Hillbilly Hare
| Hillbilly Hare | |
|---|---|
| Production company | Warner Bros. Cartoons |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date | August 12, 1950 |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Stan Freberg |
| Producer(s) | Edward Selzer |
| Music composed by | Carl Stalling |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Animation | Rod Scribner Phil De Lara John Carey Emery Hawkins Charles McKimson |
| Director(s) | Robert McKimson |
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Hillbilly Hare is the three hundred and twenty-second Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on August 5, 1950. It was written by Tedd Pierce, produced by Edward Selzer, and directed by Robert McKimson.
While traveling in the Ozarks, Bugs encounters two brothers of the Martin clan, who mistake him for being part of the Coys.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Bugs: Oh, Murgatroyd! Look what crawled out of da woodwork!
Bugs: Eh... What's up, Doc?
Curt: Be all of a Martin, or be all a Coy, rabbit?
Bugs: Well, um, my friends say I'm very "Coy." Eh-he-he-he-he-he-he-he-he!
Curt: A Coy! Square off, you shote! Me and you's a-feudin' on account of I'm a Martin.
Bugs: And just who might you be?
Punkinhead: I might be Teddy Roosevelt, but I ain't. I'm Punkinhead Martin, and I see what you all done to my brother.
Curt: That rabbit critter's bound to be 'round here somewheres, on the account of I sees his footy prints.
Bugs: And now you're home. Bow to your partner. Bow to the gent across the hall. And that is all.
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||||||||||
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Organizations
Locations
- Earth
- United States
- Ozarks
- Explosives shed
- General store
- Bridge
- Pigpen
- Ozarks
- United States
Objects
- Rifles
- Jukebox
- Violin
- Hay baler
Vehicles
- None.
Production
Development
The short's plot was a spoof of the Hatfield–McCoy feud, although it wasn't the first Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon to have done so; it was preceded by When I Yoo Hoo (1936), A Feud There Was (1938) and Naughty Neighbors (1939).[2] Production started at around late 1948.[2]
Writer Tedd Pierce switched directorial units with Warren Foster from Friz Freleng's unit until sometime in the middle of production, by April 1949, although how Pierce was permitted to write for McKimson before their promotion took effect was unclear. Following the production number order, the two writers received their own credits on subsequent films directed by Freleng and McKimson, respectively, after Hillbilly Hare.[2]
The musical number near the end took major inspiration from the square dances held at the Warner Bros. studio. Animator Basil Davidovich, who worked at the Chuck Jones unit during the mid-1940s, invited Phil Monroe (also from Jones) to a square dance, which enamored the latter to set them up at the studio basements during lunch hour. These caught the attention of Jones, McKimson, and Freleng, who participated in the activity alongside producers John Burton and Eddie Selzer. When Monroe left Warners in 1950, sound editor Treg Brown assumed the role of square dance instructor and caller, even appearing on the television program You Asked For It.[2]
Filming
It was copyrighted in 1950 (MCML).
Music
The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.
An original song for the short, sung by Bugs Bunny in style of a square dance number after a rendition of "Skip to My Lou," was also composed by Stalling.
Songs
- "I Like Mountain Music" - sung by Bugs at the beginning
- "Skip to My Lou" - performed by the Sow Belly Trio
- Unnamed square dance song - performed and sung by Bugs
Crew credits
- Layouts: Hawley Pratt
- Backgrounds: Paul Julian
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: August 12, 1950 in theatres
Behind the scenes
- The MPAA certificate number is 15195.
- A test reel of the short was first screened sometime in January 1950.
- It is the first Robert McKimson-directed cartoon to feature credits for Tedd Pierce.
- This is one of only three Warner Bros. cartoons released in 1950 to not bear the "all-green" color rings scheme, the others being Dog Collared and Two's A Crowd.
- This is the only cartoon where Bill Melendez never animated while he was in Robert McKimson's unit, or it was possibly developed while he was not yet in that unit.
- This cartoon, alongside Big House Bunny, What's Up Doc?, Bunker Hill Bunny, and Bushy Hare are the only cartoons from 1950 to not get a Blue Ribbon reissue. Coincidentally, all of these cartoons star Bugs Bunny.
Errors
Legacy
- The square dance scene of the short was included in two television specials: Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies and Bugs vs. Daffy: Battle of the Music Video Stars.
- The Martin brothers have appeared as part of the crowd in Space Jam.
- Curt and Punkinhead made a brief guest appearance alongside Bugs in the Hysteria episode "Great Heroes of France", where they both represent the Hatfields and the McCoys in "The Invasion Song" segment.
- The Martin brothers were featured in a prominent role for The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode "Family Circuses," where they both own a farm.
- The Martins appeared in several issues in the Looney Tunes comics series by DC Comics.
- Both Curt and Punkinhead appeared in several episodes of New Looney Tunes.
Critical reception
In The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoon, animation historian Mike Mallory wrote, "With Hillbilly Hare, director Robert McKimson, story man Tedd Pierce, and composer Carl Stalling combined to create a comedic perfect storm: the picture without the soundtrack is funny; the soundtrack without the picture is funny; and the music by itself is funny... What elevates Hillbilly Hare to the top rank of Looney Tunes cartoons is its second half, a relentless, hilariously insane square dance called by Bugs (channeling the Western swing musician Bob Wills). The rabbit's instructions are religiously carried out by the hillbillies, who bludgeon each other senseless in the process. This three-minute crescendo of slapstick is one of the greatest sustained pieces of comedy ever drawn."[3]
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.
- May 26, 2015: Warner Home Video releases Looney Tunes Musical Masterpieces on DVD.
- April 14, 2020: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Bugs Bunny: Golden Carrot Collection on DVD.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Scott, Keith (October 3, 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Baxter, Devon (December 26, 2018). Robert McKimson’s "Hillbilly Hare" (1950). Cartoon Research. Retrieved April 25, 2024
- ↑ Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons, p. 98. Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.
