Hasinitis

Yes I agree that the story is predictable, but Hare Tonic is still thoroughly enjoyable regardless. It starts off wonderfully with classic witty banter between Bugs and Elmer, and everything else is fast-paced slapstick jokes including Bugs dressing up a doctor and tricking Elmer into thinking he has "rabbititus" and one at the end involving the audience. And you know what, all of them jokes. The animation is colourful and lively, and the music is very strong. And the dialogue ranges from good to hilarious. As for the characters, here you have Bugs at his most sadistic and arrogant and Elmer at his stupidest and you have a perfect pair. Both characters are on top form, and are superbly voiced by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan. Overall, very enjoyable, maybe not quite a classic but great all the same. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Elmer Fudd is merrily on his way home with a rabbit in hi basket for stewing. When he gets home, Bugs easily escapes but decides to stay and have some fun with Fudd. Pretending that he has a contagious rabbit disease, he makes Elmer scared to be in the same room as him.

This film starts out very well with some classic banter between Elmer and Bugs about what is in the basket (`there's no rabbit in here doc' says Bugs `you've been robbed') but once Bugs decides just to wind him up with the disease, it does go downhill a little.

The material over the rest of the short isn't as strong as the start and isn't as funny. Only occasionally does Bugs really come across as strong in his japes and tricks, the rest of the time it is pretty basic. The end of the film resorts to that old chestnut of involving the audience – it's OK, but it doesn't work as well on TV.

Overall this is still worth seeing because Bugs is Bugs and is still fun to watch, however the promise of the material in the opening scene isn't met by the rest of the film.

Elmer Fudd buys a rabbit from the market for his rabbit stew. Bugs Bunny climbs out of the basket and he is ready to talk his way out of the situation. It could never be so simple as running away.

After the recent events, this takes on a whole new meaning. At a base level, this is good fun trickery from Bugs and Elmer Fudd is a fine target. Bugs has good reason and all that works well. As for the disease paranoia, the panic is real. That may take some of the light humor out of this short. That does hold back the laughs a little, but I can't blame the cartoon. Real world events have overtaken it.

Chuck Jones's 'Hare Tonic' is a brilliant but little known cartoon. Deliciously sick, 'Hare Tonic' involves Bugs Bunny convincing the hapless Elmer Fudd that he has caught the dreaded Rabbititus! Taking place almost entirely in Elmer's suburban home, 'Hare Tonic's' success is entirely down to Bugs's inspired heckling. He is never in any real danger (he forfeits an easy escape early on in the cartoon in order to have some fun torturing Elmer) and is therefore free to carry his devilish bluff to the extreme, convincing Elmer that he is trapped quarantined with an infectious rabbit. In contrast with cartoons in which Bugs heckles his opponent in a variety of different ways, 'Hare Tonic' simply extends one routine across the whole seven minutes and it works fantastically, right up to the great fourth-wall breaking climax. While it doesn't quite weigh in with Jones's all time classics (and bear in mind the level of quality that involves), 'Hare Tonic' is still a lesser known piece of sheer brilliance that I would recommend to anyone.

Elmer Fudd buys Bugs Bunny from a meat market as he anticipates a nice rabbit stew. Bugs climbs out of his basket to tell him he's been robbed: the rabbit's gone! Incredibly, Elmer believes him. The dope eventually catches on when Bugs shoves him into the basket and then carries it himself. Somehow Elmer manages to get Bugs home, but the wily rabbit easily escapes. But wait! Why waste a great opportunity? Bugs returns to "heckle that character." He fools Elmer, through a faked radio program, into believing that there's an epidemic of something called "rabbititus" going about. Through Bugs's trickery he sees spots, a coat on Bugs's tongue and his own rabbity image reflected at him in a "mirror" that's really just Bugs after the glass has been removed. Dr. Killpatient arrives to help, but he has a suspiciously fuzzy tail. But it's we in the audience who may prove Bugs's ultimate dupes.

This is a very good short, remarkably so from Chuck Jones, who had not yet hit his stride in 1945 and was frequently bringing out interesting failures or tepid successes. Elmer Fudd has never been stupider; the hilarious business on the telephone is reason enough to see this.

This cartoon is available on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three," Disc 1.