''Haredevil Hare'' is a 1948 ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

'' cartoon directed by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

. It stars

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merr ...

and it is the debut for

Marvin the Martian Marvin the Martian is an extraterrestrial character from Warner Bros.' '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons. He frequently appears as a villain in cartoons and video games, and wears a helmet and skirt. The character has been voic ...

— although he is unnamed in this film—along with his Martian dog, K-9. Marvin's nasal voice for this first film is different from the later one he is most known for. This is also the last pre-August 1948 ''

'' and ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 1970s to the ...

'' cartoon whose copyright was sold to

Associated Artists Productions Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''Popey ...

Plot

The cartoon opens with the newspaper ('The Daily Snooze) headlines "Scientists to Launch First Rocket to Moon" and "Heroic Rabbit Volunteers as First Passenger" (also with two titles that look as though they were pulled from real papers, namely, "Big eastern interests" and "60,000 Greeks in big push on guerrillas"). However, the scene then changes to Bugs literally being dragged across the launching pad to the waiting

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

as he frantically protests against what is to be expected of him, but then immediately becomes cooperative when he sees the rocket being loaded with

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...

s. The rocket is then launched into space. Shocked by the sudden acceleration of the rocket, Bugs attempts to exit it, but when he opens up the hatch, he is horrified when he sees that the rocket has now already left Earth. When the rocket lands on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, Bugs has a panic attack, but quickly regains his composure as he starts to walk on the surface of the moon, contemplating the fact that he is the first living creature to set foot on it, while passing behind a large rock on which the words " Kilroy was here" are written. Another rocket soon lands nearby, called the ''Mars to Moon Expeditionary Force'' from the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, and from it emerges an unnamed Martian (later known as

), who begins work on something that involves a missile and clearly concerns

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

. Curious, Bugs asks Marvin what he is up to, and Marvin explains he is there to blow up the earth. Bugs is initially not concerned, until he realizes the severity of the situation and steals from Marvin the missile's fuel source, a Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator, a small device resembling, and that operates the same as, a mere stick of

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and patented in 1867. It rapidl ...

. He shortly has to then deal with Marvin's Martian dog, named K-9, who, as ordered to by Marvin, retrieves it while Bugs is distracted trying to send an

SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...

to Earth. In one of his classic word switcheroos, and after that through flattery, which the dog is absent-mindlessly, extremely prone to, Bugs successfully gets the Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator back. This prompts an angry Marvin to berate and scold his dog. Bugs quickly arrives disguised as a Martian with a "special delivery from Mars" and hands Marvin the Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator, now wired to a

detonator A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electr ...

. While Marvin is celebrating the return of the Uranium PU-36, Bugs activates the detonator. The explosion reduces the moon to a crescent. A silhouette on earth resembling

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ...

contacts Bugs Bunny, and asks if he has a statement to the press. Bugs, hanging precariously from the edge of the Moon, with Marvin and the dog clinging to him and dangling below, answers that he does, and in his typical

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

accent yells out, "GET ME OUTTA HERE!"

Reception

Animation producer

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American screenwriter and comic creator. He has been a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–19 ...

writes, "Before director Chuck Jones cast Bugs Bunny in the more or less permanent role of unflappable hero, the director and his animators seemed to delight in emotionally challenging their long-eared star. Nowhere is that more gleefully apparent than in 1948's ''Haredevil Hare'', wherein the reluctant space-going rabbit is called upon to display terror, greed, nonchalance, innocence, and frustration, with side trips to wise-guy confidence and doe-eyed flirtation. Ben Washam's brilliant animation of Bugs' extended post-crash jitters is reason enough to place this cartoon among the Warner Bros. greats."

Home media

This cartoon is included on disc 3 of the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1'' DVD set and also included on disc 2 of the '' Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1''

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

box set with the cartoon restored and in high definition. This short is also available on disc 1 of ''

The Essential Bugs Bunny ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''.

References

External links

* {{Chuck Jones 1940s English-language films 1948 short films 1948 animated films Looney Tunes shorts Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films American animated science fiction films Short films directed by Chuck Jones 1940s science fiction films Animated films about dogs Animated films about extraterrestrial life Moon in film Mars in film Films scored by Carl Stalling Bugs Bunny films Marvin the Martian films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese American animated short films Animated films about rabbits and hares

Plot

Reception

Home media

See also

References

External links