The Unruly Hare (1945) User Reviews

Tashlin's Bugs

[wadebran · 7/10 · 5 July 2012]

This is one of only two Bugs Bunny cartoons directed by Frank Tashlin who went on to be a very successful live-action director in the 50s (The Girl Can't Help It, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and several early Jerry Lewis movies).

His Bugs in this cartoon owes a lot to the Bob Clampett version. He's wacky, some of the humor is a little racy (he distracts Elmer by showing him pictures of pin-up girls), he's very aggressive and often displays lots of teeth when he talks. This is one of the few Bugs cartoons where he's actually the one who provokes the conflict. Elmer is a surveyor for the railroad who is just going about his job and Bugs antagonizes him for no particular reason which drives Elmer into a murderous rage.

This cartoon also boasts what is probably the longest dynamite gag in Looney Tunes history. Bugs and Elmer bat around a stick of dynamite for over 40 seconds after it's lit until it explodes. Being from 1945 it also has some WWII-era references and parodies of celebrities of the time. All-in-all a fun cartoon and one that let's us see a Bugs who loves mayhem for the sake of mayhem.

Very nice

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 26 June 2011]

I am a big Looney Tunes fan, and I liked this quite a bit. While the story rather standard, the cartoon a little too short and the sound quality(mind you I did see it on YouTube) muffled, The Unruly Hare was very nice and enjoyable. The cartoon starts off with a very well drawn sequence, and while not as colourful or as vibrant as I have known it to be, the colours and backgrounds are detailed and you can see some of McKimson's features in Bugs. The music is wonderful, the background scoring is typical Carl Stalling, energetic and quirky, and the recurring theme heard at the beginning and repeated quite a few times by Elmer was quite infectious. The writing is very witty and funny, especially "so, I'm a big fat rat" "Ah! have some cheese, rat", and the sight gags are also very amusing. Bugs is still as crafty and as witty as before(loved his impression of I think Jerry Colonna towards the end), and Elmer while more ruthless than usual is still lovable. Mel Blanc and Arthur Q.Bryan are also wonderful as they consistently are. All in all, enjoyable. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Dinah, blow your horn

[Chip_douglas · 23 November 2004]

Like all great tales of the American west, this one starts with (a well drawn sequence of) manly men 'working on the railroad'. Manliest of all is their surveyor, Mr. Fudd, who picks up the song where the others left off with that unmistakable speech impediment of his. Meanwhile Bugs is reading 'Hare Raising Tales' when he hears this "Frankie Sinatra, or an unreasonable facsimile" come along. Yes, you guessed right, Bugs' favourite garden spot is in the way of progress on the move. When Elmer whips out his measuring equipment, the first trick up Bugs's little white gloves is an attempt to seduce the little fellow! Failing this, he fakes a forest fire. He should watch out he doesn't get arrested. They keep singing tunes too, like they are stuck in some kind of big ole' musical.

Elmer grabs for his shotgun but in yet another unexpected twist, the Wabbit without fear actually urges the old Fudderhead to shoot him in the back. Bugsy seems to be convinced the laws of the Loonyverse will make sure a hero never gets hurt. Or maybe he's just confident the various escape routes back to his hole are fail proof. Only when Elmer starts throwing dynamite around (one of the few instances in a Warners cartoon where the use of TNT actually seems reasonable) does this bunny start to get worried. When all else fails, our gray Hare-o falls back on his usual closing gambit: turning the tables on his adversary by making use of the very thing he is trying to stop (i.e. the railroad). He also manages to sneak in a totally unrelated (to the plot, not the times) public service announcement.

4 out of 10