold, incredibly smart woodland creature outfoxing that "wovable" hunter, Elmer Fudd. No more wacky prototypes. Bugs is at last fleshed out the way he should be. I appreciate his "Dad" and "Grandpa" very much. Someone's dream wouldn't have come true without them and our star might never have been born without them. Nevertheless, the star is Bugs Bunny!!! And after this film, he was well on his way to becoming what he is today.

Thank you Tex Avery!!!

Rabbits were common in early animation such as in Walt Disney's 'Oswald the Rabbit.' But the king of all cartoon rabbits is Bugs Bunny. His first official appearance was in July 1940 "A Wild Hare,' co-starring Elmer Fudd as the hunter entrapped by Bugs Bunny's clever antics.

The Merrie Melody cartoon, drawn by the wizard artists at Leon Schlesinger Productions, was part of Warner Brothers distribution arm. The studio had introduced an earlier incarnation of Bugs in 1938's "Porky's Hare Hunt' featuring a frustrated Porky the Pig trying to shoot a clever and elusive rabbit. Four cartoons later of the pesky rabbit Bugs appeared in "A Wild Hare," directed by Tex Avery. Voice actor Mel Blanc employed his Bronx/Brooklyn accent to mimic the rabbit modern viewers are familiar. This is the first cartoon Bugs uses his catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?" Director Tex Avery claims he's the one who came up with the phrase from his days living in Texas where it was a commonly said. Mel Blanc, however, said he first ad-libbed the saying spontaneously in the narration booth, and everyone loved it.

Animator Bob Givens was assigned to redesign the previous rabbits into the basic look we see today as Bugs Bunny. Givens lengthened the rabbit's body, and has him standing straight up. There were a couple of attributes as to the origins on Bugs' habit chomping on carrots. One is the famous scene in 1934's Academy Award Best Picture winner "It Happened One Night" where Clark Gable munches on a carrot while Claudette Colbert exhibits her method of hitchhiking. Another is wise-cracking actor Roscoe Karns' character Oscar Shapely in the same movie, who was a big carrot fan.

Bugs Bunny appeared in over 160 cartoons between 1940 and 1964, and has been in more films than any other animated character. Bugs has a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and is Warner Brothers' official mascot.

A Wild Hare (1940)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

This is where it all started as the dimwitted Elmer Fudd travels to the woods hunting rabbit and comes across Bugs Bunny who is just too smart. A WILD HARE was actually the third film that Bugs appeared in but this here is the official first as the rabbit we all love. It's funny watching this first short because what's here is what we'd see for the next several decades as Bugs was just so appealing and he was often put up against rather dumb characters. There are several very funny moments here but the highlight has to be poor Elmer not realizing that while his digging for the rabbit that he's actually sitting there talking to him. Another highlight is the scene where Bugs pretends to die just so he can pull one more prank.

Compared to the first (two) appearances of the developing Bugs, this is very funny, has characters with incredibly developed plots and indeed is better quality. I find because the humour of "Porky's Hare Hunt" and "Prest-O Change-O" are very old-fashioned and not very understandable for today's humour (although I still found "Porky's Hare Hunt" quite funny). This episode feels much more like it was made recently, even though it was made only two or three years after the developing Bug's first appearances. In this, apart from his deeper voice, he feels much more like the Bugs Bunny we know today.

I also like this episode for the very sweet first Elmer featured, Bugs Bunny is very entertaining and there is nice animation included. I have to say in this, Bugs Bunny reminded me a lot of Br'er Rabbit, which was comforting (HE didn't make his first appearance for nearly ten years after!!).

The plot is very much like the average episode with Elmer and Bugs. Elmer is hunting for "wabbits" and he finds Bugs. Many of the gags have been repeated many times in more recent episodes, but are still funny none the less. There are some other gags added which are funny.

I recommend this episode to enthusiasts of early Looney Tunes (but still like gags which are repeated in modern Looney Tunes episodes) and who like Bugs Bunny. Enjoy "A Wild Hare"!

While Tex didn't do the first Bugs cartoon, he did the first one with many of the characteristics of Bugs that make him Bugs, including the catch-phrase, "What's up, Doc". So it's fitting and proper that, while Chuck Jones did more with the wabbit, Tex Avery did the first Bugs to get a date at the Academy Awards, losing to the wrong feline cartoon. *sigh* Bugs wouldn't win an Oscar for another 18 years, but that's for another comment at another time. Highly recommended.