Homeless Hare (1950)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris
Music by Carl Stalling
A lot of Looney Tunes relies on the formula of the whole industrial revolution and the trampling of the environment. While most of it just used as a means of finding a catalyst for a narrative of the short, so many times these shorts always begin with the real bad guy of the piece. Either Bugs, or Daffy are minding their business and are interrupted by some company either destroying their homes, or demolishing some kind of ecosystem. Even shorts like the Coyote and Road Runner finds them primarily battling in man made roads, and train tracks and bridges. They’re rarely hunting each other in the wild, or in bushes, which is an interesting look at how much America was changing in this era.
During the whole World War II and post depression stage, a lot of it was about rebuilding and constructing machines, and while a lot of the focus on Looney Tunes is centered on characters doing battle or engaging with one another, there’s also a lot of inclusion of big machines, and massive structures. This particular structure intrudes on Bugs Bunny’s home as a new building is being constructed in his land. The operator, named Hercules, scoops Bugs up from his hole and dumps him in the rubble.
This short’s enemy is “Hercules” a remorseless construction worker who has little empathy for Bugs and him losing his home. I love the layouts by Robert Gribbroek who, in classic Chuck Jones tradition, opts for mix of flatter backgrounds and more detailed foregrounds. Most of the short is centered on a construction site, so Jones only integrates detail when necessary. I love that for once we don’t see carrots, but an empty bottle of “Carrot Juice” and a hung over Bugs awakening to the chaos.
The whole implication there is pretty funny upon rewatch. There’s also a great running gag involving another construction worker who always seems to be doing his work in the middle of the antics, unaffected by what’s going on around him. For all intents and purposes Hercules (voiced by John T. Smith) isn’t the most dynamic foil to Bugs Bunny, but “Homeless Hare” is a pretty tightly composed and funny Chuck Jones offering, altogether.
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