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Hurdy-Gurdy Hare is a 1950 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.

Plot[]

While Bugs is sitting in Central Park, he looks through the wanted ads, finally focusing on a job as a Hurdy-Gurdy (actually, a street organ), thinking at first of "the masters - Beethoven, Brahms, Bach", pronounced by Bugs as "Beat-hoven," "Brammz," and "Batch", but soon thinking of all the money his monkey assistant will be able to get from the various apartments he visits. When the monkey tries to stiff Bugs, Bugs chases him off. "Ya can't trust nobody!", he sneers, suddenly thinking he can do the same job as the monkey, but quickly finds out that people willing to give a monkey money aren't willing to give Bugs anything, except a bucket of water on the head.

The monkey runs to the zoo, where he tells a gorilla about what happened, the only intelligible words being Bugs' line "What's up doc? What's up doc?" The monkey dramatizes being kicked by Bugs, which sends the gorilla in a frenzy. The gorilla breaks out of his cage and confronts Bugs. Bugs is able to outwit the gorilla, causing the gorilla to fall multiple times many stories from the apartment building where he's chasing Bugs. At one point, the gorilla falls through the basement and comes up on a lift, holding a newspaper and with his arm through a subway window. Bugs, acting as a conductor, orders the gorilla to "push in, plenty of room in the center of the car!", pausing to aside, "I used to work on the shuttle from Times Square to Grand Central", before pushing the gorilla back underground. Then, aping Ralph Edwards' famous declaration on Truth or Consequence, he asides, "Ain't I a devil??"

Bugs then tries getting away from the gorilla on the outside of the building by climbing up and down a ladder while the gorilla keeps pulling the ladder in the opposite direction, once using the Groucho Marx line, "I've seen you before, I never forget a face. But in your case, I'll make an exception!" Bugs eventually makes his way into one of the apartments. However, he's soon cornered by the gorilla, who chases him into a back room. Bugs spots a violin, and noting that "music calms the savage beast", he starts playing the violin, which causes the gorilla not only to calm down, but to start dancing around. This gives Bugs an idea; he has the gorilla visit the apartments, causing piles of cash to rain down on Bugs. The monkey from earlier is cranking the organ playing the music, which is commonly known as "Artist's Life." Bugs counts all the money coming, saying, "I sure hope Petrillo doesn't hear about this!"

Caricatures[]

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

When this cartoon aired on MeTV, the newspaper that Bugs Bunny reads is blurred, as two "Help Wanted" ads stated that they were looking for white employees only. This short was previously shown uncut in May 2021 and was later shown uncut again on 4 March 2022.

Notes[]

  • The working title was "Hare-dy Gurdy Hare".
  • This is the first Bugs Bunny short of the 1950s.
  • In one scene, Bugs calls Gruesome Gorilla "King Kong", referencing the movie monster King Kong from the 1933 pre-Code black-and-white monster film of the same name by RKO Radio Pictures.
  • The Petrillo line is a then-topical gag referencing the president of the American Federation of Musicians, which was on strike in 1948 when the short was copyrighted.[3]
  • This is the final Robert McKimson-directed Bugs Bunny cartoon to use the "plump Bugs" design which Robert McKimson previously used since "Easter Yeggs" (1947). Beginning with "What's Up Doc?" later that year, McKimson would re-use the modern design which he previously did in 1943's "Tortoise Wins by a Hare" for the Bob Clampett unit permanently until the WB animation studio closed in 1964.

Gallery[]

References[]

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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