''A Witch's Tangled Hare'' is a 1959

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 ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' theatrical cartoon short directed by

Abe Levitow Abraham Levitow (July 2, 1922 – May 8, 1975) was an American animator who worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons, UPA and MGM Animation/Visual Arts. He is best known for his work under Chuck Jones' direction. Career Levitow was born in Los Angeles ...

. The short was released on October 31, 1959, 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 '' ...

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

plays voice roles for Bugs Bunny and Sam Crubish, while

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...

voices

Witch Hazel Witch-hazels or witch hazels (''Hamamelis'') are a genus of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, with three species in North America ('' H. ovalis'', '' H. virginiana'', and '' H. vernalis''), and one each in Japan ('' H.&nb ...

. The cartoon makes many references to various plays by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

(''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', and ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

'').

Plot

The cartoon opens with a writer, who looks similar to

, coming across a castle with a mailbox with "Macbeth" written on it. At this, he begins to write a play based on this title. He hears the loud screeching laugh of Witch Hazel and watches her stir her

cauldron A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot (kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and ...

. The witch has Bugs Bunny sleeping on a platter and wakes him up. He believes the cauldron to be a bath and readily climbs in, only realizing his mistake after reading her open recipe book. Bugs quickly jumps out of the boiling cauldron and first angrily confronts, then runs away from Witch Hazel towards the castle when she tries to attack him with a

meat cleaver A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed hatchet. It is largely used as a kitchen or butcher knife and is mostly intended for splitting up large pieces of soft bones and slashing through t ...

. Witch Hazel pursues Bugs Bunny on her flying broomstick. We then see the poet again trying to write after Bugs and the witch have departed. At the castle, Witch Hazel and Bugs run into each other and they have a little laughing contest, then Bugs runs up a tall tower, saying "You hoo! Granny! Here I am!" and Witch Hazel says after that "And here I come!" while she is on her broomstick, but it goes backwards; Witch Hazel then says "Oh we women drivers! I had the silly thing in reverse!" Then she flies up to the tower, saying in baby talk "Hello", where Bugs gives her a heavy weight and says, "Good-bye!" As the witch falls down with it, she cries out "Good grief!" then Bugs says, "Good riddance!" She crashes to the ground with her broom destroyed and the chase continues. Bugs acts as

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

to try to trick Witch Hazel, who starts to quote

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist R ...

's lines from the play, but soon the two improvise. Witch Hazel jumps out of the castle window as Bugs pretends that he will catch her and instead rapidly runs off. As Bugs runs out from the castle he runs into the poet, who is crying because he says that he will never be a writer. Bugs finds out that he is not William Shakespeare, but is actually called Sam Crubish. Witch Hazel hears this and it appears that the two know each other, but have not seen each other in a while because Crubish never showed up to meet her family at what Crubish incorrectly thought was Apartment 2B. Sam and Witch Hazel leave talking about who made the mistake of saying "2B" and the cartoon closes with Bugs Bunny quoting the famous line from ''

'' – "

To be, or not to be "To be, or not to be" is the opening phrase of a soliloquy given by Prince Hamlet in the so-called "nunnery scene" of William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Act 3, Scene 1. In the speech, Hamlet contemplates death and suicide, weighing the pa ...

, that is the question."

Additional crew members

*Layout Artist: Owen Fitzgerald *Visual Backgrounds:

Bob Singer Bob Singer (born 1928) is an American animation artist, character designer, layout and background artist and storyboard director of animated television programs, most memorably of several Hanna-Barbera productions such as ''The Flintstones'', ''Jonn ...

*Film Editor:

Treg Brown Tregoweth Edmond "Treg" Brown (November 4, 1899 – April 28, 1984) was an American motion picture sound editor who was responsible for the sound effects in Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons from 1936 to 1963. ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Witch's Tangled Hare, A 1959 films 1959 animated films 1959 short films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Cultural depictions of William Shakespeare Films directed by Abe Levitow Looney Tunes shorts Animated films about rabbits and hares Films based on works by William Shakespeare Films about witchcraft Films scored by Milt Franklyn Bugs Bunny films Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese 1950s English-language films Films set in castles