Water, Water Every Hare (1952)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Phil Monroe, Lloyd Vaughan, Richard Thompson, Harry Love
Music by Carl Stalling
Comedy horror movies rarely work, if only because they devolve into the obvious buffoonery of having the funnymen go into unamusing spasms of anxiety when confronted by ghouls, ghosts, creepy beings, and other unpleasant entities. The 1952 cartoon “Water, Water Every Hare” clicks because it doesn’t sink into the standard nonsense of the comic (in this case, Bugs Bunny) being endlessly frightened by the stock villains. Instead, it offers some brilliantly inventive segments that take the comedy horror genre to a new dimension.
“Water, Water Every Hare” kicks off with one of the most brilliant opening segments of any film, animated or otherwise. A heavy rain floods Bugs Bunny’s subterranean home, and he is oblivious to the watery chaos. Indeed, he sleepwalks to his water cooler for a drink without realizing he is submerged deep under water. Bugs’ mattress floats him out of the hole and into a river, where he passes a foreboding castle that offers neon signs that read “Evil Scientist” and “Boo.”
The resident evil scientist – who facially resembles Boris Karloff, albeit with greenish-yellow skin and a ridiculously oversized cranium – fishes the still-sleeping Bugs from the river and plans to put his brain into a giant robot. The snoozing Bugs wakes up after he pulls a mummy over his body, thinking it is a blanket. After being shocked at his surroundings, he tries to escape, but the scientist unleashes his monster Rudolph to capture Bugs. Rudolph – a giant, wide-eyed, orange-furred creature with white tennis shoes – was last seen in the 1946 “Hair-Raising Hare,” and in that film Bugs escapes by feigning the persona of an effeminate manicurist. In this short, Bugs takes on the persona of an effeminate hairdresser – “Where did you get that awful hairdo? It doesn’t become you at all!” – and gives Rudolph a permanent via TNT sticks tied to his hair, resulting in an explosion that exposes Rudolph’s bare skull consisting of two large lumps.
Bugs eludes Rudolph in a chemical storage room and then pours vanishing fluid over himself. The invisible Bugs then pours reducing fluid on Rudolph, who shrinks to the size of a mouse – and he angrily quits his job while evicting an alcoholic mouse from his hole. The evil scientist pours liquid on Bugs to make him reappear before throwing an axe at Bugs. While Bugs’ fast reflex saves him from decapitation, the axe breaks a giant glass containing ether that slows the pair’s action down dramatically. The evil scientist engages Bugs in a very, very slow-motion chase, with Bugs escaping back to his water-filled underground residence, waking up to believe his adventure was just a nightmare – but a shrunken Rudolph angrily rowing a tiny boat before him affirms that it wasn’t.
Michael Maltese’s incredible script is deftly directed by Chuck Jones, resulting in a wicked skein of inventive sight gags and situational humor. Kudos to Mel Blanc for his ability to vocally transition Bugs from a tough guy into a wildly extroverted fey hairdresser – yet another example of subversive gay humor that occasionally bubbled through the Warner Bros. cartoons. More praise also goes to the uncredited John T. Smith as the voice of the evil scientist, who conspires to relieve Bugs of his brain in sinister yet mellifluous tones.
“Water, Water Every Hare” only runs only runs seven-and-a-half minutes, but it leaves the viewer hungry for more. And that’s the ultimate tribute to a successful short film!