Hillbilly Hare
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Hillbilly Hare is a 1950 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by Robert McKimson, with a story by Tedd Pierce and musical direction by Carl Stalling.
This cartoon finds Bugs Bunny vacationing in the Ozarks in Arkansas. Two hillbilly brothers - one with a red hat and black beard (Curt Martin), the other with a black hat and red beard (Punkinhead Martin) - accuse him of being a member of the family they have been feuding with and declare war. Attempting to elude them (after disguising himself as a hillbilly girl), Bugs ducks into a square dance hall and impersonates the caller (pre-empting the "Sourbelly Trio"); the hillbillies, momentarily confused, feel obliged to follow the dance as Bugs calls it. The majority of this cartoon consists of a long do-si-do where Bugs makes the two hillbillies do various slapstick gags, including stanzas like:
Grab a fencepost, hold it tight, Whomp Your Partner With All Your Might!! Hit 'im in the shin, hit 'im in the head, Hit him again the critter ain't dead!!
Whop Him Low an' whop him high!! Stick Yer Finger In His Eye"
Mel Blanc performs the voices of the blackbearded hillbilly and Bugs. The man who voiced the redbearded hillbilly and the square dance caller was not credited, and animation historians are still unsure of his identity.
Like Pete Puma, the hillbillies have gone on to enter pop culture among animation fans. They've made occasional cameos in the DC Looney Tunes comic book, and they also make a brief cameo along with Bugs in the Histeria! episode "Great Heroes of France".
Note that due to the stereotyped portrayal of hillbillies, not to mention the easily imitated(for small children) aforementioned stanza in the squaredance sequence, this short was temporarily removed from circulation in the mid 1990's. It has been made available again on the Third Looney Tunes Classics Compilation DVD.
