''Hare Do'' is a 1949

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. The short was released on January 15, 1949, and stars

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 '' ...

and

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 ...

Plot

Elmer Fudd is hunting for Bugs Bunny using his "Wabbit Detector". (" Awmy surpwus. Hahahahahahahaha.") As he is searching, Bugs misleads Elmer, who walks off a

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

. Later Elmer gives chase to Bugs and Bugs hitches a ride in a

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

not noticing Elmer is the driver. When Bugs realizes that, Elmer stops the car at a

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

. Bugs pays his admission to get in the theater. After some pushing his way through the occupied seats and getting a snack, he is faced with Elmer. As Elmer follows Bugs pushing their way past the occupied seats Elmer comes across a little old lady, who hits Elmer for his interruption. Elmer finds out that the "old lady" is Bugs in disguise ensuing a scuffle with Bugs as he calls an usher who throws Elmer out. Back at his seat, Bugs' view is blocked by a woman with a large hat-which turns out to be Elmer. Elmer chases Bugs to a different theater and is greeted by a message on screen requesting him to come to the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

. When Elmer inquires, Bugs splatters a

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...

in his face. Elmer then chases Bugs into the men's lounge, but Bugs rushes back out and replaces the sign with the sign from the ladies' lounge. Bugs reports Elmer to the usher who throws Elmer out again. When Elmer attempts to get back inside, he runs into a guard, who then scares Elmer away. When Elmer sneaks back in, he ends up getting trampled by movie patrons going in and out, due to Bugs operating the notification lights until Elmer catches up to him. Elmer then chases Bugs back to the theater, where Bugs disguises himself as an usher and leads Elmer through the dark. Bugs then reveals himself on stage in a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

act, where his partner, Elmer, on a

unicycle A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a bicycle frame, frame with a bicycle saddle, saddle, and has a human-powered vehicle, pedal-driven direct-drive mechanism, direct-drive. A two spee ...

, will ride down a highwire and into the mouth of a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

. Due to Bugs having placed dark

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can s ...

on him in the dark, Elmer is unaware he's the act as he unknowingly unicycles down to the waiting lion. Bugs then opens the lion's mouth, where he hears Elmer's voice, completely unaware of where he is, wondering if the stunt guy made it. Bugs casts a side glance to the audience and says "Eh, yep, he made it" and closes the lion's mouth as the scene irises out.

Production notes

''Hare Do'' is one of the few

pairings 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 '' ...

that was released after '' Hare Trigger'', the debut of

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...

(most of whose appearances were in cartoons directed by Freleng). The film being shown at the theater (the marquee is partially visible when Bugs stops the car) is 1936's "

Anthony Adverse ''Anthony Adverse'' is a 1936 American epic historical drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland. The screenplay by Sheridan Gibney draws elements of its plot from eight of the nine books in Herve ...

". This is also the last entry where Bugs is seen sitting on the Warner Bros. Shield and then he pulls it down during the post-1948 period. This would not occur again until ''

(Blooper) Bunny ''(Blooper) Bunny'' is a '' Merrie Melodies'' animated short film directed by Greg Ford and Terry Lennon, with music by George Daugherty, produced in 1991 by Warner Bros. Animation. Featuring the voice talents of Jeff Bergman and Gordon Hunt, the ...

'' in 1991. The cartoon's final scene is a nod to the ending of ''

A Day at the Zoo ''A Day at the Zoo'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon supervised by Tex Avery. The short was produced in 1938 and released on March 11, 1939 and features an early version of Elmer Fudd. Plot This is one of the cartoons that Wa ...

'' (1939), which featured Elmer's derby hatted squinted-eyed prototype named "Elmer" being swallowed up by a lion.

Home media

''Hare Do'' is available on '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3'' DVD set. The short is also available to watch on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

References

External links

* *
''Hare Do'' on the Internet Archive
{{Friz Freleng , state=collapsed 1949 films 1949 short films 1949 animated films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Bugs Bunny films Elmer Fudd films Animated films about lions Films set in a movie theatre Short films directed by Friz Freleng Films scored by Carl Stalling Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films 1940s English-language films