A Wild Hare

A Wild Hare
← Previous	The Egg Collector
Next →	Ghost Wanted
Airdate:	27 July 1940 Blue Ribbon reissue: 17 June 1944
Series:	Merrie Melodies
MPAA Number:	5995
Vitaphone Number:	9617
Runtime:	8 minutes, 16 seconds
Copyright Renewed:	29 April 1968
Starring:	Bugs Bunny Elmer Fudd
Crew
Voice Characterizations:	Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan Marion Darlington (all uncredited)
Director:	Fred Avery
Written By:	Rich Hogan
Producer:	Leon Schlesinger
Animated By:	Virgil Ross Charles McKimson (uncredited) Robert McKimson (uncredited) Rod Scribner (uncredited) Sid Sutherland (uncredited) Paul J. Smith (uncredited) Rev Chaney (uncredited)
Character Design:	Robert Givens (uncredited)
Layout Artist:	Robert Givens (uncredited)
Background Artist:	John Didrik Johnsen (uncredited)
Film Editor:	Treg Brown (uncredited)
Musician:	Carl W. Stalling

A Wild Hare is a 1940 Merrie Melodies short directed by Tex Avery.

Plot

While hunting for rabbits, Elmer approaches one of Bugs' holes, puts down a carrot, and hides behind a tree. Bugs' arm reaches out of the hole, feels around, and snatches the carrot. He reaches out again and finds the business end of Elmer's shotgun. His arm quickly pops back into the hole before returning to drop the eaten stub of Elmer's carrot before apologetically caressing the end of the barrel. Elmer shoves his gun into Bugs' hole, with a tug of war resulting in the barrel being bent into a pretzel.

Elmer frantically digs into the hole while Bugs emerges from a nearby hole with another carrot in his hand. He lifts Fudd's hat and raps the top of his head until Elmer notices, then chews his carrot a bit before delivering his definitive line, "What's up, Doc?" Elmer explains that he's hunting "wabbits", and Bugs chews his carrot while asking what a wabbit is. Bugs teases Elmer by displaying every aspect of Fudd's rabbit description until Elmer begins suspecting that Bugs is a rabbit, saying to the audience "You know, I beweive this fella is an R-A-B-B-I-T." Bugs draws Fudd close and says, "Listen, Doc, don't spread this around, but, uh... confidentially..." before yelling "I AM A 'WABBIT'!" (a variation of Mischa Auer's line "Confidentially, she stinks" from 1938's You Can't Take It with You, a then-well-known catchphrase used in other Warner Brothers cartoons).

Bugs hides behind a tree, then sneaks up behind Elmer, covers his eyes and asks "Guess who?" Elmer tries the names of contemporary screen beauties whose names exploited his accent: "Hedy Wamaw" for Hedy Lamarr, "Cawowe Wombawd" for Carole Lombard, "Wosemawy Wane" for Rosemary Lane, and "Owivia de Haviwand" for Olivia de Havilland, before he arrives at "Say, you wouldn't be that scwewy wabbit, would you?" Bugs responds "Hmm..... Could be!", kisses Elmer, and dives into a hole. Elmer sticks his head into the hole and gets another kiss from Bugs, so wet that Elmer needs to wipe his mouth for a bit before deciding to set a trap. Bugs puts a skunk in the trap and Elmer assumes that he's caught the rabbit. Fudd blindly grabs the skunk and carries it over to the watching Bugs to brag to the bunny about how he outsmarted him. As Elmer comprehends the situation, Bugs gives him a smooch on the nose. Fudd looks at the skunk, who winks and nudges Elmer while saying "Confidentially... uh, hmm, you know..." Fudd winces and gingerly sends the skunk on his way.

Bugs then offers to let Elmer have a free shot at him. After Elmer fires, Bugs fakes an elaborate heart attack death scene and plays dead, leaving Elmer sobbing. Bugs then sneaks up behind the despairing Fudd, kicks him in his rear, shoves a cigar into his mouth, and tiptoes away, ballet-style.

Finally, the frustrated Elmer, driven to distraction by the rabbit's antics, walks away sobbing about "wabbits, cawwots, guns", etc. Bugs asides to the audience, "Can ya imagine anybody acting like that? Ya know, I think the poor guy's screwy!" Bugs then begins to play his carrot like a fife, playing the tune "The Girl I Left Behind Me", and marches with one stiff leg towards his rabbit hole, as with the fifer in the painting The Spirit of '76.

Caricatures

• Artie Auerbach - as his character Mr. Kitzel, "Mm, could be."
• Mischa Auer - "Confidentially, you know..."

Availability

8mm
(Associated Artists Productions print)

Super 8

(1986) VHS
Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd Cartoon Festival Featuring “Wabbit Twouble” (unrestored, Blue Ribbon)

(1988) LaserDisc
Bugs Bunny: Superstar

(1988) VHS
Bugs Bunny: Superstar

(1991) VHS
Bugs Bunny Collection: Here Comes Bugs (Blue Ribbon)

(1991) LaserDisc
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 1 (Blue Ribbon print)

(1992) VHS
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2: Firsts (Blue Ribbon)

(1993) LaserDisc
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 4 (unrestored, original titles)

(1995) VHS
Bumper Edition (Woolworths Exclusive)

(1996) VHS
Looney Tunes Collection - Further Adventures of Elmer Fudd

(2003) DVD
Torrid Zone (1995 dubbed version)

(2005) DVD
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc 2, through the What's Up Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny documentary

(2006) DVD
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4, Disc 1, through Bugs Bunny Superstar (1995 dubbed version)

(2008) DVD
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection (restored)

(2010) DVD
The Essential Bugs Bunny, Disc 1 (restored)

(2012) DVD
Bugs Bunny Superstar (restored)

(2012) Blu-ray, DVD
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 1 (restored)

(2020) Blu-ray
Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection, Disc 1 (restored)

Streaming

Boomerang App (2018 - 2024) (restored)

HBO Max (2020 - 2023) (restored)

Max (2023 - 2025) (restored)

Tubi (2025 - ) (restored)

Production

Model Sheets

Art

Development

By 1939, Ben Hardaway's rabbit character Bugs' Bunny, who was first introduced in "Porky's Hare Hunt", was now Schlesinger's new breakout star in the Merrie Melodies series, and had assigned the both Chuck Jones and Tex Avery to produce pictures with the character. Jones' short "Elmer's Candid Camera", introduced the pairing of Bugs and Elmer, established Elmer's character with his new voice by Arthur Q. Bryan, and Bugs' antics are much more controlled than in pervious shorts. However, Tex Avery decided to go in a different direction.

Tex would completely reinvent Bugs to fit his direction for his picture, Character designer Bob Givens, created new models for both Bugs and Elmer. He gave Bugs a more stream-lined, wise-guy look to him while retaining some of key attributes he had before. (Avery would state many years later that the design look practically the same as Max Hare from Disney's "The Tortoise and the Hare" and wondered how neither he or the studio got into legal trouble.) Partially inspired by Candid Camera, Bugs' personality was more fleshed-out, making him more like a prankster who uses to wit to confront a threat, and less like a bully who nags anybody who dares to come his way. It's been said that Bugs' persona was inspired by the likes of Buster Keaton and Peter Warne, played by Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night". This new personality also came with a new voice, inspired by Frank McHugh, Mel Blanc was told to give Bugs' a Flatbush accent which greatly complimented his design and attitude.

But what truly defined Bugs was the first line he uttered in the short, "What's Up, Doc?". Added in by Avery himself which was a common greeting from his home city of Dallas, while the carrot chewing that precedes the line is also a homage to "It Happened One Night" which immediately made Bugs more related to the audience. Elmer Fudd was also redesigned, though more the less the same as he was before. However, Givens gave him more of a droopier-look that distanced him further from his original prototype design, and contrasted well with Bugs.

A Wild Hare also broke ground by being the studios first character piece. Instead of being focused on having as many gags as possible as seen in pervious Avery shorts, A Wild Hare takes a leisurely pace and focuses more on character, perfectly demonstrating Bugs' methodical trickery. Even before A Wild Hare was released, Leon was sold on this new direction for Bugs and hasty came up with a name for the hare, according to Virgil Ross, Leon looked over the production art done for the rabbit, saw the title given to him on Charlie Thorson's old model sheet, and declared the name of the studio's soon to be hit star, Bugs Bunny (Much to the chagrin of Tex Avery, who wanted to name him "Jack E. Rabbit").

Music Cues

• I'm Just Wild About Harry - Eubie Blake [Credits]
• While Strolling Through the Park One Day - Ed Haley [Bugs' hand walks around the carrot]
• Bugs Bunny's theme - Carl Stalling [Bugs confronts Elmer/Elmer talks to Bugs with skunk in his hand/Bugs talks to the audience]
• Laugh, Clown, Laugh -Ted Fio Rito [Elmer crying]
• The Girl I Left Behind Me - Traditional [Ending]

Reception

• Bugs Bunny's catchphrase, along with his nonchalant delivery, courtesy of Mel Blanc is famous for being a huge crowed pleaser when it was first screened in 1940, as audience's expectation of how a rabbit might react to a hunter was shattered and caused complete pandemonium in the audience. Because of the overwhelming reaction, Bugs eats a carrot and utters some version of the phrase in almost every one of his cartoons after that, sometimes entirely out of context as compared to this original use.
• A Wild Hare was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject, but lost to Rudolf Ising's MGM production "The Milky Way".

