Fresh Hare

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Fresh Hare

Merrie Melodies series
Directed by I. Freleng
Produced by Leon Schlesinger
Story by Michael Maltese
Voices by Mel Blanc
Arthur Q. Bryan (uncredited)
Music by Carl Stalling
Animation by Manuel Perez
Gerry Chiniquy
Richard Bickenbach
Phil Monroe
Ken Champin
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) August 22, 1942
Color process Technicolor
Running time 8 min. (one reel)
IMDb profile

Fresh Hare is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon. It was directed by Isadore "Friz" Freleng, written by Michael Maltese, and produced by Leon Schlesinger. It was released to theatres on August 22, 1942.

The title is a typical WB pun (as in "fresh air") that has little or nothing to do with the plot, other than being set in the crisp, frigid air of a Canadian winter.

Contents

[edit] Summary

In this short, the rotund early-1940s version of Elmer Fudd is portrayed as a Mountie, in pursuit of Bugs Bunny, who is wanted for being a "screwy wabbit", across the snow-packed tundra (presumably in Canada). Elmer elaborates on the charges: "Wesisting awwest, distuwbing the peace, being a pubwic nuisance, jaywawking, conduct unbecoming a wabbit." Bugs soon teaches Elmer that these are far from the only tricks he can pull. It ends with a blackface gag set down south. This was the fifth and final appearance of the "fat" Elmer Fudd.

[edit] Censorship

Screen capture from the censored ending.
Screen capture from the censored ending.

The end of this cartoon where Bugs proclaims his last wish in a chorus of "I Wish I Were in Dixie", which is followed by Bugs, Elmer Fudd and the Mounties all in blackface singing "Camptown Races" against a cotton field backdrop has been targeted for censorship because of its stereotypical depictions of African Americans. Here is a list of channels that have cut the ending and how the ending was edited:

  • Cartoon Network's and TNT's version does a quick "dubbed" iris out to the "Dubbed Version" end card after Bugs sings, "I wish I was in Dixie/Hurray! Hurray!"
  • TBS aired a version where the footage of Bugs dancing as he's singing "Dixie" is looped while the audio of the ending plays as normal.
  • A public domain video called Cartoon Explosion has this cartoon's ending completely cut.
  • Some local station versions edit the ending so severely that the cartoon's new ending is when Bugs (now handcuffed to Elmer) says, "Okay, doc, let's go!" after he's arrested.
  • Others fade out during the initial "Ooohh..."

[edit] In Other Media

A scene of Fresh Hare can be seen in the title sequence gag of the Futurama episode I Second That Emotion.

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid		 Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1942		 Succeeded by
The Hare-Brained Hypnotist