Mississippi Hare
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| Mississippi Hare | |
| Looney Tunes series | |
 |
|
| Directed by | Chuck Jones |
|---|---|
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Animation by | Ben Washam Lloyd Vaughan Ken Harris Phil Monroe |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc Billy Bletcher (uncredited) |
| Music by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Produced by | Chuck Jones |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date | 1949 (USA premiere) |
| Format | Technicolor, 7 min.(one reel) |
| Language | English |
| IMDb page | |
Mississippi Hare is a Looney Tunes cartoon short produced in 1949 by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. In recent years, the short has not been shown on television because of its presumably offensive portrayal of African-Americans. However, it is now available from Warner Bros. on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 DVD set.
[edit] Plot
In the story, Bugs Bunny, asleep in a cotton field, is picked up by his cottony tail (which a worker mistakes for actual cotton) and bundled into a shipment put on a riverboat going down the Mississippi River. The cotton-picking scene is accompanied by presumably African-American voices singing "Dixie".
After seeing a steward forcibly eject a ticket-less passenger, Bugs acquires some clothes and presents himself to the steward as a top-hatted gentleman. His self-assurance so clearly implies that he belongs on the boat that the steward hesitates to even ask for a ticket, but rather than browbeat him with his presumed superior station, Bugs simply gives the man a ticket.
At this point Bugs could simply relax and enjoy the unexpected trip, which must eventually take the boat back to its starting point and allow him to disembark, but he prefers to seek an adversary with whom he can match wits. He finds one in the Yosemite Sam-esque Colonel Shuffle, a neurotic riverboat gambler played by Billy Bletcher. After Shuffle's gunplay clears out the customer base in the casino, Bugs remains as his only challenger in a poker game. Beginning with a hundred dollar stake (which amounts to only half a chip), Bugs soon stands to win all of Shuffle's money. When the cheating Shuffle offers a hand of five aces, Bugs casually tops him with six aces. Literally beaten at his own game, Shuffle challenges Bugs to a pistol duel and, when this fails, pursues him throughout the boat; at one point an explosion leaves Shuffle in "blackface" and Bugs leads him in a dance to "Camptown Races" (with Shuffle literally dancing off the boat, banjo in hand), which is the portion considered offensive. Bugs dons southern belle garb and appeals to another passenger to rescue "her" from Shuffle, whom the passenger throws overboard. However, after realizing that the "lady" he has assisted is a rabbit, the dumbfounded man has a nervous breakdown and steps overboard himself. Still in drag, Bugs notes, "Well, we nearly had a romantic ending."
