A Wild Hare

A Wild Hare
Lobby card.
Production company	Leon Schlesinger Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	July 27, 1940
Run time	8:15
Starring	Mel Blanc Arthur Q. Bryan
Music composed by	Carl W. Stalling
Story by	Rich Hogan
Director(s)	Tex Avery
Animation director(s)	Tex Avery
Art director(s)	Tex Avery
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Title card
File:A wild hare title card.png
Second title card

A Wild Hare, also known as The Wild Hare, is the hundred and fifty-fourth Merrie Melodies theatrical short. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Vitaphone Corporation on July 27, 1940. It was written by Rich Hogan, animated by Virgil Ross, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and directed by Tex Avery.

Elmer encounters a mischievous rabbit while hunting.

Memorable quotes

Elmer: Shh... Be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting wabbits!

Bugs: What's up, Doc?
Elmer: Shh! Thewe's a wabbit down thewe, and I'm twying to catch him.

Elmer: Pawdon me, but you wook just wike a wabbit!
Bugs: C'mere... Listen, Doc. Now, don't spread dis around, but, um... confidentially... I AM A RABBIT!!!

Bugs: Can ya imagine anybody actin' like dat? Y'know, I think da poor guy's screwy!

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Elmer Fudd	Arthur Q. Bryan
Bugs Bunny	Mel Blanc
Hedy Lamarr
Carole Lombard
Rosemary Lane
Olivia de Havilland
Skunk	Mel Blanc

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Forest
      • Bugs's residence

Objects

• Elmer's rifle

Music

The music was composed by Carl W. Stalling.

In instrumental form, "The Fountain in the Park" plays when a hidden Bugs uses his two fingers to search for the carrot.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: July 27, 1940 in theatres

Behind the scenes

• This marks as the first official appearance of Bugs Bunny, although a prototype of the character had appeared several times before, beginning with Porky's Hare Hunt.
• Bugs' catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?", makes its debut. It was written by Tex Avery, who later explained that it was a common expression used in his home state of Texas and did not think much of it.
• Elmer's catchphrase, "Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits", makes a debut in this cartoon.

Legacy

• While Bugs is unnamed in this short, his name would officially be addressed in a title card for his next theatrical entry, Elmer's Pet Rabbit.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Brazilian Portuguese	O Coelho Selvagem	The Wild Rabbit
Finnish	Ovela Väiski	Cunning Bugs
French	Un chasseur sachant chasser	A hunter who knows how to hunt
Spanish	La liebre salvaje	The Wild Hare

Home availability

• In the United States: