High Diving Hare

"Due to an unfortunate delay," announces the barker, Bugs Bunny, "Fearless Freep will be unable to perform his high-diving act today." But Yosemite Sam had bought out the house just to see Freep. If Freep isn't going to dive, someone else will just have to. And that someone is going to be Bugs Bunny. Bugs is no high diver; but at gunpoint, he'll have to take his first-ever 500-ft. jump into a tank of water. Or will he? Yosemite Sam will find himself tricked into doing the dive himself—many times—before realizing that no matter what he does, Bugs's blissful ignorance of physics will always save him.

Friz Freleng said he took a big chance on this one-joke idea. It paid off big time. You've got to love this parody of human nature, as represented by Sam. The little bully doesn't get his way, so he takes it out on the closest person at hand. And of course—of course!—he gets outraged when his victim refuses to be bullied. Bugs's own heroic brand of stubbornness only inspires Sam to redouble and requadruple his efforts. Oh, and don't you love what Sam does the first time he tries to force Bugs off the diving board—and thinks he's succeeded? He feels sorry!

But not for long. If the bullies of the world are Yosemite Sams, why can't the rest of us be Bugs Bunnys?

This short is available on "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume One," Disc 1.

Bugs is in front of the Opry House in an Old West town, barking out all the acts trying to sell tickets for the show. Fifteen cents will get you in to see 15 acts. One of them is "Fearless Freep," the high diver. "That's my boy!," yells Yosemite Sam, firing his pistols in the air. He buys a lot of tickets and comes into the theater with his guns blazing.

At the last second, Bugs gets a telegram from "Fearless" saying a storm has delayed him. He relays that to the crowd but Yosemite demands to see the diving act, so he forces Bugs to do it! He follows the rabbit all the way up the steps to the platform, threatening to shot him.

The rest of the animated short is what happens afterward as things backfire on Sam. How many times can they play this one joke (Sam, not Bugs, taking the plunge) and still make it funny? The answer: EVERY time!

A very clever and funny cartoon.

A hilarious Friz Freleng directed Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam short finds Yosemite Sam trying to get Bugs Bunny to perform in his high diving show after his star atraction can't make the show. What follows with Bugs tricking Sam to dive again and again is vintage Looney Tune style antics that will make you cry with laughter. Quite possibly my favorite Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam paring and that's no mean feat! This cartoon is uncut (so you get quite a few more jokes that you would have missed if you caught it playing in syndication) on the 'Looney Tunes Golden Collection' on disk 1. It has commentary & featurette.

My Grade: A+

I love it how it starts out with Bugs at that old opry house annoucing the events of the evening. Then when Sam hears about Fearless Freep he goes crazy wanting tickets. Then it is wild that just right after Bugs gets done annoucing that the Freep's act is the first one to come up he gets a telegram saying that the Freep is not able to make it due to a train or something running late. Then it all gets so funny when Sam forces Bugs to climb that ladder and do the dive then Sam keeps on falling off instead. Also a while back when they did a Looney Tunes Sportsman of the year contest and it got to the high diving it showed that Sam was the top high diver because of what he did when he went to see the Fearless Freep's act!

From Fritz Freleng comes High Diving Hare, an exceptional and hilarious Bugs Bunny vs. Yosemite Sam cartoon. As others have noted it is basically a one-joke concept and this was a big risk admittedly, but it was a risk that worked! The animation is excellent, very colourful, smooth and crisp, and the music has a considerable amount of energy. The dialogue is sharp, witty, fresh and hilarious and the sight gags(mostly falls from big heights on Sam's behalf) are clever and funny every time. Bugs is on top form, and Yosemite Sam is a delightful foil. Both characters are divinely voiced by the one and only Mel Blanc. High Diving Hare also has a good story, that moves quickly enough to constantly maintain interest.

In conclusion, if you love Looney Tunes or Bugs Bunny, I do highly recommend this cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox