Il lepre vendicativo

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.

Tex Avery finally follows up 1940's "A Wild Hare" with a worthy sequel, in which a hunting dog is sniffing for some rabbit and comes upon a certain wabbit hole.

After seeing him in four previous films, the audience has become more familiar with Bugs, so Bugs naturally starts to confide in them with glances and asides ("What can I do t'dis guy next?"). It works better than when Cecil Turtle did the same kind of thing in the previous "Tortoise Beats Hare." We don't know this little green lizard...why should we trust him? Bugs, on the other hand, we know by now is all right...and we can definitely trust him.

Not to say that Bugs isn't sugar and spice, of course. He still has a cocky streak to him, and at the end of the picture even sasses the audience. Could Bugs be the first animated hero that shows contempt for the people rooting for him?

Mike Maltese introduces some great gags in this story, and it's only a shame that he didn't work on any more Bugs cartoons with Avery, as they could have come up with masterpieces.

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".

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.

This short led directly to the exit of Tex Avery from Warner Brothers. Some sources say he was fired, others that he quit, but Leon Schlesinger's mistake was Avery's, animation's and MGM's gain. Avery did some fantastic work at MGM, animation gained from his influence on another studio and MGM gained by having the competition between Avery and Hanna and Barbera, which improved both teams. Avery's influence can be seen on the Tom and Jerry series in the mid to late 1940s and it's open to question whether Droopy or Screwball Squirrel would have developed at a crowded Warner Brothers. Who knows what would have developed (or not developed) at Warner Brothers had Avery NOT gone to MGM. Excellent short. Most highly recommended.