From Hare to Eternity

Given that Warner Brothers shorts emphasized music, Friz Freleng was one of the best at the framing of a cartoon around music and this is a tribute to him, it's quite appropriate that Bugs and Yosemite Sam (supposedly, Freleng and his temper inspired the creation of Sam) sing light operetta, selections from Gilbert and Sullivan. Brilliantly done, it does justice to both G & S and Looney Tunes. Good to see it available. Well worth watching. Most recommended.

Reminder that just because you intend to pay your respects to your close friends and colleagues in a piece of art does not mean the final result will be all that great in the end. I can appreciate Chuck Jones making this short as a farewell tribute to Friz Freleng following his passing in 1995, but the sluggish timing, underwhelming slapstick and sub par performance of Frank Gorshin as Yosemite Sam all cause this cartoon to suffer so poorly in the long run.

Having said that, Greg Burson is pretty good as Bugs and the Buttercup Pie sequence by Eric Goldberg is well crafted for what it's going for. Plus, George Daugherty's music score is well orchestrated here, although the H. M. S. Pinafore influence feels out of place and isn't even lampooned enough to gain much momentum from.

As this marked Chuck Jones' final directorial effort shortly before his retirement, it was probably for the better that he stopped making cartoons altogether. Its bad enough that a lot of these cartoons he did during this time were commissioned for the sake of creating cels for publicity purposes, but Chuck's bloated ego had gotten to a point where he had fundamentally missed what made the short films he and his colleagues created work so well to begin with. The comedic timing was no longer zany enough to warrant much enthusiasm, too much dialogue was favored over actual jokes, the characters of Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam had long since run dry and this short did not do anything unique with them to justify its existence, and despite some great artistry onboard, Jones' style had gotten stale and uninteresting by this point.

Nobody can really determine what Friz Freleng would have thought of this short had he lived long enough to see it in existence. That being said, while this short was a nice gesture in some degree, there's not much else to really ride home about.

The idea of a Bugs and Sam cartoon as a tribute to Friz Freleng was a worthy one. But this retread lacks everything that made the original Warner Brothers cartoons great. The jokes are tired; the story is hackneyed, and Yosemite Sam's voice is an abomination. Let's remember the good times instead.

I am a big fan of Looney Tunes, I love Chuck Jones' cartoons and I grew up on Freleng's Yosemite-Bugs cartoons. From Hare to Eternity is a very enjoyable cartoon, and is a fitting tribute to the legendary Fritz Freleng(creator of Yosemite Sam). What I didn't like so much was the voice acting, I do like Greg Burson and Frank Gorshin a lot, and they do try very hard, Burson is okay but Gorshin sounds a little too forced, deep and abrasive for my liking. Also Freleng to me captures the character feel of Yosemite Sam more than Jones, he is entertaining here as is Bugs but you miss the fire and zaniness in his character sometimes here and Bugs feel underplayed. However there is much to enjoy, the animation is colourful and fluid, the music is scattered with very neat HMS Pinafore references, the writing is witty and very funny that does feel like the old Bugs and Sam cartoons I know and love especially Sam's "never take a rabbit's advice", there is an amusing cameo from Michigan(aka The Singing Frog from One Froggy Evening) and if you haven't seen Bugs in mermaid drag singing "Dear Little Buttercup" then you haven't lived. Overall, aside from the inconsistent voice work From Hare to Eternity is very entertaining. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Any cartoon dedicated to the memory of the late great Friz --as this is--would have to contain two things: music, and Yosemite Sam. So it's no surprise that this one is a classic seagoing squabble between Sam and Bugs (it's even set on board the good ship "H.M.S. Friz Freleng") with Gilbert & Sullivan parodies galore. Cross my heart, you haven't lived till you've seen Bugs sing "Sweet Little Buttercup" in sexy mermaid drag while flirting outrageously with the smitten Sam. More focused and funny than a lot of Jones' later work, and just plain sweet, besides.