''Hare Conditioned'' is a 1945 Warner Bros. cartoon in the ''

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. ...

'' series. It was 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 ...

Plot

Bugs is revealed to be on display in the " Stacey's Department Store" window, helping to advertise camping gear. After closing time, Bugs retires to have a well-earned carrot. The store manager appears and informs Bugs that since the summer sale's over, he's being transferred to another department, which Bugs puzzles over (" tax-ee-doy-mee?") The man tells the rabbit he will look splendid... after he has been "stuffed". Right after Bugs does what he thinks could be a suitable pose, he ponders this for a second. Upon realizing that the manager intends to cut him open to be "stuffed," Bugs screams and begins a cartoon-long chase. The manager then chases Bugs into the jewelry department with a gun and fires when he catches sight of Bugs' ears sticking up from a counter. Bugs moves his ears so the bullets miss, but seems to raise his hands in surrender. As the manager gloats that he'll finish Bugs off, Bugs pops out from behind the counter (revealing that the raised hands were just a pair of gloves on the tips of his ears), armed with a gun as well, and states he'll finish off the manager. He pulls the trigger, to which the gun sticks out three "bang" signs, prompting the manager to stick three "ouch" signs out of his mouth. When the manager laughs that he outsmarted Bugs, Bugs distracts him, saying that he sounds "just like that guy on the radio: The Great Gildersneeze!" Bugs is right, the voice is a good imitation of Harold Peary's character in '' The Great Gildersleeve''. The actor providing that voice here is uncredited, although Keith Scott seem to agree it was

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comi ...

(for unknown reasons, Blanc dubbed one line for him - "Now I'll finish you off"). The manager gushes over this comment, and Bugs swipes the gun away, making it go off in the process. The manager demands to know if Bugs had been trying to outsmart him, to which Bugs innocently states that he just did and gives the manager a wacky kiss on the nose. The manager then chases after Bugs into the ladies' department, where he sees a customer (Bugs in disguise). Bugs asks for a pair of bedroom slippers, to which the gushy manager removes Bugs' high heel and tickles his feet. While they're laughing, Bugs falls to the floor, revealing that what the manager was tickling was actually a mannequin leg, to which Bugs wiggles his real toe and escapes. The manager then chases Bugs through several departments where they each wear the outfit associated with that department (little boys, Turkish Baths, costume, sports). Bugs then blows his cover when the manager sees Bugs isn't wearing any lingerie. As Bugs rushes upstairs, the manager gets into the elevator, where Bugs (in disguise again) brings him down. Just as the manager gets wise after exiting, Bugs tricks him into getting aboard another elevator going up, where the manager sees multiple Bugs's thumbing lifts on the elevator on each floor. Just as he comes back down, Bugs shoves the manager out of the elevator, making the manager rush up hundreds of flights of stairs to the top of the building. Once at the top, Bugs pushes the manager down a shaft with an elevator under repair. Bugs then listens to the manager scream as he crashes to the ground floor, and while he remarks 'What a dope. What a maroon.', the manager, looking worse for wear, zips back up ready to strangle Bugs. Just when Bugs is about to be captured, he distracts the man again by tricking him into thinking there is a "

frankincense Frankincense (also known as olibanum) is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus '' Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense'). There are several species ...

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

behind him, just like in a good book he just read. When he looks behind, Bugs has leaped into position, making a hideous face. The frightened man leaps off the building with another scream. Bugs tut-tuts, then pulls out a mirror, makes the same face to himself, turns to the audience in horror, and then ''he'' leaps off the building with a scream, thus ending the cartoon.

Production notes

The Stacey's (pun on Macy's)

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

was voiced by

. The title is a play on "air conditioned"; before

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

became widely used, it was sometimes advertised as incentive for the public to visit department stores, where they could avoid the heat of a hot day and, ideally for the store, make purchases. ''Hare Conditioned'' was the second

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 ...

cartoon in the ''

'' series. ''Hare Conditioned'' uses many of the same limited animation techniques which Jones had previously introduced in ''

The Dover Boys ''The Dover Boys at Pimento University; or, The Rivals of Roquefort Hall'' (also known as ''The Dover Boys'') is a 1942 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on September 19, 1942. The cartoon i ...

'' two years prior, including rapid motions and sliding backgrounds. The camping scene, soon revealed to be part of the window display for a department store is an outdoor recreation turned into an illusion. The taxidermy department represents "a more deadly artificial display on nature". Robin L. Murray and Joseph K. Heumann argue that these serve as monuments to a disappearing natural world.Murray, Heumann (2011), p. 17 This animated short contains a reference to wartime shortages. Bugs impersonates an elevator operator and introduces the items available on the sixth floor: rubber tires, girdles, nylon hosiery, bobby pins, alarm clocks, bourbon, butter, and other picture postcards. These were indeed rare items during World War II.Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 181 Bugs scares the store manager and himself by doing an impersonation of "a horrible Frankincense monster". This serves as an indirect reference to

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compar ...

.Picart, Smoot, Blodgett (2001), p. 147-148Glut (2002), p. 102

Home media

This cartoon was released on '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2''.

Sources

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References

External links