Goofs

• When Elmer is about to come out of Bugs' home, his eyes were not colored in a single frame.
• Throughout the cartoon, Elmer's nose is pink. When Elmer is hiding behind a tree waiting for Bugs to trigger the rabbit trap, his nose is the color of his skin.

Censorship

• In the original version, Elmer's second guess when Bugs plays "Guess Who?" with him is "Cawowle Wombard" (Carole Lombard). Following Lombard's death in a plane crash in 1942, the 1944 Blue Ribbon reissue replaced "Cawowle Wombard" with "Bawbwa Stanwyck" (Barbara Stanwyck). The "Barbara Stanwyck" version was the one played most frequently on American television, as well as on most home video, LaserDisc, and some DVD releases. Later releases to DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming services (HBO Max and Tubi) have the original reference to Carole Lombard.

Notes

• This short marks the 'official' debut of Bugs Bunny, as well as cementing Elmer's role as an incompetent hunter.
• The title is a play on "a wild hair", the first of many puns between "hare" and "hair" that would appear in Bugs Bunny titles. The pun is carried further by a bar of "I'm Just Wild About Harry" playing in the underscore of the opening credits.
  • When this short was re-released as a Blue Ribbon, the title was changed to "The Wild Hare".
• This and "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" were the only Bugs Bunny shorts that ended up in the a.a.p. package to be reissued. (excluding cartoons which Bugs makes cameo appearances such as "Odor-able Kitty" and "The Goofy Gophers"). This is because WB started making theaters pay more to show Bugs Bunny cartoons (excluding reissues) than other WB cartoons.
• In the Blue Ribbon reissue, when the WB shield zooms in the copyright notice briefly says MCMXLIV (1944) for only a couple of frames before changing to MCMXL (1940).
• Although the official release date of this short is listed as twenty-seventh of July, it was reportedly out in theaters as early as twenty-third.
• The shorts original title sequence was first present in What's Up Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny making it the first reissued short to have it's original title resurface.
  • It is the first cartoon to use the 1940-42 Warner Bros. shield, which would be used up to "The Bird Came C.O.D.".
• Bugs is unnamed in this short, but would be named for the first time in his next short, "Elmer's Pet Rabbit", directed by Chuck Jones.
• This is the only Elmer Fudd cartoon directed by Tex Avery after Elmer's redesign.

Cultural References

• Bugs kissing Elmer is a reference to Charlie Chaplin. It was a device he used in his films in which a protagonist confuses or embarrass there enemy.

First page of the comic.

Unedited image of the meme.

Cultural Influence

• "A Wild Hare" would become the basis for every subsequent Bugs Bunny cartoon as it perfectly encapsulates his character.
• This short took the Warner Bros. Cartoons into a new direction. Warner's would start to form their own style that complimented rich characters and smart comedy with expressive and experimental animation rather than copying Disney. In fact, by the mid-1940s, Warner Bros. had surpassed Disney by becoming the most influential studio of the decade.
• A comic book adaptation of "A Wild Hare" appeared in the first issue of Dell Comics' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies comics in January 1941.
• An adaptation of "A Wild Hare" aired 11 April 1941 on The Al Pearce Show. Arthur Q. Bryan and Mel Blanc reprised their roles from the original version. After the sketch, a scripted interview with Leon Schlesinger was conducted. As of May 2024, no recording of the broadcast has been found. The script has been released online.
• "What's Opera, Doc?" is a direct homage to this short.
• Elmer Fudd's character design in Looney Tunes Cartoons is based off his design from this short.
• An in-between frame of Bugs turning around after screaming in Elmer's ear became an Internet meme around June 2020, under the name "Communist Bugs Bunny".

Restoration

• When the cartoon was restored with its original titles for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection, the print used had the opening being damaged (via a splice), so the rings were recreated with the ones from "A Gander at Mother Goose", resulting in the incorrect WB shield being used in the opening sequence. In addition, part of the opening title cue (immediately after the shield zooms) resembles the beginning of the closing title cue due to this recreation.
  • The original print was used on the What's Up Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny documentary and The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 4 LaserDisc, albeit with the opening music being replaced by the 1941-45 opening theme (most likely as an attempt at removing the audible jump in audio).

Gallery

Lobby card

Wild Hare 'Guess Who' sequence Original Release vs Blue Ribbon Re release Comparison