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Water, Water Every Hare (1952)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

A great imagination is really what pushes this Looney Tunes short into the classic territory. A flood forces Bugs Bunny out of his hole when he ends up in a strange castle where a deranged scientist puts Rudolph, a red headed monster onto him. This is one of the more famous shorts in the series and it's easy to see why because of the brains known as Chuck Jones. Not only is his animation of Rudolph, the scientist and the robot monster all perfect but he also does plenty of small things that many might not notice. One of my favorite moments is when the hole is flooded and Bugs gets up to get a drink of water. While walking back the top of his ears are outside the water and while many might not see the comedy here I see it as a small, magical moment by Jones. There are plenty of laughs from start to finish as Bugs is in classic shape and he's got two great villains to work with.

Bugs sleeps through a flood and is washed out of his Rabbit hole, down the river and floats by a spooky old castle. Unfortunately for him, said castle is the, not so subtle, residence of a mad scientist who needs a brain to put in his new robot. He chooses Bugs as that brain, but Bugs is having none of it.

His escape is made difficult by the unleashing of that big, orange furball thing. How cute is it really? Bugs pretends to be a camp hairdresser and fancy up Things hair. But uses sticks of TNT instead of curlers. Mere seconds later Thing has quit after Bugs shrinks him down to the size of a mouse using a magic potion.

After breaking a ether potion both Bugs and the Mad Scientist go on a trippy chase that results in Bugs falling asleep and being washed away in the river again. He wakes up in his hole believing it all to be a dream.

But the little Thing sez otherwise.

An above average Bugs cartoon with the always lovable Thing.

Sort of playing off of "Frankenstein", a Boris Karloff-resembling mad scientist sends a big, hairy monster after Bugs Bunny, whose brain he wants to give to a robot. Sure enough, Bugs isn't gonna take it lying down, especially since he can turn into a (seemingly gay) hair stylist, and then make himself invisible.

I gotta wonder how they came up with such hilarious, twisted stuff. But the point is: they did it. And they went all out here. I'm especially surprised that they were able to sneak in what could have been a reference to homosexuality (isn't it a stereotype that hair stylists and people like that have to be gay?). But whether or not he was supposed to be, the cartoon's still a hoot. I guess that even floods can have neat results!

This is an in-between short for me on the scale of my favourite to my least favourite Bugs Bunny episode (at the top is "Bugs and Thugs" and at the bottom is "Easter Yeggs"). In this episode, I enjoyed the plot, the animation and the jokes. I do not find these three parts incredibly good, but I find them pretty good. I think my favourite part of the episode is when Bugs becomes a hair-stylist - classic! :-) I shall remember that till I am 40 if I do not watch this episode again until then.

Basically this episode starts when Bugs Bunny is asleep in his flooded house (this part is also very funny). It continues when Bugs, along with his duvet and mattress, floats out of his burrow down a river. At the edge of a waterfall, an evil scientist has nearly completed his giant robot and he needs a living brain to finish him. When he spots Bugs, he "fishes" him into his castle, with exciting results...

I recommend this Bugs Bunny episode to people who like unusual Bugs Bunny episodes and to people who like funny Bugs Bunny quotes. Enjoy! :-)

Water Water Every Hare is a great Looney Tunes cartoon, helped by chiefly the beautiful artwork, the voice work and the script.

The story I do think is the weakest element here. Don't get me wrong, it is great and compelling enough, but everything else was even stronger.

The artwork is a thing of true beauty. You can never go wrong with beautiful backgrounds and sharp character features and this cartoon succeeded in both areas.

The music is also beautiful. Featured is the Raindrop Prelude by Frederic Chopin, and you know what, it works orchestrated. It gives a somewhat lyrical feel to it.

The script is fine, Bugs has some very snappy lines and the Evil Scientist is really sinister with his appearance, lines and especially his voice. The monster is hideous at first, but really is quite cute.

The voices are perfect. Mel Blanc excels as always, and John T Smith does a superb job as the evil scientist. All in all, excellent cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox