Hare Ribbin'

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"Hare Ribbin'" is a 1944 animated short film in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Robert Clampett and featuring Bugs Bunny. The plot features Bugs' conflict with a red-haired hound dog, whom the rabbit sets out to evade and make a fool of using one-liners, reverse psychology, disguises and other tricks. It was released in theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on June 24, 1944. The title is a pun on "hair ribbon".

1 Production details
2 Censorship
3 Sources
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Production details

Although this cartoon short is a typical Bugs Bunny chase plot, there are a number of things that stand out:

Bugs is pursued by a dog with a frizzy hair and a Russian accent. The accent is a play on The "Mad Russian" character originated by comedian Bert Gordon (with his catchphrase, "How DO you DO?") that was popular on radio at the time (the voice here is provided by Sammy Wolfe).

When the dog sniffs Bugs' armpit, he says "B.O." in a foghorn-like voice. That was inspired by radio commercials for Lifebuoy soap.

This is sometimes called the "Underwater Short." Early in the short Bugs is chased into a lake by the dog and the rest of the cartoon takes place at the bottom of the lake. This may be to set up a long gag in which Bugs diguises himself as a sexy mermaid. In any case, the action remains underwater for the rest of the film.

The cartoon has two endings, both of which are considered too objectionable to be shown on TV nowadays (see Censorship note below).

[edit] Censorship

This short actually contains two different endings, one of them exceptionally violent even by the usual Warner slapstick standards.

The "normal" ending, which was played in theaters and in earlier days on TV, nowadays is commonly cut from television versions (on network TV, cable, and syndication). It has the Russian Dog crying over Bugs' death and wishing he were dead too. Bugs then pops up and says, "Do you mean it?" (another "Mad Russian" catchphrase) and hands the dog a gun so he can shoot himself. TV networks in Europe air the cartoon with the ending from the popular version uncut.
The "director's cut" ending (that was shown on a Looney Tunes laserdisc set and on MySpace video) actually has Bugs shove the gun in the dog's mouth and fire after the dog sobs, "I wish I was dead!" When this short aired on The Bob Clampett Show on Cartoon Network, the ending where Bugs gives the dog a gun and the dog commits suicide was shown (suicide was a frequent dark-humor gag in the WB cartoons), and in a short segment before the next cartoon, the announcer mentioned that Hare Ribbin' had an alternate ending, but it was never actually shown (it was alluded that the director's cut ending was so violent, it could never be shown). This ending also lacks the inserted shot of Bugs looking at the audience and making a point of showing the viewers that he is pulling his legs into the upper part of the "rabbit sandwich", so the dog can't actually bite them. In the "director's cut", the question of whether Bugs was actually chomped in half is left unanswered until the bunny sits up and pulls out the gun. And as with the theatrical version, the unharmed hare then hops up, plants a lilly in the folded hands of the apparently-dead dog and ballet-dances into the background.
In both versions, it is clear the dog was not actually killed by the gunshot: After Bugs dances away, the dog sits up and says to the audience, "This shouldn't even happen to a dog!", just before the iris closes around his nose, evoking an "Ouch!" from the very-much alive dog.

The fifth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set has the original cut of Hare Ribbin, and the director's cut as a special feature.

[edit] Sources

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons, by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald (1989), Henry Holt, ISBN 0-8050-0894-2
Looney Tunes Golden Collection, DVD set.