Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare

Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare
Merrie Melodies/Bugs Bunny/Taz series
Directed by	Robert McKimson
Produced by	David H. DePatie (unc.)
Story by	John Dunn
Voices by	Mel Blanc
Music by	Bill Lava
Animation by	Ted Bonnicksen Warren Batchelder George Grandpré
Layouts by	Robert Gribbroek
Backgrounds by	Robert Gribbroek
Studio	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	March 28, 1964 (1964-03-28)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 minutes
Language	English
Preceded by	Freudy Cat
Followed by	Nuts and Volts

Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare is a Warner Bros., Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short released on March 28, 1964, starring Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil. It was directed by Robert McKimson. It was produced by David H. DePatie. The cartoon was animated by Ted Bonnicksen, Warren Batchelder, and George Grandpré. The cartoon was written by John Dunn, and is the only one where Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil both lose in the end.

Plot

The Tasmanian Devil approaches the Jungle. A woodpecker taps a warning on a tree, which we see as a subtitle on the bottom on the screen. "Warning! Tasmanian Devil approaching at 9 o'clock!" Two giraffes end up running. Some beavers use their tails to beat out the message "Take Cover! Devil is Coming! Take Cover! Repeat - Take Cover!". A bear and a moose fighting hear this and end up running. As a stampede of animals leave the jungle, Bugs is bathing in a nearby pond, unaware that Taz has spotted him.

Disliking the taste of Bugs' soap, Taz washes the soap off with a bucket of water, and then adds some ketchup. Bugs thinks that the ketchup is blood and freaks out, telling Taz to find a doctor. Taz runs to a medical hut and yells the situation, only to find Bugs (dressed as a doctor) instead. "Right on time for your annual checkup, I see," Bugs says to Taz. Bugs paints Taz’s tongue green and puts spotted glasses on him. He asks Taz if he sees spots on his eyes. Taz says "Duh, yeah, little itty-bitty spots." Then Bugs gives him nitroglycerine and Bugs tells Taz that the medicine works best if you shake after you swallow. He puts an electric belly firmer vibrating belt on Taz and Taz explodes.

Now Bugs is dressed as Sigmund Freud. He makes Taz lay on a couch and talk about his childhood. Taz talks about how he was a bad little boy. Bugs asks him to slow down because he has got to write down all the good stuff. He looks at his watch and says its time to go, folds Taz and the couch into a suitcase, puts it in a mailbox, gets picked up by a mail truck. It comes back by a mail truck covered with stickers from all the countries he's been to. Taz runs after Bugs and then end up in a hospital zone. Bugs rolls himself by on a gurney. Inside the hospital Bugs is a nurse and he tells Taz "Congratulations, it’s a boy!" Bugs gives Taz something and calls it a bouncing baby boy, and he bounces it just to show him. Taz gives Bugs a cigar and unwraps the baby, which is actually a bomb. As Bugs walks away, the cigar that Taz gave him turns out to be an exploding cigar ("I just wonder if he's as dumb as he looks?" Bugs wonders.)

As the exploded Taz spins in, Bugs then dresses as a surgeon and calls Taz as his assistant. Bugs leaves the room and Taz looks at the patient. It ends up being the robotic Frankenstein's monster and he beats up Taz, then, in a backfiring moment, heads for Bugs as the monster goes out of control. It ends with Bugs being beaten up by the monster off stage and both the dazed Bugs and Taz staggering back onscreen, bruised and wrapped in bandages while Bugs groans, "Is there a doctor in the house? Huh, is there?"

Availability

"Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare" is available, uncensored and uncut, on the Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinare DVD. However, it was cropped to widescreen. It is also being shown uncensored, full screened and uncut, on the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 Blu-ray box-set.

Censorship

• On ABC, the part where the cigar blows up in Bugs' face is cut. The part where the Tasmanian Devil gives Bugs the cigar though remains intact.
• On CBS, in addition to the ABC cut, the part where Bugs spoonfeeds Taz some nitroglycerin and straps an exercise belt, causing the nitroglycerin to explode inside him was cut, along with a later scene where Bugs (disguised as a nurse) gives Taz a round black bomb disguised as a baby (which explodes offscreen).^[1]

Note

• This was the last theatrical appearance of Taz.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Looney Tunes Cuts "D"

External links

• Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by Dumb Patrol

Bugs Bunny Cartoons 1964

Succeeded by The Iceman Ducketh