Tuffi spericolati

Friz Freleng's 'High Diving Hare' is one of the director's best and best loved cartoons. A master class in how to put a different spin on the same gag over and over again, 'High Diving Hare' quickly sets up its premise and then has tons of fun with it. When high-diving daredevil Fearless Freep cancels his appearance at a carnival, Yosemite Sam will stop at nothing to see the diving act he's been promised. Holding Bugs Bunny at gunpoint, he attempts to force him into performing the act himself. Needless to say, it is Sam who ends up plunging into the water tank again and again and again. Much like when Lucy convinces Charlie Brown that she won't pull away the football when he tries to kick it, 'High Diving Hare' derives its humour from the numerous different ways in which Bugs convinces Sam to take the plunge himself. By the end of the cartoon, Freleng doesn't even need to show us this, such is the inevitability of the situation. Instead he resorts to an inspired shot of Sam running up the ladder, a couple of seconds silence and then him plunging downwards. The inevitability of this conclusion has become the gag itself. 'High Diving Hare' takes a minimalist concept and milks it dry. The repetitiveness of the short is where its charm lies. It remains a skilfully executed and extremely funny film.

"High Diving Hare" epitomizes the phrase "They don't make 'em like they used to." It features Bugs Bunny hosting a high-diving act when he learns that the performer can't arrive. Incensed, Yosemite Sam - who'd earlier bought about 100 tickets - orders Bugs to dive at gunpoint. But Bugs tricks Sam into diving. When Bugs tries to continue the show, Sam once again orders Bugs up the ladder. But no matter how many times he tries, Sam always ends up diving; Bugs Bunny has some great tricks up his sleeve. And that end scene was a real hoot.

I said it before and I'll say it again: the people who created the classic Looney Tunes cartoons were real geniuses.

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

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!

In a series of gags that can basically be boiled down to "Sam falls down" Friz Freleng proves just how important tempo and pacing are. Friz actually "scripted" his cartoons using blank sheet music pages. He understood that WHEN a gag happened was just as important as WHAT the gag was. A perfect example is the sequence where we've seen Sam fall enough times that the screen locks to a shot of the a mid-point on the ladder. We see Sam climb up, and a few seconds later we see him fall past us. Repeat several times. We don't even get to SEE the joke, we just know when it happened, and we know it's funny. Add the alway perfect Carl Stalling music, and you get an idea of exactly what a Loony Tune is supposed to be.