Hasenbraten in Hollywood

The Hollywood stars are out in a fancy restaurant. Humphrey Bogart orders fried rabbit from waiter Elmer Fudd and gives him only twenty minutes. He is besides himself until he spots Bugs Bunny in the kitchen. He struggles to cook up the rabbit and fears the repercussion from the gangster movie star.

This one does require the audience to know these iconic Hollywood stars from the past. Their stardoms may have faded and cinema newbies may not know who these people are. That is the main problem here. It just wouldn't hit right if the audience doesn't know to fear Bogie's standard gangster character.

Man how I loved this Looney Tunes cartoon. The animation is excellent, colourful, fluid and lively, and the music is dynamic and expressive. The dialogue is witty and moves fast, the story doesn't fall into the trap of being predictable and the sight gags are consistently impressive. Both Bugs and Elmer are great foils for each other, and Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan both do superb jobs with the vocals. It is the celebrity caricatures that made Slick Hare so entertaining, what a delight to see all those famous faces- Gregory Peck, Ray Milland, Carmen Miranda, Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra, Sydney Greestreet, Leopold Stokowski, Lauren Bacall and especially Humphrey Bogart. Overall, hugely entertaining and definitely recommended. 10/10 Bethany Cox

How can Looney Tunes be so good? How can Bugs Bunny be so good? He never ceases to amaze me. This is not my favourite of his episodes, but it is certainly up there in my Top 20 Bugs Bunny Cartoon List (probably). In this episode I enjoyed: 1. The caricatured appearances of the actors. I did not recognise all of them, but the ones I did recognise (Frank Sinatra, Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx), I enjoyed watching and I found the spoofs on them funny. Am I misunderstanding or did Looney Tunes have it in for Frank Sinatra? Poor him.

2. Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, they played their characters well and you feel sorry for Elmer Fudd.

Anyhow, this episode is set in a posh, expensive restaurant, where many film stars are having their meals. Before any of the Looney Tunes characters appear, you see various film star/performer references, some you might recognise. Elmer Fudd is serving Humphrey Bogart, who wants a rabbit for supper. Elmer apologises and says they are out of rabbit. Bogart is unsatisfied and threatens poor Elmer with death if he does not produce a rabbit within twenty minutes. Elmer finds Bugs and he is determined to serve him up to the film star...

I recommend this episode to people who like old Bugs Bunny episodes, film star references and Looney Tunes in general. Enjoy "Slick Hare"! :-) 8 and a half out of ten.

For this viewer, the directors who handled Bugs Bunny best were Isadore Freleng and Robert Clampett. Art Davis did well with his one entry, and Tex Avery clocked in, but Freleng and Clampett are still best over-all.

The "Mocrumbo" in "Slick Hare" is, apparently, where the stars came to be seen--which would explain why there are so many of them here. First up is Leopold Stokowski , or in this case "Leopold and his Chifafa Five" (that 'Chifafa' being taken from the lyric of the song hit of the 40s by Nat King Cole, known as "The Frim Fram Sauce"). It's hilarious to see Leopold deposit a nickel in the juke-box, and then do a pretend conductorship of the recording. Incidentally, the song played by the orchestra in that scene is "Nagasaki", composed by Harry Warren. As Carl Stalling drums up strains of "A Gal In Calico", we see Gregory Peck, cutting up a steak with a razor, Ray Milland trading in his typewriter for drinks at the bar, Sinatra being sucked up by a straw--instead of the other way around. The action finally settles on Elmer Fudd (and in this cartoon the voice is still being done by its initiator, Arthur Q. Bryan and not Mel Blanc--yet)and on Humphrey Bogart, who demands rabbit, and gives Elmer an ultimatum. There we have the scenario that sets the pace for the rest of the cartoon. We are treated to more cameo caricatures (the Marx Brothers, Sydney Greenstreet, and even a number by Carmen Miranda, whose voice is dubbed by a singer whose name I would like to know--as well as the name of the song).

Bogie turns up the heat on Elmer, and the pressure builds. Elmer can't come through and fears the worst. But a turn of events in cartoon logic changes things at that very moment, and the ending will come as a pleasant surprise to anyone who has not seen the cartoon...and I would recommend that the cartoon be shown to as many as would care to view it. Certainly not the best Bugs Bunny cartoon, but one of the better ones.

Humphrey Bogart is in the Mocrumbo restaurant (a spoof of the legendary Mucombo in LA), where Elmer Fudd is working as a chef. Bogart wants fried rabbit, so Elmer chases Bugs around in hopes of making him dinner. Half the fun is the chase and all the shenanigans that entails. The other half is spotting all the personality parodies. There's Bogert, Grocho Marx, and Lauren Bacall, of course. But there's also Leopold Stokowski, Gregory Peck, Ray Milland, Frank Sinatra, Sydney Greenstreet, and Carmen Miranda. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional commentary by Micheal Barrier.

My Grade: A-