''Water, Water Every Hare'' is a 1952 Warner Bros. ''

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 A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...

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 ...

. The cartoon was released on April 19, 1952 and 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 ...

. The short is a return to the themes of the 1946 cartoon '' Hair-Raising Hare'' and brings the monster

Gossamer Gossamer most commonly refers to: * Fine spider silk used by spiderlings for ballooning or kiting * Gossamer (fabric), very light, sheer, gauze-like fabric Gossamer may also refer to: Technology * Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered ai ...

back to the screen. The title is a pun on the line "Water, water, everywhere / Nor any drop to drink" from the poem ''

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' (originally ''The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere'') is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–1798 and published in 1798 in the first edition of '' Lyrical Ball ...

'', by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lak ...

. The cartoon is available on Disc 1 of the '' Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1''.

Plot

Much like in '' Hair-Raising Hare'', Bugs (after being flooded out of his rabbit hole while sleeping during a heavy rain) finds himself trapped in the castle of an "evil scientist" (the neon sign outside his castle says so, punctuated with a second flashing line, "BOO"), a caricature of

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

, and needs a living brain to complete an experiment, shown to be a giant robot (Bugs' brain is declared to be "A wee bit small, but it will have to do."). When Bugs awakens, he is terrified when he sees a mummy, the scientist ("Eh, eh, eh, w-w-what's up, doc?"), a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...

("What's going on around here?") and the robot ("Where am I anyway?"), eventually running away after the terror of seeing all three. The scientist sends out an orange, hairy monster he calls "Rudolph" to retrieve him, with the promise of being rewarded with a spider

goulash Goulash ( hu, gulyás) is a soup or stew of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is a common meal predominantly eaten in Central Europe but also in other parts of Europe. It is one of the n ...

. In a scene very similar to the one in '' Hair-Raising Hare'', Bugs keeps running until a trap door on the floor opens and a rock falls into a water pit, where there are crocodiles swimming around and snapping their jaws in the air. While he is walking backwards and praying, thankful he did not fall, he bumps into the monster. Bugs comes up with an idea ("Uh oh. Think fast, rabbit!") and makes as a gabby hairdresser, giving the hairy monster a new hairdo ("My stars! Where did you ever get that awful hairdo? It doesn't become you at all. Here, for goodness' sake, let me fix it up. Look how stringy and messy it is. What a shame! Such an ''interesting'' monster, too. My stars, if an ''interesting'' monster can't have an ''interesting'' hairdo, then I don't know what things are coming to. In my business, you meet so many ''interesting people''. Bobby pins, please. But the most ''interesting'' ones are the monsters. Oh, dear, that'll never stay. We'll just have to have a permanent.") He gets some dynamite sticks and places them in the monster's hair, which give the appearance of curlers. He lights them and runs off ("Now, I've got to give an ''interesting'' old lady a manicure; but I'll be back before you're done.") just before the explosion, which leaves the monster with a bald head. The monster, after tying his hair over the spot, goes after Bugs. In the chemical room, Bugs sees a bottle of "vanishing fluid" and pours it all over himself, becoming invisible ("Hmm,... Not bad."). As the monster looks around for Bugs in the chemical room, Bugs gets a trash can and dumps it on the monster. Then he gets a mallet and hits the trash can, causing it to shake, then pulls out the rug the monster is standing on from underneath his feet, causing him to fall on his bottom when he takes the trash can off and looks around. For the ''

coup de grâce A coup de grâce (; 'blow of mercy') is a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded person or animal. It may be a mercy killing of mortally wounded civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent. ...

'', Bugs takes a bottle of "reducing oil" and pours the entire contents over the monster, shrinking him as he lets out a roar. Putting on a suit, coat and hat and grabbing two suitcases, the monster enters a mouse hole, kicks its resident out and slams the door, which bears a sign saying "I QUIT!", much to the agreement of the mouse, who, while holding up a bottle of whiskey ("xxx"), says "I quit too.", then dashes away. Bugs, still invisible, eats a carrot in satisfaction of getting rid of the monster ("Well, that's that."). Suddenly, the mad scientist makes him visible with "hare restorer" ("Never send a monster to do the work of an evil scientist."), insisting the rabbit hand over his brain ("Now be a cooperative little bunny and let me have your brain."). When Bugs refuses ("Uh, sorry doc, but I need what little I've got."), the scientist throws a hatchet straight at him. Bugs ducks and the axe smashes open a large bottle of

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again ...

, resulting in the fumes drugging both Bugs and the scientist. In slow motion, the groggy scientist chases after an equally groggy Bugs while issuing demands ("Come...back...here...you...rab...bit!") (

Carl Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...

cleverly punctuates the chase by playing a slow, "drowsy" version of the

William Tell Overture The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera '' William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), whose music was composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, a ...

). Bugs slowly trips the scientist, who while slowly floating to the floor falls asleep saying "Nighty-night.". Still slowly, Bugs runs out of the castle and across the horizon, trips over a rock and, just like the scientist falls asleep, saying "Nighty-night", landing in a stream which leads Bugs straight back into his flooded hole. Suddenly waking up, he declares that it must have been a nightmare. The miniature monster passes by on a rowboat and tells him in a high-pitched voice, "Oh yeah!? That's what ''you'' think!", leaving Bugs with a confused look on his face.

Cast

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy r ...

("Rudolph") and Mouse *John T. Smith as Scientist (uncredited)

References

External links

*
''Water, Water Every Hare'' on the Internet Archive
{{Chuck Jones 1952 films 1952 animated films 1952 short films 1950s Warner Bros. animated short films Looney Tunes shorts Short films directed by Chuck Jones Mad scientist films 1950s monster movies Films scored by Carl Stalling American monster movies Bugs Bunny films Films about invisibility Films with screenplays by Michael Maltese Films set in castles 1950s English-language films Boris Karloff

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links