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Heckling Hare, The (1941)

*** (out of 4)

The hunting dog Willoughby is out sniffing for a rabbit and of course finds Bugs Bunny but soon he's going to wish he hadn't. This is another winning short from director Avery who apparently walked away from Warner after a falling out due to the ending here. I certainly don't know all of the details but I did find the ending here to be the best thing about the movie, although one could argue the actual payoff is a tad bit of a cheat. The rest of the film isn't among Avery's best work but I think it's still a good film. Both Bugs and Willoughby work well together and there are plenty of funny scenes including the before mentioned ending as well as another scene where the dog thinks he has killed bugs.

After watching a bunch of 1950s Bugs Bunny cartoons, it was shock to see him in this early 1941 effort. He looks different, with a more oblong shaped head (glad they changed that) and the artwork looks different (no complaints in that department with the nice watercolors- type look). The next thing I noticed was Bugs' voice. Even though it was the same Mel Blanc doing Bugs, the voice was deeper. Frankly, it didn't right, probably because most of us aren't used to seeing him and hearing him like this.

The story is one that was shown many times afterward except hunter Elmer Fudd was playing the role that a dog did in here, namely going after Bugs and the latter outsmarting him at every turn. The two animals making faces at one another was good, as were a few other comedy bits involving Bugs' ears or the dog's tail.

Bugs' rhetorical question sums it up best: "Let's see; what can I do to this guy now?"

Overall, a fair effort. I think these were better-written in the '50s, and what's with all the kissing? That's overdone.

The story is not exactly unfamiliar territory, and is occasionally predictable, but I thoroughly enjoyed The Heckling Hare and found it had a number of interest points. The animation is nice enough to look at, the backgrounds are audacious to watch especially, and the music is a lovely, rousing touch. One major point of interest are some very clever and hilarious sight gags, especially the lengthy fall down the cliff, and the dialogue is funny. Another point of interest is Tex Avery voicing the dog, I felt he did a very good job and his character was entertaining. But for me Bugs steals the show, arrogant and cunning, with excellent vocal work from Mel Blanc. Overall, hilarious and has a lot of interest, but not absolutely exceptional. 8/10 Bethany Cox

For years, the only Bugs-Bunny-razzes-hunting-dog cartoon that I knew was "Hare Ribbin'", which I had seen on MGM's video release "Cartoon Moviestars: BUGS!"*. So when I saw "The Heckling Hare", I was just a little surprised that Bugs Bunny had done all this once before. Then again, maybe it shouldn't surprise me that Bugs had done this more than once. After all, Bugs knows exactly what to do in these sorts of situations.

Anyway, this one has a hunting dog named Willoughby looking for rabbits and finding Bugs. So, Bugs spends the next couple of minutes playing every possible trick on Willoughby (even wondering what else to do to the poor canine). And no one - not even the audience - is safe from his jeers.

All in all, I would say that it was a good end for Tex Avery's Warner Bros. career. One has to wonder what else he would have done had he stayed with WB. I recommend it.

*For many years, MGM owned the rights to the pre-1948 Warner Bros. color cartoons. For this reason, the documentary "Bugs Bunny Superstar" was an MGM release. When MGM released it on video in 1988, they also released Cartoon Moviestars collections "BUGS!" (showing Bugs Bunny holding an Oscar), "DAFFY!" (showing Daffy Duck wearing spiffy sunglasses), "PORKY!" (showing Porky Pig driving a fancy car) and "ELMER!" (showing Elmer Fudd sitting in a director's chair). Among the other cartoons on these videos were "The Up-Standing Sitter", "Brother Brat" and "A Pest in the House".

That stupid dog that appears now and then in Warner Bros. cartoons is here and he is hunting rabbits. Big mistake. Bugs becomes aware of him and literally launches an all out assault on the poor canine. Because of the denseness of the dog, all kinds of mean spirited tricks are played. Still, it is all action and works pretty well. I liked the ending.