Hair-Raising Hare
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Hair-Raising Hare is a 1946 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It stars Bugs Bunny and features the first appearance of Chuck Jones' imposing orange monster character, whom he later named Gossamer.
[edit] Plot synopsis
One dark night, Bugs Bunny pokes up out of his rabbit hole, dressed in a nightshirt and holding up a candle, and tells the audience, "Did you ever have the feeling you were being watched?" He is, via remote TV, as an evil scientist (a caricature of Hollywood actor Peter Lorre) is planning to catch a rabbit to provide dinner for his large, hairy orange monster (Gossamer).
The scientist lures Bugs to his castle via a shapely robotic female rabbit, complete with a large wind-up key in the back, and accompanied by "Oh You Beautiful Doll" in the cartoon's underscore. Once Bugs gets to the castle (labeled "evil scientist" in neon lights) and begins kissing the mechanical rabbit on the hand, the robot malfunctions and breaks into pieces. Bugs faces the audience and says, "That's the trouble with some dames... kiss 'em and they fly apart!"
Bugs heads for the door, but the scientist persuades him to stay and meet another "little friend". When it becomes clear that this "friend" is a ferocious beast, Bugs sizes up the situation, vigorously shakes the scientist's hand "Goodbye!" and launches into a schtick where he packs luggage for a vacation trip, accompanied by "California, Here I Come". Just before bolting for the door, he tells the scientist, "And don't think this hasn't been a little slice of heaven... 'Cause it hasn't!" The scientist then releases the monster. This is the last scene with the scientist, as the rest of the cartoon is an extended chase between Bugs and Gossamer, with gags aplenty.
At one point, as Bugs is behind a door the monster is trying to break through, a desparate-sounding Bugs cries out, "Is there a doctor in the house?" A silhouette, seemingly from the theater audience, stands up and offers, "I'm a doctor." Bugs suddenly relaxes, grins, starts munching a carrot, and asks, "What's up, Doc?" just before the monster breaks through and the chase resumes.
After Bugs twice thinks he has escaped, the monster finally gets the bunny in his clutches. Bugs repeats his opening line, "Did you ever have the feeling you were being watched?" as the monster's expression changes from anger to anxiety. Bugs points to the audience. The monster shrieks, "People!" and runs away screaming, breaking through a series of walls, leaving his cartoon outline in all of them.
Having "re-re-disposed of the monster", Bugs is about to "exit stage right", when the female robo-rabbit re-appears, intact, and again accompanied by "Oh, You Beautiful Doll". Bugs snickers, "Mechanical!" Then the robot smooches him on the cheek, leaving a lipstick mark on the again-smitten bunny, who says, "Well, so it's mechanical!" He assumes a robot-like gait (with his tail magically rotating like the robot's wind-up key) and follows her off the screen. Iris out.
