Le docteur abuse

Bugs Bunny is too sound a sleeper to notice that a sudden rainstorm has flooded his rabbit hole and sent his mattress, with him on it, floating downstream toward a castle with helpful neon signs that say "Evil Scientist" and "Boo." Said Evil Scientist needs a brain for his mechanical monster, and when he sees Bugs Bunny floating by, decides a rabbit's brain is as good as any other. Bugs Bunny awakens to the horror of reposing mummies, an Evil Scientist with a huge, green head and an enormous robot waiting for its brain. Bugs tries to escape, but the scientist sends Rudolph after him. Rudolph is an unlikely beast covered with orange fur; it wears sneakers, but why not? Who says monsters don't have sensitive feet? Bugs poses as a chatty hairdresser, uses vanishing fluid on himself, and pours reducing fluid on the beast to thwart him. But Bugs's only weapon against the Evil Scientist will be a broken bottle of ether. Will it be enough?

"Water, Water Every Hare" is an amusing short with excellent artwork. (Love that mechanical monster!) But it's not as funny or as well plotted as the earlier, and very similar, "Hair-Raising Hare," which also featured a castle, an evil scientist, the same furry orange beast (with a different name), a scene where Bugs narrowly escapes a trap door and a scene where Bugs poses as a chatty beautician.

Silent movie fans will recognize the ether gag, a standard for that era, jazzed up with sound effects and cartoon animation. Bugs Bunny fans will notice that the beast from "Hair-Raising" has changed its name from Gossamer to Rudolph. Finally, horror movie fans will think the scientist is a prescient creation. Supposedly he's meant to evoke Boris Karloff. But he sounds much more like Vincent Price, who had not quite become the horror icon that he is now. How did Chuck Jones and company know? That's even spookier than this spooky-funny film.

Water, Water Every Hare (1952)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

A great imagination is really what pushes this Looney Tunes short into the classic territory. A flood forces Bugs Bunny out of his hole when he ends up in a strange castle where a deranged scientist puts Rudolph, a red headed monster onto him. This is one of the more famous shorts in the series and it's easy to see why because of the brains known as Chuck Jones. Not only is his animation of Rudolph, the scientist and the robot monster all perfect but he also does plenty of small things that many might not notice. One of my favorite moments is when the hole is flooded and Bugs gets up to get a drink of water. While walking back the top of his ears are outside the water and while many might not see the comedy here I see it as a small, magical moment by Jones. There are plenty of laughs from start to finish as Bugs is in classic shape and he's got two great villains to work with.

Sort of playing off of "Frankenstein", a Boris Karloff-resembling mad scientist sends a big, hairy monster after Bugs Bunny, whose brain he wants to give to a robot. Sure enough, Bugs isn't gonna take it lying down, especially since he can turn into a (seemingly gay) hair stylist, and then make himself invisible.

I gotta wonder how they came up with such hilarious, twisted stuff. But the point is: they did it. And they went all out here. I'm especially surprised that they were able to sneak in what could have been a reference to homosexuality (isn't it a stereotype that hair stylists and people like that have to be gay?). But whether or not he was supposed to be, the cartoon's still a hoot. I guess that even floods can have neat results!

This is an in-between short for me on the scale of my favourite to my least favourite Bugs Bunny episode (at the top is "Bugs and Thugs" and at the bottom is "Easter Yeggs"). In this episode, I enjoyed the plot, the animation and the jokes. I do not find these three parts incredibly good, but I find them pretty good. I think my favourite part of the episode is when Bugs becomes a hair-stylist - classic! :-) I shall remember that till I am 40 if I do not watch this episode again until then.

Basically this episode starts when Bugs Bunny is asleep in his flooded house (this part is also very funny). It continues when Bugs, along with his duvet and mattress, floats out of his burrow down a river. At the edge of a waterfall, an evil scientist has nearly completed his giant robot and he needs a living brain to finish him. When he spots Bugs, he "fishes" him into his castle, with exciting results...

I recommend this Bugs Bunny episode to people who like unusual Bugs Bunny episodes and to people who like funny Bugs Bunny quotes. Enjoy! :-)

A HAIR-RAISING HARE was a wonderful cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny and the attempts by a mad scientist to use him for his evil experiments. The film also featured the orange monster as the scientist's evil assistant.

Well, they are back, though slightly changed due to the passing of six years between the two cartoon shorts. Plus this time the scientist is not modeled after Peter Lorre, but is a large cranium-ed Boris Karloff wannabe. But the cute orange monster is pretty much the same and Bugs is once again at the top of his game in his attempts to foil these two. This cartoon only receives a slightly lower score because it was less original and ground-breaking that A HAIR-RAISING HARE.

The water in the title refers to a flood that takes Bugs and his bed to and from the mad scientist's home.