Hold the Lion, Please

''Hold the Lion, Please'' is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon, first released on June 6, 1942, distributed by the Vitaphone Corporation and Warner Bros. This is the first Bugs Bunny cartoon where the title does not refer "hare", "bunny", or "rabbit", the character's tenth appearance overall, and Chuck Jones' 39th Warner Bros. cartoon. Tedd Pierce handled writing duties, while Carl W. Stalling composed the music.

The title is a play on the expression used by switchboard operators of the day, asking the caller to "hold the line." The Three Stooges made a short with a similar title, '' Hold That Lion'', which also featured a renegade lion.

Synopsis

The short focuses on a lion named Leo who's trying to prove he's still 'King of the Jungle' by hunting a small, defenseless animal. He chooses Bugs Bunny as his intended victim, but Leo soon finds out that, in a battle of wits, ''he's'' the defenseless one. However, Leo eventually gets Bugs under one paw while raising the other one, claws extended, and looking extremely angry; a truly frightened-looking Bugs could be facing his end.

Just then, Leo's wife, Hortense, calls him on Bugs' phone, and Leo immediately goes from ferocious to meek. After a brief conversation, Leo tells her that he's on his way home. After hanging up the phone, Leo apologizes to Bugs about not being able to "stay and kill him," and dashes home to Hortense. Initially, Bugs makes fun of Leo for his submissiveness to his wife, but it's quickly shown that Bugs is just as submissive to his own wife, ''Mrs.'' Bugs Bunny (according to a sign behind her), whose presence sends her husband sheepishly slinking back into their rabbit hole. Mrs. Bunny then asks the viewer, "Who wears the pants in this family?" before lifting up her skirt to show her literally wearing a pair of pants.

Availability

* '' Viddy-Oh! For Kids Cartoon Festivals: Bugs Bunny Cartoon Festival Featuring "Hold the Lion, Please"'' (damaged a.a.p. print, see "Damaged Print") (1986 VHS)
* '' Bugs Bunny No 1'' (1987 VHS)
* '' Bugs Bunny Collection: Bugs Bunny on Parade'' (1990 VHS)
* '' The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2'', Side 2: Early Wabbits (1992 LaserDisc)
* '' Further Adventures of Bugs Bunny'' (1996 VHS)
* '' Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Vol. 11: Wabbit Tales'' (1995 Turner dubbed version) (1999 VHS)
* ''Cartoon Classics Volume 10'' (2001 DVD)
* ''Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection'', Disc 1 (restored) (2020 Blu-ray)

Streaming

* HBO Max (2020 - ) (restored)

Notes

* This is one of a handful of Bugs Bunny shorts that do not feature the words "Bugs", "Bunny", "Rabbit", "Wabbit", or "Hare" in the title.

* Unlike most other Bugs Bunny cartoons released from 1941 to 1944, the intro did not feature Bugs lying on top the WB shield. Instead, it had the generic WB shield used in other non-Bugs Bunny cartoons of the period.

* Mrs. Bugs Bunny's higher-pitched voice is similar to Bugs'.

* Bugs became shorter in this cartoon. Chuck Jones would continue to use this version of Bugs until "''A Feather in His Hare''", where he used the modern Bugs established by Bob Clampett and Robert McKimson.

* Although "''Elmer's Pet Rabbit''", directed by Jones a year prior, marked the first on-screen appearance of the character's name, this is the first true Bugs Bunny short directed by Chuck Jones. Bugs' appearance in this cartoon is more akin to "''A Wild Hare''", with buck teeth, white gloves and his famous Brooklyn accent.

* Leo the Lion would make three more appearances after this cartoon: "''The Lion's Busy''" (1950), The '' Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries'' episode "Hold the Lyin' King, Please" (1998), and in ''Tweety's High-Flying Adventure'' (2000).

* The Cartoon Festivals print is a damaged duplicated a.a.p. print where the a.a.p. logo plays first, then the 1947-49 Blue Ribbon Color Rings from "''Inki and the Lion''" open with light blue borders. The 1939-40 version of " Merrily We Roll Along" plays instead of the 1941-45 version. The print then changes to another print that says "Hold the Lion, Please". This is a MGM/ UA print and was probably hacked off by United Artists in the 1980s. This print had aired on TBS, TNT and later Cartoon Network before 1995.

* According to one of Cartoon Network's 2001 June Bugs marathon bumpers, animation director Chuck Jones explicitly established a rule in subsequent Bugs Bunny cartoons that Bugs must always be provoked in order to give the rabbit a valid reason to torment his enemies. This is the first Bugs Bunny cartoon produced after Jones himself established that rule.
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* This is the first cartoon where Bugs and his antagonist both lose in the end. This would happen again in some later cartoons such as "''Hare Conditioned''" (along with the Stacy's store manager), "''A Feather in His Hare''" (along with the Native American hunter), "''Captain Hareblower''" (along with Yosemite Sam), "''Half-Fare Hare''" (along with the Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton hobos), "''The Unmentionables''" (along with Rocky and Mugsy), and "''Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare''" (along with Taz).

Cast

* Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny, Monkey, Giraffe, and Mrs. Bugs Bunny.
* Tedd Pierce as Leo the Lion.
* Robert C. Bruce as the Hippo.

References

External links

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{{Chuck Jones

1942 films
1942 short films
1942 animated films
1940s animated short films
Merrie Melodies short films
Short films directed by Chuck Jones
Films scored by Carl Stalling
Bugs Bunny films
Animated films about lions
Films produced by Leon Schlesinger
1940s Warner Bros. animated short films