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Roman Legion-Hare is a 1955 Looney Tunes short directed by Friz Freleng.

Title[]

The title is a play on "Roman Legionnaire."

Plot[]

In ancient Rome, a poster at the Coliseum advertises the Detroit lions in their season opener. A sportscaster describes the scene as Emperor Nero enters the arena in a chariot with tail fins. Nero is to throw out the first victim, but it turns out they are all out of victims. Nero commands Captain of the Guard Yosemite Sam to find one or he will be the victim.

Bugs Bunny thinks Sam and his legion marching behind him are a parade and runs up to watch them. They chase Bugs but he trips them. Sam chases him into the Coliseum. As Sam passes the lion cage, Bugs opens its door. After Sam gets away from this mauling, he chases Bugs into another room full of sleeping lions. They tiptoe through this room, but when Bugs climbs out he quickly lowers an alarm clock to wake the lions who maul Sam again. When he gets out this time, he sees Bugs on the other side of a lion pit. He grabs some stilts, but when he's halfway across, Bugs tosses some saws and axes to the lions. As Sam tries to return to safety, his stilts get shorter and shorter and the lions maul him yet again.

Bugs hides behind another door, but instead of opening it, Sam locks it. This was the door to the center of the arena. Sam brags to Nero about finding him a victim and Nero orders the lions to be released. However, the lions run right past Bugs and head for Sam. Sam and Nero climb a nearby column as Bugs dons a laurel wreath and says, "Well, as the Romans say, E Pluribus Uranium." Nero plays "Taps" on his violin as the lions break down the column.

Caricatures[]

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • On ABC, the part where Yosemite Sam beats the lion ("How many times do I have to tell..you...to....shut.....up?") before realizing that there are no cage bars separating him from the lion was shortened from eight beatings to two.
    • On CBS, the same scene was edited, but the beatings were cut from eight to one and a half.
    • On the syndicated version of Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends, the same scene was edited, but the beatings were halved from eight to four.
  • Cartoon Network's airing cuts out Bugs's line (after Nero and Sam are chased to the top of the column by the lions), "Well, like the Romans say, E. Pluribus Uranium."[1]

Notes[]

  • Nero is a caricature of actor Charles Laughton who played him in 1932's The Sign of the Cross.
  • The lions in this cartoon previously appeared in 1955's "Tweety's Circus", also a Freleng short.
  • Parts of this film were re-used in the 1963 Freleng short "Devil's Feud Cake" as well as Friz Freleng's Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie.
  • There is a slightly altered version of the cartoon that was made for The Bugs Bunny Show entitled "Satan's Waitin'" and the Dec. 18, 1971 installment[2]
  • This was the first cartoon to use the 1954-55 end card with the 1955-56 opening card.
  • This was the first cartoon for Freleng to be credited as "Friz Freleng" instead of "Isadore Freleng" or "I. Freleng".
  • An episode of The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries entitled "Yelp" re-enacts the same scenes with Sylvester being attacked by the dogs.
  • The irony is that this cartoon features the Detroit Lions, but the cartoon has nothing to do with football. They are said to be undefeated, but they would go 0-16 in 2008.

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
Knight-Mare Hare
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1940-1964
Succeeded by
Bugs' Bonnets
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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