The Heckling Hare

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The Heckling Hare

Directed By: Fred Avery Produced By: Leon Schlesinger Released: July 5, 1941 Series: Merrie Melodies Story: Michael Maltese Animation: Bob McKimson Layouts: Backgrounds: Film Editor: Treg Brown Voiced By: Mel Blanc Tex Avery Music: Carl W. Stalling Starring: Bugs Bunny Willoughby Preceded By: Meet John Doughboy Succeeded By: Inki and the Lion File:The Heckling Hare Rental from Warner Bros. on YouTube

The Heckling Hare is a 1941 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny.  It was the last Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Tex Avery.

Plot

Bugs is being hunted by a dog named Willoughby but the dog falls for every trap Bugs sets for him until they both fall off a cliff at the end.

Lost Ending

Originally, the ending scene had Bugs and Willoughby fall off three cliffs. After the second tumble, Bugs then told the audience, "Hold on to your hats, folks. Here we go again!" during the third trip down. For reasons unknown, Schlesinger interfered with the production of this scene. the most popular story is that the "Hold on to your hats" line referred to a sexual euphemism that was then in circulation (though A similar line had been allowed in Daffy Duck & Egghead: "Hold your seats, folks, here we go again!"). Another possible story was that Leon Schlesinger objected to the end because he didn't like the idea that Avery possibly killed off Bugs Bunny, since the cartoon ended with Bugs and Willoughby falling off a cliff.

According to Martha Sigall, Schlesinger objected to how repetitive and overly-long the second fall was. He instructed Avery to cut it. Avery insisted that it should remain, but, as the boss, Schlesinger insisted. From Schlesinger's point of view the dispute was over his right to do as he pleased with the films he was paying for. From Avery's point of view, the dispute was over artistic interference..

Avery was suspended for four weeks for the dispute with his boss on April 2, 1941, the quarrel was reported in an article for The Hollywood Reporter. During his suspension, Avery was hired by MGM, where he stayed for most of the 1940s and 1950s, creating such classic cartoons as Red Hot Riding Hood, One Cab's Family, and cartoons featuring characters such as Droopy Dog and Screwy Squirrel.

Notes

• This is the second-to-last Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Tex Avery to be released. The last, All This and Rabbit Stew, was produced before this film. Additionally, it was the fifth cartoon for Bugs and the 55th cartoon Avery directed at Warner Bros.
• The Merrie Melodies opening sequence also featured the first usage of the Warner Bros. shield logo zooming in with a carrot-munching Bugs Bunny lying on top of it. Here, after the zoom-in and a couple of bites of his carrot, Bugs pulls down the Merrie Melodies title screen like it is a shade.
  • Starting with this cartoon, WARNER BROS. and Present are already on the screen, and would be for all future Bugs Bunny cartoons, excluding Hold the Lion, Please, until Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips. However, beginning with All This and Rabbit Stew, Bugs does not pulls down the Merrie Melodies title screen like a shade as in this cartoon; instead the WB shield title then fades to the Merrie Melodies title screen. After Nips the Nips, the Bugs Bunny head would appear after the WB shield zooms in starting with Hare Ribbin'. The head would appear replacing the WB shield in every Bugs cartoon from 1949 until the Termite Terrace studio closed.
  • 1945 saw a revamped version of the Warner Bros. shield logo zooming in with a carrot-munching Bugs Bunny lying on top of it, beginning with Hare Trigger and ending with Hare Do. This version uses the modern Bugs Bunny design by Robert McKimson, and once again Bugs pulls down the Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes title screen like a shade as in this one. Bugs' head would appear again replacing the WB shield in every Bugs cartoon from 1949 until the Termite Terrace studio closed.
• The EU Turner dubbed transfer has the 1947-1948 MM dubbed card and keeps also the 1941-1955 MWRA ending music rendition. It has also Willoughby's line before the ending credits intact. The USA Turner dubbed version has the 1937-38 MM dubbed card and replaces the original ending music rendition to the MWRA rendition that was shown on the 1938-41 MM cartoons. It also censors Willoughby's line.
• This cartoon is notable to have the longest falling sequence in the history of cinema.

Censorship

• Most televised versions of this cartoon, specifically the versions shown on the Ted Turner-owned cable networks such as TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang, cut out Willoughby saying "Yeah!" as the cartoon ends to cover up the fact that the cartoon has a missing ending (see "Lost Ending" for a detailed explanation). The version released on most home media versions (VHS, Laserdisc and the Golden Collection DVD set) do not restore the lost ending, but do leave in Willoughby saying, "Yeah!" just as the short abruptly ends.

Additional Credits

• Written by: Michael Maltese
• Animation: Robert McKimson and Rod Scribner
• Music: Carl Stalling

Availability

• VHS - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs Bunny Classics: Special Collector's Edition
• Laserdisc - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs Bunny Classics: Special Collector's Edition
• VHS - Bugs Bunny Collection: The Very Best of Bugs
• Laserdisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 1, Side 7: Bugs Bunny By Each Director
• VHS - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 7: Bugs Bunny By Each Director
• VHS - Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Vol. 8: Tex-Book Looney
• DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2, Disc One (with optional audio by Greg Ford and archive audio by Tex Avery)

Gallery

Staff credits

The original script (click to see more)

External Links

• The Heckling Hare at SuperCartoons.net
• The Heckling Hare at B99.TV