False Hare

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = False Hare
series = Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny)


caption =
director = Robert McKimson
animator = Warren Batchelder
George Grandpré
Ted Bonnicksen
layout_artist = Bob Givens
background_artist = Robert Gribbroek
story_artist = John Dunn
voice_actor = Mel Blanc
musician = Bill Lava
producer = David H. DePatie
studio = Warner Bros. Cartoons
distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures
release_date = July 18, 1964 (USA)
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 6 min.
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0058086

"False Hare" is a 1964 Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" animated short starring Bugs Bunny and the Big Bad Wolf (with a special cameo appearance by Foghorn Leghorn). Released on July 28, 1964, the cartoon was written by John W. Dunn and directed by Robert McKimson.

The title is a play on words, taken from the name of a type of German meatloaf, [http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/german/00/rec0046.html Falscher Hase] (in English, "false hare").

This cartoon was the last production completed by the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, and is also the last to feature the "target" opening and closing title cards, and the long-familiar version of the "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" theme. This marked the final appearance of Bugs Bunny. "False Hare" was the second-to-last short from the original studio to be released; its follow-up, "Señorella and the Glass Huarache", introduced a modernized Warner Bros. opening and closing credits sequence which would introduce the "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" produced for Warner by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises between 1964 and 1967.

Plot

The Big Bad Wolf—worshiped throughout the cartoon by his nephew, who calls him "Uncle Big Bad"—invites Bugs Bunny to join the Club Del Conejo, a club for rabbits. Bugs knows that is a trap but plays along, as things had been getting kind of dull lately.

Big Bad admits Bugs in, and tricks him into signing an insurance form. Bugs' first initiation test is to ring a bell, rigged to cut a rope and let a safe fall on him. Bugs ticks off Big Bad by ringing the bell with a nail and a nickel. When Big Bad tells Bugs to hit the bell, Bugs merely flicks it, causing Big Bad to come up and demonstrate himself. Big Bad, however, gets flattened in the process.

Big Bad then tests out his next plan, which involves shouting "now" to his nephew, so Big Bad's nephew will fling open a closet door, rigged to close a spiked casket on Bugs. Big Bad then tells Bugs they're ready for his club picture. Bugs pulls all sorts of pose, making Big Bad come up and demonstrate by showing him it's "straight and arms down." Bugs immediately says "I get it now," which makes the nephew close the casket on his uncle. Bugs then asks the nephew to let him know what develops when Big Bad comes out of the darkroom. The nephew then peeks into the casket, and then closes it again, cringing.

Later, Big Bad tells Bugs to crawl through a hole (actually, a fake wall, with a cannon in the hole) and await further instructions. While Big Bad tells his nephew to pull the cord when he gives him the signal, Bugs paints another hole in the wall. When Big Bad sees there are two holes, Bugs tricks him into going into the booby-trapped one, so Big Bad gets blasted through the wall. Bugs then flips the wall so that when Big Bad demands they try again, he prevents Bugs from going into the booby-trapped one and gets blasted through the wall again.

Finally, Big Bad directs Bugs to climb inside a hollowed-out tree and "await further instructions." Bugs climbs out when he sees the wolf pack it with explosives. The dynamite detonates and causes the tree to crash onto the Club Del Conejo. A clobbered Big Bad suggests opening a club for chickens, and Foghorn Leghorn immediately appears. The cartoon ends with Bugs and Big Bad's nephew wondering if Big Bad or Foghorn can "chicken out first."

Censorship

*When this cartoon aired on CBS, the part where The Big Bad Wolf tries to trick Bugs into having his membership photo taken inside an iron maiden and gets nailed himself after Bugs tricks the wolf's nephew into slamming the iron maiden shut was cut to remove the wolf getting impaled. However, CBS did retain Bugs failing to stand in the desired position.

References

External links

* [http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/635-False_Hare.html "False Hare"] at the Big Cartoon DataBase
* [http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/german/00/rec0046.html Falscher Hase (false hare) recipe]