The Unruly Hare

The Unruly Hare is a 1945 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series directed by Frank Tashlin. It stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (voiced by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan, respectively). One of the railroad workers at the beginning was voiced by Tedd Pierce.

Plot

Elmer is a surveyor for a railroad company, and the path of the new railroad goes directly over Bugs' current residence.^[1] Elmer disturbs Bugs' rest by singing "I've Been Wohking on the Wailwoad". Bugs plays tricks on Elmer by making him see lovely ladies and a forest fire through his surveying telescope and in response Elmer gets riled and shoots at him with excessively his shotgun. In between shooting rounds Bugs pulls more annoying pranks on Elmer. When Elmer tries a stick of dynamite on Bugs, Bugs gets Elmer into a football game with the dynamite as the ball, until it sets off near a pile of railroad wood posts.

Bugs undermines his own efforts, since the explosion instantly lays the tracks and rails in their intended location.^[1] The creation of the railroad is followed immediately by the passing of an engine in full steam, Bugs riding in the back and waving goodbye. The film ends with a reference to travel conditions in the United States home front during World War II. He jumps off the train, noting that "None of us civilians should be doing any unnecessary traveling these days". He decides to walk the tracks instead, to the tune of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee".^[1]

Sources

• Shull, Michael S.; Wilt, David E. (2004), "Private Snafu Cartoons", Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939-1945, McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0786481699 

References

See also

• List of Bugs Bunny cartoons