Porkys Hasenjagd

The little white nameless rabbit with the bulbous black nose is considered by many as the very first version of what would later become Bugs Bunny. An early Porky goes rabbit hunting with his dog and is outwitted again and again by this "granddaddy" of Bugsy!!!

In June 2001, Cartoon Network ran an almost entire filmography of Mr. Bunny, beginning with Porky's Hare Hunt. The second cartoon in this "filmography" featured this same pinkish-white bunny with a big black nose in a haunted house with 2 dogs.

As the weekend marathon, known as "June Bugs" progressed from this 1938 cartoon to the very latest of Bugs' works, we saw the little pinkish white rabbit who was kind of daffy and hyper metamorphose into the wise cracking, brazen hare of Tex Avery and Robert Clampett fame, and then into an older, kinder, more mature Bugs that Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Robert McKimson preferred. As a lifelong fan of Bugs and the Looney Tunes, I could not ignore the need for this little cartoon to be mentioned.

On the Cartoon Brew site, Jerry Beck linked from YouTube a video by one Martha Sigall called The Story of Bugs Bunny. Who is this woman who's now in her 90's? She was in the Ink and Paint department at "Termite Terrace" during the various formations of what would become "that wascally wabbit". It's quite a fascinating tale with Ms. Sigall using a framed demonstration of the various character poses and different drawings of the wabbit to the one we know of him today. That YouTube segment led me to watch the original cartoon that featured what was the first version of what became Bugs Bunny (named after the director who made this cartoon, Ben "Bugs" Hardaway) on the same site. It's sort of the same short as Porky's Duck Hunt made by Tex Avery except Porky's hunting rabbits. "Bugs" here is actually all white and has the voice and laugh of Woody Woodpecker which is not surprising since this rabbit's voice originator, Mel Blanc, would create that same voice and laugh for that character at Walter Lantz a couple of years later. Anyway, there were some creative gags I liked such as when a toy decoy rabbit kicks Porky's dog Zero in the face or when the rabbit uses his ears as propellers in escaping from Porky and his dog. And how about the first time he quotes Groucho Marx's line from Duck Soup, "Of course you know, this means war!" Quite enjoyable this early short but since Daffy Duck was already the resident "crazy", it was decided to make Bugs more of the wiseguy type by the time Avery recreated him in the form we know him as today in A Wild Hare. Good move, Tex! So on that note, I recommend Porky's Hare Hunt. P.S. Ms. Sigall has a book about her experience at Leon Schlesinger Productions/Warner Bros. Cartoons called "Living Life Inside the Lines" out now.

And thus is born the earliest version of Bugs Bunny (informally called Happy Rabbit). Though anonymous in "Porky's Hare Hunt" and hardly resembling the rascal famous today, the screwball rabbit is one of the funniest characters whom I've ever seen. Sporting a Woody Woodpecker voice, he does pretty much the same sorts of things that the early Daffy Duck did in "Porky's Duck Hunt".

So at the very least, this cartoon should be required viewing for animation historians. The hooligan hare utters Groucho Marx's "Of course you realize this means war!" for the first time. It would still be two years before audiences would hear "What's up, doc?" spoken by the rabbit's more familiar form, but there's a sense that this bunny has some really cool tricks up his sleeve. You gotta love it.

All in all, definitely a cartoon milestone. Available on YouTube.

Hear me out i like old cartoons , I can say that i didn't got bored of him,the humor and slapstick is on point and very funny and the voice actors do s great job.

Some people disagree on whether this episode is Bugs Bunny's first appearance. The rabbit/ hare here is incredibly different from the Bugs we know today. However, I like to think that this is Bugs Bunny and in ways I prefer him to the later Bugs. I just slightly prefer what he looks like in this to his nowadays state (and his size). Bugs Bunny's original name was Happy Rabbit, which I think suits him here.

I like this episode because of the personality of the old Bugs Bunny, the gags (which are a little like Disney gags) and Zero (Porky's dog) is sweet. It may have little plot, but this is hardly a flaw. Indeed, it could have been better with a plot, but it was not necessary.

What happens, is that (like in Porky's Duck Hunt) Porky is hunting, but this time for rabbits. With his dog Zero Porky Pig tries to catch the wild and Houdini-like Bugs Bunny, but is not seeming to be managing...

Recommended for people who enjoy old Looney Tunes and who would like to see the most charming Bugs Bunny ever! Enjoy "Porky's Hare Hunt"! :-)