Case of the Missing Hare is a 1942 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.
Title[]
The title is a typical play on "heir," and although it suggests a mystery story, it bears no apparent relationship to the plotline.
Plot[]
A magician named Ala Bahma is nailing self-promoting posters on every conceivable surface including, as it turns out, a tree in which Bugs is living. He protests having his home encroached, proclaiming that "there's still such a thing as private property, you know." He continues the protest until the magician apologizes and asks Bugs if he likes blackberry pie. The bunny's expression changes to joy for the moment, as Ala Bahma produces a pie from under a "magic" cloth... until he splatters it in his face, walking away and ridiculing the rabbit. Bugs, with pie-filling and bits of crust dripping down his face, calmly says, "Of course, you realize this means war!"
The rabbit spends the rest of the movie at the theater where Ala Bahma is performing, wreaking havoc during his prestidigitations. He thinks he has blown Bugs away with a shotgun. Instead, Bugs pops out of the magic hat and awards him a lit cigar... which promptly explodes in his face and stuns him. In a delicious bit of revenge, Bugs produces a pie from under a magic cloth. He says to the audience, quoting Red Skelton's "Mean Widdle Kid", "If I dood it, I dit a whippin'... I DOOD IT!" and splatters the pie in Ala Bahma's face. Bugs then sings "Aloha `Oe" while playing a ukulele as he descends into the hat.
Caricatures[]
- Groucho Marx - "Of course you realize, this means war!"
- Red Skelton's "Mean Widdle Kid"
Availability[]
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- When this cartoon aired on TBS (back when TBS and TNT aired classic cartoons, mostly from the pre-1948 package, as other channels had rights to the post-1948 package) and on United Kingdom's BBC channel in the 1980s as part of Rolf Harris Cartoon Time, the beginning establishing shot showing posters for Ala Bama's show plastered all over walls, fences, and trees was cut[3][4], most likely due to time constraints, as there is nothing objectionable about this scene. Other airings of this cartoon such as on TNT, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and MeTV however left this scene uncut.
Notes[]
- This is Chuck Jones' first cartoon to use experimental strongly graphic, nearly abstract and simplistic backgrounds with flat colors, which is a stark contrast to the lush, realistic backgrounds used in Jones' previous cartoons, hence breaking away from the more realistic Disney-esque animation style used in his previous cartoons. Jones would continue to use such abstract background art again in later cartoons such as "Wackiki Wabbit" and "The Aristo-Cat" the following year as well as several one-offs such as "High Note" and "Now Hear This" later in the 1960s.
- This cartoon is notable for starting the trend of bigger and meaner threats going up against Bugs, and Bugs being wronged by a opposer.
- This short's plot is similar to Long-Haired Hare
- Unlike other cartoons, Bugs lives in a hole in a tree instead of a hole in the ground.
- This is the first cartoon Bugs quoted the famous Groucho Marx line, "Of course you realize this means war!".
- It is one of the few cartoons where Bugs does not say "Eh, what's up, Doc?", although he does say "Pardon me, Doc."
- Ala Bahma would later reappear in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode "The Cat Who Knew Too Much" as a chef and in a brief cameo in Space Jam.
- This cartoon entered the public domain in 1970, due to United Artists' failure to renew it's copyright in time.
- This short's Vitaphone release number is 829[5]
Music-Cues[]
- The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish (by Harry Warren)
- Plays during the opening
- Under a Strawberry Moon (by Mabel Wayne)
- The Latin Quarter (by Harry Warren)
- Plays briefly before Ala Bahma introduces himself to the audience
- Sobre las olas Over the Waves] (by Juventino Rosas)
- Piano Concerto No. 1 (by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
- Hummed by Bugs as he gets out of the hat
- The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish (by Harry Warren)
- Plays when Bugs tempts Ala Bahma with a sword fight
- Sobre las olas Over the Waves] (by Juventino Rosas)
- Plays again when Bugs put a cigar in Ala Bahma's mouth
- Aloha Oe (by Queen Liliuokalani)
- Bugs sings it as the picture ends
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10165808603900578&set=pb.619090577.-2207520000
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/animationbreakdowns24
- ↑ http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-c.aspx
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2hyBWn1Qpk
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books/about/Vitaphone_Films.html?id=mmtZAAAAMAAJ
External Links[]
- Case of the Missing Hare at SuperCartoons.net
- Case of the Missing Hare at B99.TV