Sahara Hare is a 1955 Looney Tunes short directed by I. Freleng.
Plot[]
Bugs pops up out from underground, thinking he has reached Miami Beach, when in reality he is in the Sahara Desert. He comes prepared with a beach chair, sunscreen, sunglasses, and even a bucket of carrots...on ice! Bugs thinks he has found a nice park when he stumbles upon a water hole and a palm tree.
Meanwhile, Sam, riding on a camel, suddenly comes upon Bugs' tracks and exclaims, "Great horny toads! A trespasser, gettin' footy-prints all over my desert!" The battle begins after Bugs asks Sam if he "is with the sideshow around here" and then proceeds to rip a piece of Sam's turban off to dry himself. When Bugs says his catch phrase "What's up, doc?", Sam vehemently states "I'm no 'doc', ya flea-bitten varmint! I'm Riff Raff Sam, the riffiest riff that ever riffed a raff!" Enraged, he chases after Bugs, who goes into the French Foreign Legion post.
Sam orders Bugs to surrender and open the door, but Bugs throws open the door when Sam is in its way. The door crushes Sam and when Sam screams for Bugs to close it, it closes to reveal a flattened raging Sam. Sam then tries various methods to get in the fort that all fail:
- Sam tries to pole-vault into the fort, but he hits a battlement which shatters out its opposite side leaving an imprint in the shape of Sam's body.
- Sam tries to saw out a brick in the wall, but Bugs puts a cannon in the hole, much to Sam's shock. Bugs fires, launching Sam across the desert. He smashes through a tree and leaves a scar on some sandy hills from where Sam was shoved through.
- Sam uses stilts to reach the fort with a gun and says to Bugs, "Okay, rabbit! I got a bead on ya!" but as he fires the gun, the recoil pushes him backwards; he falls down and stomps on the stilts.
- Sam uses an elephant to try to force his way into the fort, but Bugs sets a toy mouse and lets it through the door. When the elephant sees the mouse it gets scared and uses Sam to swat it, then flees, leaving an injured and dizzy Sam behind.
- Sam tries to sling-shot himself into the fort but first he hits a tree and slides off it. Sam then chops down the tree with a fire-ax and tries again but hits another tree next to the dead tree before sliding off again.
- Sam puts a long wooden board against the wall and tries to climb it. Bugs, waiting at the top, uses a fire-ax to chop the wood in two bits; Sam is split in two as well.
Bugs builds a series of doors leading into the post but keeps nailing on new doors so Sam opens the door after the door until he reaches the TNT and gasoline waiting for him at the end. Bugs goes back to relax in the Sahara sand. "I wonder if he's stubborn enough to open ALL those doors", Bugs comments while waiting for Sam to finish. After the immense explosion that causes him to quit chasing Bugs, the rabbit says, "Yep, he's stubborn enough!"
Daffy Duck emerges from the hole as he too thinks he is in Miami Beach after tunneling underground—complete with beach chair, sunscreen, and sunglasses. Bugs tries to tell Daffy it's not Miami Beach, but Daffy doesn't listen. "Eh, let him find out for himself," Bugs shrugs.
Caricatures[]
- Red Skelton's character Sheriff Deadeye
Availability[]
Longitude and Looneytude
Looney Tunes Collection - Yosemite Sam
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4, Disc One
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 4 Disc 1
Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection Volumes 4-5 Repack
Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny Golden Carrot Collection, Disc 4
Streaming[]
Censorship[]
Notes[]
- This was the first Looney Tunes short to use Milt Franklyn's 1955-64 version of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down". From March to June 1955, the newly arranged Milt Franklyn opening and closing themes of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" (Looney Tunes) and Merrily We Roll Along" (Merrie Melodies) , and the older opening and closing arrangements of the themes from 1941, 1945, and 1946, were used in tandem with each other. Then starting in July 1955, all cartoons only used the newly arranged Milt Franklyn opening and closing themes.
- Clips from this short would be recycled in "Hare-abian Nights" and "Devil's Feud Cake".
- The beginning scene with Bugs mistakenly ending up at the Sahara Desert believing it was Miami Beach was reused footage taken from "Frigid Hare".
- This short would also be used in Friz Freleng's Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie and Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies.
- The gag with the frightened elephant using Sam to swat a wind-up mouse was also used in "Acrobatty Bunny".
- This is the first short directed by Friz Freleng to pair Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, although the latter is only a cameo at the end.
- This short was planned to be included on the 2023 Warner Archive Blu-ray of Land of the Pharaohs, but was pulled last-minute (the short is even still listed as a bonus feature on the back of the case)[2]
Gallery[]
TV Title Cards[]
References[]