Hare Splitter (1948)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Champin
The premise for “Hare Splitter” feels like someone took an old script for “Tom and Jerry” and retooled it for Bugs Bunny. One of my main problems that completely hinders “Hare Splitter” for me is that the whole short feels too much like it’s cribbing from the MGM formula. All that’s missing is the rambunctious mouse or angry yard dog. It too often feels like Tom and Butch should be the ones taking center stage instead of Bugs and his one and done rival Casbah. Too much of the short here feels like the animators were borrowing from Fred Quimby or Tex Avery (before his move to MGM), creating a premise that feels so far removed from what we’re used to seeing with Bugs Bunny.
The whole comedic bit about warring rabbits over a gorgeous girl rabbit feels so broad and generic that there’s no real room for creativity. It’s just a lot of gags and goofy antics that feel so much like MGM and so little like Termite Terrace. I’m not sure if at this time they were trying to compete with Tom and Jerry, or if they were trying to ape their whole gimmicky series of shorts in the same vein, but “Hare Splitter” misses the mark on every occasion. There’s just not a lot of reason for Bugs Bunny to do anything of what he does here, and a lot of it felt more like filler than previous shorts.
The set up is there’s a female rabbit named Daisy (voiced by Sara Berner) who Bugs Bunny is preparing to meet and woo, I assume. On the other side of his hill his neighbor Casbah, a brown Rabbit, is also pining for Daisy. When Bugs crosses Casbah and begins battling him for her attention and affection, he inexplicably figures the best way to distract him is to dress as Daisy and try to pull him away. I wasn’t too sure to what end his plans were heading, but it allows Bugs to woo Casbah who makes a play for him in drag. It’s just such a messy, fuzzy premise. I mean, why does Daisy live in a house while Bugs and Casbah live in holes? And where was Daisy the entire time, anyway? Why didn’t Casbah recognize Bugs as Daisy? Is Daisy canonical?
Much of the humor here is surprisingly raunchy with not too much emphasis on slapstick per se. Despite the presence of an anvil gag, there’s a lot of innuendo present, and there’s even a scene of Casbah groping Bugs’ behind. Again, most of it feels so much like the writers are aspiring for Tex Avery comedy and goofy MGM silliness. And while I love MGM’s animation and their output is great for them, this feels so far removed from Bugs Bunny’s wheelhouse. To make matters worse, Casbah is such a lazy nemesis. He’s another rabbit, and rather than being a rival he’s more just a dumb galoot. This in turn makes it feel like Bugs is being more of a bully than anything else, punching down for the most part.
Casbah is only really guilty of liking the same Rabbit that Bugs does, after all. Meanwhile the other dumber villains are trying to murder or eat Bugs. The whole reasoning for this entire back and forth just never feels justified and strains hard to build some comedic momentum, right down to the goofy fourth wall breaking gag involving an exploding carrot. I’m just glad we never saw Daisy or Casbah ever again.
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