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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[]

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)
    • Played when Bugs and Ala Bahma first confront each other by the tree
  • 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)
    • Plays when Ala Bahma throws his cape away and starts his performance and when Ala Bahma is talk to the audience.
  • 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[]

External Links[]

Bugs Bunny Shorts
1938 Porky's Hare Hunt
1939 Prest-O Change-OHare-um Scare-um
1940 Elmer's Candid CameraA Wild Hare
1941 Elmer's Pet RabbitTortoise Beats HareHiawatha's Rabbit HuntThe Heckling HareAll This and Rabbit StewWabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to SupperAny Bonds Today?The Wacky WabbitHold the Lion, PleaseBugs Bunny Gets the BoidFresh HareThe Hare-Brained HypnotistCase of the Missing Hare
1943 Tortoise Wins by a HareSuper-RabbitJack-Wabbit and the BeanstalkWackiki WabbitFalling Hare
1944 Little Red Riding RabbitWhat's Cookin' Doc?Bugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny Nips the NipsHare Ribbin'Hare ForceBuckaroo BugsThe Old Grey HareStage Door Cartoon
1945 Herr Meets HareThe Unruly HareHare TriggerHare ConditionedHare Tonic
1946 Baseball BugsHare RemoverHair-Raising HareAcrobatty BunnyRacketeer RabbitThe Big SnoozeRhapsody Rabbit
1947 Rabbit TransitA Hare Grows in ManhattanEaster YeggsSlick Hare
1948 Gorilla My DreamsA Feather in His HareRabbit PunchBuccaneer BunnyBugs Bunny Rides AgainHaredevil HareHot Cross BunnyHare SplitterA-Lad-In His LampMy Bunny Lies over the Sea
1949 Hare DoMississippi HareRebel RabbitHigh Diving HareBowery BugsLong-Haired HareKnights Must FallThe Grey Hounded HareThe Windblown HareFrigid HareWhich Is WitchRabbit Hood
1950 Hurdy-Gurdy HareMutiny on the BunnyHomeless HareBig House BunnyWhat's Up Doc?8 Ball BunnyHillbilly HareBunker Hill BunnyBushy HareRabbit of Seville
1951 Hare We GoRabbit Every MondayBunny HuggedThe Fair Haired HareRabbit FireFrench RarebitHis Hare Raising TaleBallot Box BunnyBig Top Bunny
1952 Operation: RabbitFoxy by Proxy14 Carrot RabbitWater, Water Every HareThe Hasty HareOily HareRabbit SeasoningRabbit's KinHare Lift
1953 Forward March HareUpswept HareSouthern Fried RabbitHare TrimmedBully for BugsLumber Jack-RabbitDuck! Rabbit, Duck!Robot Rabbit
1954 Captain HareblowerBugs and ThugsNo Parking HareDevil May HareBewitched BunnyYankee Doodle BugsBaby Buggy Bunny
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareHare BrushRabbit RampageThis Is a Life?Hyde and HareKnight-Mare HareRoman Legion-Hare
1956 Bugs' BonnetsBroom-Stick BunnyRabbitson CrusoeNapoleon Bunny-PartBarbary-Coast BunnyHalf-Fare HareA Star Is BoredWideo WabbitTo Hare Is Human
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBedevilled RabbitPiker's PeakWhat's Opera, Doc?Bugsy and MugsyShow Biz BugsRabbit Romeo
1958 Hare-Less WolfHare-Way to the StarsNow, Hare ThisKnighty Knight BugsPre-Hysterical Hare
1959 Baton BunnyHare-abian NightsApes of WrathBackwoods BunnyWild and Woolly HareBonanza BunnyA Witch's Tangled HarePeople Are Bunny
1960 Horse HarePerson to BunnyRabbit's FeatFrom Hare to HeirLighter Than Hare
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitCompressed HarePrince Violent
1962 Wet HareBill of HareShishkabugs
1963 Devil's Feud CakeThe Million HareHare-Breadth HurryThe UnmentionablesMad as a Mars HareTransylvania 6-5000
1964 Dumb PatrolDr. Devil and Mr. HareThe Iceman DuckethFalse Hare
1979 Bugs Bunny's Christmas CarolFright Before Christmas
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young BunnySpaced Out Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 From Hare to Eternity
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las VegasDaffy Duck for President




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