Ruse de lapin

While most cartoons had Bugs Bunny doing his own stuff to irk Elmer Fudd - and sometimes Daffy Duck - here he has the unexpected help of Hollywood's top stars. When Humphrey Bogart (sorry, it's not really him doing the voice) attends a fancy restaurant and orders rabbit, Elmer has to serve him within twenty minutes, or else. Sure enough, the only rabbit in the vicinity is that carrot-chomping rascal who isn't going down so easy.

All in all, "Slick Hare" makes one nostalgic for old Hollywood* in many ways: it's the era of Bogie, Ray Milland, etc., but also the era when the people behind the Looney Tunes cartoons were producing some of the greatest cartoons of all time. You just gotta see it. Because remember: what baby wants, baby gets.

*I know, Hollywood is the emptiest place on Earth, but this cartoon still makes one nostalgic for it.

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.

We are at the Hollywood exclusive nightclub, "The Mocrumbo," where dinners are $600 apiece (today that translates to thousands). The entertainment: "Leopold And His Chifafa Five." Leopold is Leopold Stokowski, the conductor who seems to be a favorite of the Looney Tunes crowd.

Eating a steak is either Gary Cooper or Gregory Peck; At the bar is Ray Milland in a parody of "The Lost Weekend." Using a straw for a drink is the super-skinny Frank Sinatra; Elmer Fudd is a waiter and Humphrey Bogart asks for some "fried rabbit." Humphrey slaps him around and demands a rabbit dinner. Back in the kitchen, Elmer hears the obnoxious chewing of Bugs Bunny eating a carrot. Bugs gives him the famous line from "To Have And Have Not," telling Elmer to "tell Bogie if he wants me, all he has to do is whistle."

I enjoyed seeing Bugs imitating Groucho Marx; hiding in Carmen Miranda's fruit-basket hat, and doing the conga dance. The ending was kind of lame, but it was "cute" to see Bugs serving himself on a platter to Bogie's girl, Lauren Bacall.

I enjoyed the rich colors in this cartoon which was included in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Two.

Slick Hare (1947)

**** (out of 4)

Elmer Fudd plays a waiter at the Mocrumbo, a restaurant with Hollywood's A-list stars. Humphrey Bogart orders rabbit but when Elmer tells him they're out the legendary tough guy demands he get one. Back in the kitchen lies Bugs Bunny but will Elmer be able to serve him up? This is a great cartoon from start to finish because of all the celebs we get to see. Not only do we have a great impression of Bogart but we also see the Marx Brothers, Frank Sinatra and a funny bit of Ray Milland in his THE LOST WEEKEND role. Bugs and Elmer are also at the top of their game as the action between the two is great as are all the jokes. One of the highlights deal with pies being thrown and Bogart taking one in the face.