''Case of the Missing Hare'' is a 1942 Warner Bros. cartoon in the ''

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 ...

'' series, 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 ...

and starring

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 ...

. The short was released on December 12, 1942.

Plot

A bald magician named Ala Bahma nails self-promoting posters everywhere, including a tree in which Bugs is living. Bugs protests having his home encroached and his right to private property compromised, until the magician apologizes and offers Bugs a blackberry pie. After Ala Bahma magically brandishes the pie from underneath his cloth and splatters it in Bugs's face, Bugs vows revenge. At the Bijou theater, Bugs disrupts Ala Bahma through a series of public humiliations: replacing himself with a carrot and repeating Ala Bahma's

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...

, and later grabbing another carrot after hitting Ala Bahma with his own mallet. Eventually, the magician barricades his own hat with wood planks and nails to make sure that Bugs does not get out. Later, Ala Bahma performs an Indian Basket Trick with Bugs posing as a volunteer. During his trick, he puts the swords in the basket. When Ala Bahma discovers that Bugs has snuck out from behind him while feigning pain, Bugs tries jumping into his hat but hits it on the barricade. Ala Bahma charges at Bugs to kill him, but Bugs plays a

statues A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

game on the magician. Once Ala Bahma gets close enough, Bugs dresses up as a fencer for Ala Bahma to fight him. Bugs escapes to the balcony to heckle Ala Bahma ("What a performance,

D'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the ...

, what a performance!"). Realizing his mistake, Ala Bahma fires a shotgun at Bugs. However, Bugs places an exploding cigar in Ala Bahma's mouth and splatters the pie in his face. Bugs performs "

Aloha 'Oe ''Aloha'' ( , ) is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a simple greeting but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is used to define a f ...

" on a ukulele as he descends into the hat.

Production notes

This is one of the few cartoons where Bugs Bunny does not say his catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?",The Case of The Missing Hare
, ''www.bcdb.com'', August 31, 2013 though he does address the magician as "Doc" early in the film. It is also one of few cartoons in the character's filmography to fall into the public domain in the early 1970s due to the failure of the last copyright holder,

United Artists Television United Artists Television (UATV) was an American television production/distribution studio of United Artists Corporation that was formed on New Year's Day (January 1), 1958. The company is remembered for producing series such as ''This Man Dawso ...

, to renew the original copyright within the allotted 28-year period. Background artists Gene Fleury and

John McGrew John Burton McGrew (March 19, 1910 – January 11, 1999) was an American animator, painter and musician. Although best known for working at Warner Bros. Cartoons, where he was the studio's first designated layout artist, working under Chuck Jones, ...

reduced most of the backgrounds to the film to patterns (stripes, zig-zags, etc.) and colored cards. The result was outlandish but Fleury recalled

Leon Schlesinger Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant rel ...

congratulating them. In the theater setting of the film, these backgrounds could be rationalized to represent stage flats.Barrier (1999), unnumbered pages Michael S. Shull and David E. Wilt consider it ambiguous if this cartoon contained a World War II–related reference. Bugs Bunny pronounces the phrase "Of course you realize, this means war" in a gruff voice that may have been intended as an imitation of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

,Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 216 though it was also used several times in '' Duck Soup''.

References

Sources

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External links

Complete film with closed captions
* *
Watch ''Case of the Missing Hare'' in fully restored HD at Laugh Bureau Vintage''The Case of the Missing Hare'' on the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Case Of The Missing Hare 1942 films 1942 short films 1942 animated films 1940s animated short films Merrie Melodies short films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Films about magic and magicians Films set in a theatre Films scored by Carl Stalling Bugs Bunny films Films produced by Leon Schlesinger 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films

Plot

Production notes

See also

References

Sources

External links