Falling Hare

Falling Hare
Production company	Leon Schlesinger Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	October 30, 1943
Run time	8:30
Starring	Mel Blanc
Music composed by	Carl W. Stalling
Story by	Warren Foster
Animation	Rod Scribner
Director(s)	Bob Clampett
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Title card

Falling Hare, is the two hundred and twelfth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on October 30, 1943. It was written by Warren Foster, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and directed by Bob Clampett.

Memorable quotes

Bugs: Get a load of dis, folks. It says here, "a constant menace to pilots are da... gremlins... who wreck planes with their di-a-bo-lick-al... sa-bo-tay-jee." (soft laugh) Gremlins. (laughs) Oh mur-der! Gremlins. Ha, ha, whadda fairy tale! (laughs) Little men. oh bruddah! (huge laugh)

Bugs: Eh, what's all da hubbub... Bub?
Gremlin: Shh... These blockbuster bombs don't go off unless you hit them just right!
Bugs: Yeah?
Gremlin: Yeah...
Bugs: Hey, Mac... Lemme take a whack at it...
(Bugs prepares to hit the bomb with a mallet; he stops midway before hitting)
Bugs: WHAT AM I DOING?!

Bugs: (to audience) Hey, I bet dat was a... Say, do youse t'ink that... Hey! Could dat have been a... gremlin?
Gremlin: It ain't Wendell Willkie!!!

Gremlin: What's the matter, bunny rabbit? Speak to me. Why don't you say something?
Bugs: (falsetto) I'm only three-and-a-half years old. B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b...
Gremlin: I like him, he's silly!

Gremlin: Sorry, folks. We ran out of gas.
Bugs: Yeah. Y'know how it is with dese A cards!

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Bugs Bunny	Mel Blanc
The Gremlin	Mel Blanc
Wendell Willkie

Organizations

• United States Army Air Forces

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Army Air Force base

Objects

• Victory Through Hare Power
• Mallet

Vehicles

• Heavy bomber

Music

The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: October 30, 1943 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• The MPAA number is 9119.
• The short fell into the public domain in 1971, due to United Artists failing to renew the copyright at the time.

Legacy

• The "jackass" gag would be reused in Russian Rhapsody, another cartoon directed by Clampett.
• The climax of the short was repurposed as a flashback in His Hare-Raising Tale, with Bugs explaining to his nephew Clyde on how he narrowly escaped death as a World War II pilot. However, the gremlin does not appeared in the reused footage.
• The "out of gas" gag was similarly repurposed for a scene in Looney Tunes Back in Action. When the falling spy car stops mid air, Kate comments on the lack of realism of the situation, prompting the car to crash on the remaining few feet.

In popular culture

• In the novel The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, the climax of this short is explained in full detail.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • October 25, 2005: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 on DVD.
  • August 12, 2014: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 on Blu-ray.