''Fresh Hare'' is a

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' cartoon directed by

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

, written by

Michael Maltese Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American story man for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director Chuck Jones, notably "Wha ...

, and produced by

Leon Schlesinger Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant r ...

. It was released to theatres on August 22, 1942.

Plot

In this short, the rotund early-1940s version of

Elmer Fudd Elmer J.''Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheo ...

is portrayed as a

Mountie The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

, earnestly attempting to arrest

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

, who is, according to several posters attached to forest trees, wanted dead or alive (preferably dead). After following the rabbit tracks to a

burrow An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of sh ...

, Elmer tries to lure Bugs out with a carrot; this works, at least with Bugs' hand, and Elmer initially succeeds in getting a handcuff around the rabbit's wrist. Somehow, though, Bugs works his arm free of the cuff – out of sight in his burrow – and attaches a bomb in its place. Elmer, attached to the bomb via the other handcuff, panics when he pulls it from the burrow. He frantically searches for his keys, only to find that Bugs has them and, leaning against a nearby tree, is nonchalantly twirling them around his finger while munching a carrot. He then deliberately takes his time going through each and every key, and does not find the correct one until the moment the bomb explodes offscreen. Elmer, who remains completely unharmed, tells Bugs that he has been found guilty of committing a litany of crimes. The crimes (corrected here for Elmer's rounded-l-and-r speech) are listed below: " Resisting an officer,

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

and

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

trespassing Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, ...

disturbing the peace Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public ord ...

, miscellaneous

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

public nuisance In English criminal law, public nuisance was a common law offence in which the injury, loss, or damage is suffered by the public, in general, rather than an individual, in particular. In Australia In ''Kent v Johnson'' the Supreme Court of the ...

traffic violation A moving violation is any violation of the law committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. The term "motion" distinguishes it from other motor vehicle violations, such as paperwork violations (which include violations involving a ...

s, going through a boulevard stop,

jaywalking Jaywalking is the act of pedestrians walking in or crossing a roadway that has traffic, other than at a designated crossing point, or otherwise, in disregard of traffic rules. The term originated in the United States as a derivation of the phras ...

, triple parking, conduct unbecoming to a rabbit", and (once again) "violating traffic regulations." As Elmer reads, Bugs takes his Mountie hat and impersonates a superior officer: "Attention! Why, look at you! You call yourself a Mountie! You're a disgrace to the regiment! I'm gonna drum you out of the service!" He then tears off Elmer's uniform, revealing a tightened corset and polka-dot undershorts. When Elmer realizes he's been tricked, he begins to give chase - after pausing to put his miraculously refurbished uniform back on. The chase eventually involves a path beneath the snow, which ends abruptly when Elmer runs into a pine tree. The impact causes all the snow to fall off the tree, which reveals

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

decorations, and Elmer emerges from underneath with snow on his face that gives him a

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

appearance. The song ''

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed th ...

'' plays in the background, and Bugs says to the astonished Elmer, "Merry Christmas, Santy!" and burrows his way out of Elmer's path. Elmer rediscovers Bugs's footprints and follows them; he finds Bugs taunting a snow

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

of Elmer the Mountie. Bugs announces he is going to punch it square in the nose, saying Elmer can't catch ''him'', let alone catch a ''cold''. Elmer has crept up behind Bugs and is tapping his foot, waiting to catch the rabbit by surprise. However, as Bugs finishes his wind-up for the punch, he turns around at the last moment and slugs the real Elmer square in the nose, propelling him backward into an ice-wall and revealing a heart with an arrow through it. Bugs again burrows away. After some more hijinks and another failed chase, a weeping Elmer gives up and labels himself as a "disgwace to the wegiment" for failing to catch the rabbit (alluding to Bugs' earlier statement), at which point Bugs willingly turns himself in. At headquarters, Bugs is blindfolded and

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

(despite the fact that most of his alleged crimes were essentially misdemeanors). As the firing squad prepares to execute Bugs, Elmer tells him that he can make one last wish, which prompts Bugs to say, "I wish, I wish," and to break into the song "

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

". The scene then, in a '' non sequitur'', transitions into a

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

in the south (a commonly

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

scene on televised airings of this short), where Elmer, Bugs and the

, now all in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

, perform the chorus of "

Camptown Races "Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races" (popularly known simply as "Camptown Races") is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). () It was published in February 1850 by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, and Benteen published ...

", with Bugs on

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and Elmer on

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

, to which Bugs asks the audience, "Fantastic, isn't it?"

Edited prints

The last scene of the short was edited on multiple channels in multiple ways. On Cartoon Network and TNT, a fade-iris goes out fast enough after Bugs begins singing Dixie. On TBS, the ending audio of the short stays intact but, while it plays, it repeatedly keeps playing Bugs breaking into Dixie multiple times until the soundtrack ends as the iris fades out. In 2003,

WVTV WVTV (channel 18) is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with The CW and owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located on Calumet Road in the Park Place office park near the I-41/US 45 ...

Channel 18 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

aired the short unedited during a

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

cartoon program, without any advance warning.

Home media

* Because the cartoon is in the public domain, this cartoon has been widely available on numerous low-cost, unauthorized public domain VHS tapes and DVDs, and on internet streaming services, most in poor quality, like a VHS condition. And also viewed with its uncensored ending. * This short is available as a bonus feature of the ''

Captains of the Clouds ''Captains of the Clouds'' ( ''Shadows of Their Wings'') is a 1942 American war film in Technicolor, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney. It was produced by William Cagney (Cagney's brother), with Hal B. Wallis as executive pro ...

'' DVD release.

References

External links

* *
''Fresh Hare'' in the Big Cartoon Database

''Fresh Hare'' on the Internet Archive
{{Friz Freleng , state=collapsed 1942 films 1942 short films 1942 comedy films 1942 animated films 1940s animated short films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Bugs Bunny films Elmer Fudd films Royal Canadian Mounted Police in fiction Film controversies African-American-related controversies in film Race-related controversies in film Race-related controversies in animation Blackface minstrel shows and films Films set in Canada Short films directed by Friz Freleng Films produced by Leon Schlesinger Films scored by Carl Stalling Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films 1940s English-language films