The Heckling Hare
| The Heckling Hare | |
|---|---|
| Production company | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date | July 5, 1941 |
| Run time | 7:26 |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Fred Avery |
| Music composed by | Carl W. Stalling |
| Story by | Michael Maltese |
| Animation | Bob McKimson |
| Director(s) | Fred Avery |
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The Heckling Hare is the hundred and seventy-eighth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on July 5, 1941. It was written by Michael Maltese, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and directed by Tex Avery.
A dim-witted dog goes on a hunt for a rabbit, but is constantly heckled by Bugs and culminates in the two falling down from a cliff.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Bugs: Er, what's up, Doc?
Willoughby: Er, d-dere's a rabbit down here and I'm goin' to catch 'im!
Bugs: Well! I'll be seein' yuh! Good luck, Doc!
Willoughby: I, I crushed him! I done a bad thing! I crushed him! I crushed him!
Bugs: Yeah! Fooled yuh, didn't we?
Willoughby: Yeah!
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||
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Locations
- Earth
- United States
- Forest
- United States
Objects
Production
Development
The ending of this short was originally going to have a gag where Bugs and Willoughby fall off three cliffs, with Bugs proclaiming the audience "Well! Here we go again!" during the second and third trip down. For reasons unclear, Schlesinger intervened and in the final cut of the cartoon, it simply ends with Bugs and Willoughby telling the audience that they are fooled after their first fall. The abrupt end is claimed to what have led to Avery leaving Warner Bros.[1] Avery was promptly suspended for four weeks without pay after walking out of the studio in anger, which was reported in an article for The Hollywood Reporter.[2] Following his quarrel with Schlesinger, Avery would go on to continue his career at MGM by September 1941.
It was circulated that Bugs' line was "Hold on to your hats, folks, here we go again", referring to a dirty joke that was in circulation at the time of its production, which Avery claimed was the reason why the ending was cut. However, the line does not appear in the film's transcript.[1]
According to Martha Sigall, inker and cel painter of Leon Schlesinger Productions, Schlesinger found the second fall repititious and objected to its conclusion on those grounds. He instructed Avery to cut it, but the latter insisted that it should remain; Schlesinger simply overruled in response to Avery's demand.[3]
Karl F. Cohen claimed that Schlesinger found the ending inappropriate, fearing that Avery had killed off Bugs by suggesting it with a cliffhanger. From Schlesinger's point of view, the dispute was over his right to do as he was pleased with the films he was paying for. But from Avery's point of view, the dispute was over artistic interference.[4]
Music
The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.
Release
Dates are in order of release:
Behind the scenes
- The MPAA certificate number is 6974.
- It is the second-to-last Bugs Bunny short directed by Avery, preceding All This and Rabbit Stew.
Errors
Home availability
- In the United States:
- November 2, 2004: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 on DVD.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Komorowski, Thad (December 15, 2012). "The Heckling Hare Problem". whataboutthad.com. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ↑ "Cartoon Man Walks Out on Leon Schlesinger" (Hollywood Reporter). texaveryatwb.blogspot.com.
- ↑ Sigall, Martha (2005). "The Boys of Termite Terrace". Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation, p. 48-49. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781578067497.
- ↑ Cohen, Karl F. (2004). "Censorship of Theatrical Animation", Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America, p. 39. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786420322.
