A Hare Grows in Manhattan is a 1947 Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng.
Title[]
Unlike many cases where "hare" is a pun on "hair", the title here is a play on a then-recent book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which figures into the climax of the cartoon.
Plot[]
Hollywood gossip queen "Lola Beverly", patterned after famous newspaper and radio columnist Louella Parsons, infrequently known as "Lolly", phones Bugs Bunny at his "mansion", which is actually a rabbit hole with fancy trimmings such as columns and a swimming pool. Bugs emerges from his hole half-asleep, but when he realizes he is being interviewed, he pops back down to "freshen up". Lola coaxes a biographical story from Bugs, and he talks about growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
In his tale, it begins with Bugs as a baby drinking from his bottle. Then it shows Bugs tap-dancing down the streets of the Big Apple singing "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady". He is repeatedly assaulted by a "street gang" consisting of a pack of stray dogs led by a tough-talking but none-too-bright bulldog who wears a bowler hat and turtleneck sweater. They all do a dogpile on the rabbit until Bugs appears on top of the dogs jumping up and down while repeatedly chanting, "Dogpile on the rabbit!" Then Bugs retreats into the sewer with the bulldog chasing after him. Bugs appears next to the bulldog asking what he is looking for. The bulldog tells Bugs that he is looking for the rabbit as Bugs describes what he looks like. Bugs also describes the bulldog whom he is being chased by wearing his turtleneck sweater and bowler hat. After Bugs that he hasn't seen anyone and walks away, the bulldog gives chase to Bugs as the rabbit starts running.
Bugs tries to escape through the Stork Klub, wherein real storks are the patrons. Then he smacks the bulldog with slices of pie purchased at the Automat. The chase continues through the elevators. Bugs then tries to hide in a rooftop billboard for "Egyptian" cigarettes. The bulldog finds himself hanging by one "hand" from a clothesline. Bugs, on an adjacent line, plays Tweety's time-honored "this little piddy" game, peeling the clumsy canine's "piddies" from the line one by one. When he "runs out of piddies" and he dog falls, Bugs reverts to his normal voice and says, "Gosh, ain't I a stinker?"
Bugs thinks he has dispatched the dogs, saying "that's thirty for today!" He goes back to his tap-dancing and singing, and suddenly finds himself in a blind alley next to a newsstand. The gang of dogs reappears and marches in on Bugs menacingly. Enraged, Bugs grabs a book and threatens to hit them with it in his "last stand". The dogs' eyes open wide when they see the book, and they turn around and race to, and across, the Brooklyn Bridge. The puzzled Bugs looks at the book and sees that it is the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Bugs says to himself, in a rare quiet and reflective moment, "Ya know, maybe I oughta read dis t'ing!" As the underscore reprises an instrumental bar of "Rosie O'Grady", Bugs walks away toward the city's skyscrapers, while reading the book and humming along.
Caricatures[]
Development[]
The short was originally based on a short autobiographical piece of the same name that was published in the December issue of Coronet magazine in 1945. In the autobiography, Bugs recounts his rise to fame and only briefly mentions his days on the streets of Manhattan which he describes as "simple and carefree". He would spend his days throwing rocks at his pals, stealing carrots from local pushcarts, and dealing with thugs using his "rabbit punch" technique.
The story continues in which Bugs reveals that his name was given to him by his family for his funny antics. In time he would land a job at a place called the Palace where he would serve as the rabbit in the hat of the magician the Great Presto. Eventually he would leave for Hollywood, much to the sadness of his parents, to become a star. Which he boasted that he "arrived just in time to save the movies from the hams who was overrunning it".
Availability[]
Cartoon Moviestars: Starring Bugs Bunny!
Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs Bunny Classics: Special Collector's Edition
Bugs Bunny Collection: Bugs Bunny: Hollywood Legend
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 1, Side 7: Bugs Bunny by Each Director
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 7: Bugs Bunny by Each Director
Further Adventures of Bugs Bunny
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc One (restored, with DVNR)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3, Disc One (restored, without DVNR)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3, Disc One (restored, without DVNR)
Looney Tunes Collection Volume 3
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
When this cartoon aired on The WB network, the following scenes were edited:[3]
- Lola Beverly's opening narration of Bugs' Hollywood home was shortened for time reasons (the edited version only has her mention his swimming pool).
- The scene in which Bugs becomes part of the Egyptian cigarette billboard to escape the bulldog chasing him was cut to remove one Egyptian giving another a hot foot (read: lighting a match under his foot; a common prank seen both in the Looney Tunes shorts and done by the animators and directors at Termite Terrace), another Egyptian pointing to a cigarette butt at his feet, and to crop the shot so that the word "CIGARETTES" is not shown.
Notes[]
- Except for the bulldog, the other dogs in the gang constantly change, with members appearing that were not in the previous scenes.
- The bulldog in this short is confirmed to be Hector the Bulldog, a bulldog who appeared in a number of Sylvester and Tweety cartoons starting in 1945.
Gallery[]
_-_Hollywood_Homes.jpg "A Hare Grows in Manhattan (1947) - Hollywood Homes.jpg (303 KB)")
_-_Home_Sweet_Home.jpg "A Hare Grows in Manhattan (1947) - Home Sweet Home.jpg (313 KB)")
_-_Street_Dancing.jpg "A Hare Grows in Manhattan (1947) - Street Dancing.jpg (184 KB)")
_-_Dog_Pile_on_the_Rabbit.jpg "A Hare Grows in Manhattan (1947) - Dog Pile on the Rabbit.jpg (194 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/catalogofcopyrig3281213li/page/88/mode/1up?view=theater
- ↑ (3 October 2022) Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2 (in en). BearManor Media, page 134.
- ↑ https://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-h.aspx
External links[]
- "A Hare Grows in Manhattan" on the SFX Resource