''Porky's Hare Hunt'' is a 1938

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.

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed by Ben "Bugs" Hardaway and an uncredited

Cal Dalton Cal Dalton (December 2, 1908 – June 1974) was an American animator and director at Warner Bros. Cartoons. Work Dalton's first commercial animation work was in 1930 at the ill-fated Romer Grey Studios. He later worked on an animated short vers ...

, which stars

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created ma ...

as a hunter whose quarry is a little white rabbit. The short was released on April 30, 1938. This cartoon marked the first appearance of the rabbit that would evolve into

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 barely recognizable compared to his more familiar later form. Bugs' first official appearance would come two years later in ''

A Wild Hare ''A Wild Hare'' is a 1940 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The short subject features Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, the latter making what is considered his first official appearance.Adamson, Joe (1990). ''Bugs Bunny: ...

''.

Plot

Several rabbits are eating carrots and ruining crops. Another rabbit warns them to evacuate by saying "Jiggers, fellers!" Soon, Porky and his dog meet this rabbit and try to outwit him in the forest. Porky and the rabbit get into a fight and the hare thinks he has won. However Porky finds the rabbit, who shows Porky a photo of himself and of how many children he has with his wife. When Porky is about to shoot him, the gun fails. After Porky attempts to shoot him, the rabbit asks Porky: "Do you have a hunting license?" As Porky reaches for his pocket to obtain the document, the hare suddenly snatches it out of Porky's grasp, rips it in two, says, "Well you haven't got one now!" and escapes by twisting his ears as though they were a helicopter propeller, flying away. But Porky throws a rock at the hare which sends him crashing into a haystack. He emerges from the stack appearing injured, but he suddenly grabs Porky and says one of Groucho Marx's lines from Duck Soup: "Of course, you know that this means war!" He then starts marching like one of the spirits of '76. Ultimately, the rabbit wins when Porky throws dynamite into the cave in which the rabbit is hiding and he throws the dynamite back. Later, Porky is in the hospital and the rabbit brings him flowers. Porky tells the rabbit that he will be out in a few days. "That's what YOU think!", the rabbit says, and then pulls on the anvil in Porky's bed, and runs out the window into the distance laughing.

Production

According to the cartoon's copyright date in the opening title card, this cartoon begin production in 1937, but was released in theatres on April 30, 1938. Hardaway, according to

Martha Sigall Martha Goldman Sigall (April 17, 1917 – December 13, 2014) was an American inker and painter who worked in the Hollywood animation industry for 53 years. Sigall moved to California from Buffalo, New York, in 1926 and by chance lived around the ...

, said he was going to put "a rabbit suit on that duck", referring to

Porky's Duck Hunt ''Porky's Duck Hunt'' is a 1937 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The cartoon was released on April 17, 1937, and stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, the latter making what is considered his first official appearance. Pl ...

, released a year earlier. The rabbit's

hyperactive Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...

personality and laugh provided by

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 ...

predated the 1940

Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz ...

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

release ''

Knock Knock Knock Knock may refer to: * Knock-knock joke, a type of joke Film and television * Knock Knock (1940 film), ''Knock Knock'' (1940 film), an animated short film noted for the first appearance of Woody Woodpecker * ''Knock Knock'' (2007 film), a ...

'' which starred

Andy Panda Andy Panda is a cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947, and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. The title ...

and introduced

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

audiences to

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lan ...

, who was created for the Lantz studio by Hardaway after his departure from the

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 ...

studio.

Music

The

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

heard throughout the piece are scored arrangements of " Bei Mir Bistu Shein", a popular song which was a hit for

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the Swing music, swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andre ...

around this time, and "

Hooray for Hollywood "Hooray for Hollywood" is a popular song first featured in the 1937 movie ''Hollywood Hotel'', and which has since become (together with " That's Entertainment" and " There's No Business like Show Business") the staple soundtrack element of any Ac ...

," from the contemporary motion picture ''

Hollywood Hotel The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hotel, society venue of early Hollywood, and landmark, formerly located at 6811 Hollywood Boulevard, on the north side, extending from Highland Avenue to Orchid Avenue, in central Hollywood, Los Angeles, Califor ...

''.

Home media

*Blu-ray: '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2'', Disc 2 *DVD: ''Porky Pig 101'', Disc 2

Rediscovered colorized version

The redrawn colorized version was long considered to be a lost cartoon, until the redrawn was found on a recorded tape and uploaded on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

on April 30, 2021, exactly 83 years after the short premiered in theaters.

References

External links

*
''Porky's Hare Hunt'' (Restored) on Youtube
{{s-end 1938 films 1938 short films 1938 animated films Looney Tunes shorts Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films American black-and-white films Films about hunters Bugs Bunny films Porky Pig films Films directed by Ben Hardaway Films directed by Cal Dalton Films scored by Carl Stalling Films produced by Leon Schlesinger 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films