Hillbilly Hare

Hillbilly Hare is a 1949 produced, 1950 released 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. Bugs as usual is voiced by Mel Blanc, as is Curt Martin; uncredited Stan Freberg and John T Smith both voice Punkin'head Martin, and Smith the jukebox square dance caller.

Plot

Bugs Bunny is vacationing in the Ozarks and stumbles into the territory of two hillbilly brothers Curt and Punkin'head Martin. After having several of their hunting attempts foiled, Curt and Punkin'head Martin are determined to get revenge on Bugs for their humiliation. Bugs easily outsmarts them and eventually leads them into a violent square dance involving repeated slapstick comedy gags. The square dance song starts as a straight forward version of "Skip to My Lou" while the jukebox band starts and plays and Bugs dances in a dress. Then Bugs deliberately unplugs the jukebox and takes over the fiddling and square dance calling, still to the melody and rhythm of the song. Bugs proceeds to give the Martins a series of increasingly bizarre and violent directions, which are unquestioningly followed by the brothers with hilarious results. Finally, with the Martins having walked off a cliff, Bugs says "And that is all" before the cartoon ends.

Appearance in pop culture

The hillbillies in Hillbilly Hare have appeared in the DC Looney Tunes comic book series, and had a cameo along with Bugs in the Histeria! episode "Great Heroes of France". They also make a brief cameo in Space Jam (they are briefly seen with the other Looney Tunes characters watching the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Monstars).

Edited versions

This cartoon saw major editing when aired on ABC due to violent content. The following scenes were edited:

• The scene where Bugs mistakes Hillbilly #1's gun for a camera and has his carrot shot full of holes was cut.
• The scene where Hillbilly #1 unties his rifle barrel, gets blasted in the face, was cut.
• The scene where Bugs meets up with Hillbilly #2, and Bugs reverses the gun barrel so the second hillbilly is blown up was removed.
• The aftermath of the explosion in the dynamite shack sequence where Hillbilly #1 comes out with Bugs' lit lighter and says: "I think y'all are usin' too strong a fluid!" was also cut.
• The line during the square-dance ending that goes: Grab a fence post/Hold it tight/Whomp yer partner/Wit' all yer might/Hit 'im in the shin/Hit 'im in the head/Hit 'im again/The critter ain't dead/Whomp 'im low and whomp 'im high/Stick yer finger in his eye/Pretty l'il rhythm/Pretty l'il sound/Bang yer head against the ground (and the ensuing comic violence that follows) was also cut.

In contrast, the cartoon has been aired uncensored on Cartoon Network, Boomerang and the Canadian cable channel Teletoon Retro.

Availability

Hillbilly Hare is available (uncensored and uncut) on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc 1.

References

External links

• Hillbilly Hare at the Internet Movie Database