The heckling hare (हेकलिंग खरगोश)

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".

This was an interesting episode, in the way that it is the earliest I have seen of Bugs Bunny where he is most like his later, fully developed self. He plays many gags that he plays in his most famous episodes and of course outwits the dog who is trying to catch him. I enjoyed the episode because these gags were done well, the dog was an amusing character (and not voiced by Mel Blanc, which is surprising, instead voiced by a Looney Tunes director), Bugs Bunny was amusing and the animation was good (the background animation was reminiscent of "Bambi).

There was one thing which slightly put me off the episode, which was the screaming of the dog and Bugs Bunny as they are falling from a high height at one point in the episode. In the era this episode was made, for some reason, you find the occasional long scene of screaming, or pain, which is not only boring but off-putting.

In this cartoon, a dog is sniffing along the ground, obviously hunting, when he realises he has passed a rabbit hole. He starts sniffing into the hole, Bugs Bunny popping up his ears to investigate the intruder and then going above ground through a different hole, while the dog digs a hole elsewhere. Sound familiar? Yes, if you are familiar with Bugs Bunny episodes where he is being hunted, the way Bugs Bunny constantly outwits the dog will be in no way a surprise to you.

I recommend this episode to people who like Bugs Bunny and the way he outwits people trying to kill him. Enjoy "The Heckling Hare"! :-)

8 and a half out of ten.

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.

I noticed in the trivia that the studio head, Leon Schlessinger, didn't like the final joke in the cartoon and he edited it out...leaving the film with a missing ending. This apparently annoyed Tex Avery so much he soon left and went to work at MGM...which for us is a good thing as his MGM offerings were often amazingly zany and fun...better than his Looney Tunes films. I didn't notice a missing ending in the version I saw on HBO Max.

This is a funny and occasionally dark Bugs Bunny cartoon where he battles wits with a dog who is woefully stupid, Willoughby. Willoughby is trying to catch Bugs (much like Elmer) and again and again, the rabbit outsmarts him...which isn't all that difficult!

The cartoon is very funny and well made...and is well worth seeing.

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.