His Hare Raising Tale is a 1951 Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng.
Title[]
As is typical for Bugs Bunny cartoons, the title is another play on the term "hair-raising."
Plot[]
Bugs Bunny and his nephew Clyde Bunny are sitting on a couch looking at a scrapbook depicting various photographs and newspaper clippings of Bugs.
Clyde asks if Uncle Bugs was a baseball pitcher, and Bugs replies that he was "the best". This segment uses clips from "Baseball Bugs", though Bugs refers to the opposing team as "The Boston Argyle Socks" rather than the Gashouse Gorillas. Bugs does not reveal the conclusion of his baseball hit, but when his nephew asks what happened, Bugs replies that he went into Vaudeville.
Bugs' nephew then asks what happened with the act and Bugs says he broke it up because "my partner demanded equal billing" and then adds that "there was more money in boxing anyway".
Bugs tells his nephew that he fought "The Champ" at "Madison Round Garden". By Round 110, Bugs says the fight ended because "along came the war."
Bugs explains that he was a test pilot assigned to a supersonic aircraft. He further explains that while flying the aircraft something went wrong and it heads toward the ground, nose first, then stops a few inches from impact because the plane "ran out of gas."
Bugs' nephew looks at him with admiration and says, "Gosh, Uncle Bugs, you've been everyplace, I guess...except the moon." Bugs replies that he's been there too, and points to newspaper clipping in the scrapbook. Bugs begins to explain that he was lucky that he had plenty of carrots, because it took scientists twenty-two years to build a ladder to reach him.
After the moon story Bugs' nephew looks at him with crossed arms and unimpressed skepticism, prompting Bugs to reply, "Don't you believe me? Why, if every word I've said isn't true, I hope I'm run over by a streetcar", and suddenly a streetcar busts into the room and runs over Bugs. He then looks at his alarmed nephew and says, "I suppose you don't believe I was run over by a streetcar!"
Films used[]
Television[]
- Warner Bros. Syndicated package (1964–1990)
- Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends [Syndication and Fox] (1990–1994)
- The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (1995-2000)
- The Bugs and Daffy Show [Cartoon Network] (1999–2004)
- Acme Hour [Cartoon Network] (1999-2003)
- The Bugs Bunny Show [Boomerang] (2000–2002)
- The Looney Tunes Show [Cartoon Network] (2001-2004)
- Looney Tunes on Boomerang (2003–2005) (2015–present)
- Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network (2011-2015)
- Bugs Bunny and Friends [Me TV] (2021–present)
- Sunday Night Cartoons [Me TV +] (2021-present)
- Toon In with Me [Me TV] (2021–present)
Availability[]
Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection, Disc 2 (restored in HD with photoshopped titles and flattened grain, same as HBO Max print)
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
- When this cartoon aired on ABC's The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show, the scene from "Rabbit Punch" segment in which Bugs has the Crusher hold a giant slingshot and propels a boulder into the Crusher's face was cut.[3]
Notes[]
- Prior to the 1996 Time-Warner and Turner merger, which allowed the pre-1948 and post-1948 cartoons to air together on television, this short was rarely, if at all, aired on network television, due to copyright issues over airing the pre-1948 a.a.p cartoons which appeared as flashback clips in this cartoon.
- Although Arthur Davis, Manuel Perez, and Ken Champin are given screen credit, Virgil Ross animated all the new bridging material.
- The punchline of Bugs being run over by a streetcar was reused from "The Trial of Mr. Wolf".
- This short was used in the special Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes.
- This short and "Ballot Box Bunny" were the only two cartoons with orange color ring titles that did not have a fade in before Bugs Bunny's headshot on the opening titles.
- The European print has 1959-64 Merrie Melodies ending title card with original ending music cue replaced with 1949-50 Merrie Melodies ending title card with green Color Rings and 1941-55 Merrie Melodies ending music cue.[4]
Gallery[]
