False Hare

False Hare
Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny) series
Title card
Directed by	Robert McKimson
Produced by	David H. DePatie (uncredited)
Story by	John Dunn
Voices by	Mel Blanc
Music by	Bill Lava
Animation by	Warren Batchelder George Grandpré Ted Bonnicksen
Layouts by	Robert Givens
Backgrounds by	Robert Gribbroek
Studio	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	July 18, 1964 (USA)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	6 minutes
Language	English

False Hare is a 1964 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short starring Bugs Bunny and the Big Bad Wolf who had previously appeared in Now Hare This (with a special cameo appearance by Foghorn Leghorn). Released on July 18, 1964, the cartoon was written by John W. Dunn and directed by Robert McKimson.

This cartoon was the last production completed by the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, and is also the last to feature the "target" opening and closing title cards, and the long-familiar version of the "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" theme. It also marks the final appearance of Bugs Bunny in the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series.

Plot

The Big Bad Wolf, worshipped by his nephew, who calls him "Uncle Big Bad" invites Bugs Bunny to join the Club Del Conejo, a club for rabbits. Bugs is wise to his game but plays along, just to stifle his boredom.

Big Bad admits Bugs in, and tricks him into signing an insurance form. Bugs' first initiation test is to ring a bell, rigged to cut a rope and let a safe fall on him. Bugs ticks off Big Bad by ringing the bell with a nail and a nickel. When Big Bad tells Bugs to hit the bell, Bugs merely flicks it, so Big Bad comes up and demonstrates himself. Big Bad gets flattened as a result.

Big Bad then tests out his next plan, to signal his nephew, so Big Bad's nephew will fling open a closet door, rigged to close an iron maiden on Bugs. Big Bad beckons Bugs for his club picture, with the iron maiden as a backdrop. Bugs pulls all sorts of poses, so Big Bad comes up to demonstrate the right pose. Bugs immediately says "I get it now," which signals the nephew to close the iron maiden. But instead closes it on his uncle. As Bugs steps out, the nephew peeks into the casket, and then closes it again, cringing.

Later, Big Bad tells Bugs to crawl through a hole which enters the mouth of a cannon. While Big Bad tells his nephew to pull the cord when he gives him the signal, Bugs paints another hole in the wall. When Big Bad sees there are two holes, Bugs tricks him into going into the booby-trapped one, so Big Bad gets blasted through the wall. Bugs then flips the wall so that when Big Bad demands a retry, he prevents Bugs from going into the booby-trapped one and gets blasted through the wall again.

Finally, Big Bad directs Bugs to climb inside a hollowed-out tree. Bugs climbs out when he sees the wolf pack it with explosives. The dynamite detonates and causes the tree to crash onto the Club Del Conejo. A battered Big Bad suggests opening a chicken club, and Foghorn Leghorn immediately appears eager to join. The cartoon closes with Bugs, sitting at a tree with the wolf's nephew, remarking: "I wonder which one will chicken out first."

Availability

"False Hare" is available, uncensored and uncut, on the Looney Tunes Superstars DVD. However, it was cropped to widescreen.

Edited versions

• When this cartoon aired on CBS, the part where The Big Bad Wolf tries to trick Bugs into having his membership photo taken inside an iron maiden and gets nailed himself after Bugs tricks the wolf's nephew into slamming the iron maiden shut was cut to remove the wolf getting impaled (though the scenes of Bugs failing to stay still for his "picture" were left intact).

External links

• False Hare at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• False Hare at the Internet Movie Database