User Reviews

I couldn't resist including one of my favorite lines from an animated short as the subject line of this comment. Since I want to discuss one or two of the scenes in this in a little detail, be warned: Here may be spoilers.

Bugs is minding his own business when Elmer arrives with less than gentle or friendly attentions, Bugs flees, with Elmer and his shotgun not far behind. One semi-running gag features Bugs and/or Elmer going around and over people seated in a movie theater row, all the while saying, "Pardon me-excuse me." The funniest bit is when Bugs is dressed up as a little old lady and when Elmer realizes the little old lady is Bugs, he grabs him and Bugs yells for the usher and says, "This man is annoying me!". The usher then calls Elmer a "masher" and throws him bodily out of the theater!

My favorite scene is the one where Bugs utters the line I used as my subject line: Elmer is standing out in front of the doors of the screening room when Bugs turns on the "Intermission" light and the audience streams madly out, trampling Elmer under foot in the process. As the audience smokes in the lobby, Elmer picks himself up and brushes himself off-whereupon Bugs then changes the indicator to "Curtain" and the audience rushes madly back to their seats, running Elmer over again. The pattern repeats, each succeeding series coming more rapidly than the last and somewhere in the middle is when Bugs utters his line, as he is busy throwing the switch that leads the audience to stampede back and forth, with Elmer always underfoot by this point. It's a priceless bit, exquisitely timed.

This short in available on Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol 3 and is well worth seeing. The Looney Tunes Golden Collections are themselves well worth purchasing. Recommended.

In this typical Bugs Bunny vs. Elmer Fudd cartoon, Bugs finally rids himself of Fudd. The final scene has Elmer actually being eaten by a Lion. Typically, he would be able to climb out. But not this time - and Bugs likes it that way!

Fictional lobby poster (while in a theatre); "Hopalong Shapiro".

Ah, the non-PC days...

Elmer has his wabbit detector on and spots Bugs Bunny.He starts chasing him into the woods.They end up in a movie theater.Hare Do is a Merrie Melodies cartoon from 1949.Friz Freleng works as the director this time.Mel Blanc works as the voice of Bugs Bunny this time.And Arthur Q. Bryan works as the voice of Elmer Fudd this time.The whole "pardon me, pardon me" routine is hilarious.Or Bugs dressed as an old lady hitting Elmer with an umbrella.And how about the ending, where Elmer is swallowed by a lion.I saw this and many other great Bugs Bunny shorts when I borrowed the DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3.It's amazing how many funny gags they could include in a little over seven minutes.And many of them are about a little man trying to catch the wabbit.

. . . of 21st Century American Sexuality Mores in this 1940s Looney Tune, HARE DO. Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd take turns in dressing as transvestites for their Big Night Out at the movie theater. Unlike Batman Jim or Orlando Omar, Mr. Fudd decides to leave his hunting rifle in the woods where it belongs during his urban outing. About three minutes into HARE DO the manually-dressed pair make a couple passes by a framed painting of a nude woman, prepping viewers for the revelations about to come. We can see Bugs wrestling mightily with Bathroom Equity Rights for the Transgendered 90 seconds later. What sort of a stance will this American Role Model take on the future Caitlins of this World: A narrow-minded one, or a wide stance? Bugs surprises us by Thinking Outside the Stall, and simply changing the Public Lavatory Signage, depending upon who's inside. (You have to wonder WHY North Carolina did not think of that.) Just remember that the Tarheels are a little bit behind the curve. "Talkies" won't be introduced there until next year.

Definitely one of the best of the Bugs Bunny vs. Elmer Fudd clashes, Hare Do pits the two in a movie theater circa 1949.

Elmer Fudd starts the short by using his new invention (the Wabbit Detector) to track Bugs Bunny. Bugs leads him down to a cliff where Elmer can only defy gravity for so long until he falls. Once he lands, Bugs comes out of his hole and delivers his "Ehhhh (crunch, crunch, crunch) What's Up, Doc?". Elmer chases Bugs, who escapes in a car. Bugs thinks he's in the clear, only to find out that Elmer is the driver! Bugs escapes into a movie theater while Elmer scours the building for him.

Throughout the short, Elmer is caught in the Ladies' Restroom (not, really), trampled by patrons dying for a cigarette and given a pie in the face by the Bugs in the Box Office. Eventually, the entire setting is turned upside down in a circus-like climax.

Once again, there is dynamite dialog between Mel Blanc's Bugs Bunny and Arthur Q. Bryan's Elmer Fudd and the chase is absolute fun to watch. My favorite segment: when Elmer sees on the screen that there is a message for him and he eagerly goes to the box office and asks "Do you have a message for Mr. Fudd?" with the look of Charlie Brown at Christmas time when Lucy suggested he direct the Christmas Pageant at the school auditorium, only to be pied for his reward.

There may be many great Bugs vs. Elmer shorts but in my book, Hare Do is the best; even if it isn't as epic as, say, What's Opera, Doc?

Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny into a movie house, where the "wascawwy wabbit" creates a lot of trouble for the frustrated hunter. And that's "Hare Do" in a nutshell.

My two favorite highlights from this cartoon include the following. First, when Elmer uses his "Wabbit Detector" to track down Bugs, Bugs' voice is heard through the device's speaker, telling Elmer he's getting warmer, then colder, then warmer, etc., and eventually leading the hapless hunter off a cliff. And second, "Do you have a message for Mr. Fudd?" Splat!

"Hare Do" was directed by the wonderful Friz Freleng, who never seemed to care for Elmer Fudd's stupidity. Maybe that's why, in this and other cartoons Friz directed, Elmer is quite crafty and doesn't seem to be as much of an idiot as he would be in cartoons directed by, say, Chuck Jones or Bob McKimson. But, as expected, Bugs still has the last laugh, and Elmer simply cannot outwit him, no matter how hard he tries.