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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: The Hasty Hare (1952)

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The Hasty Hare (1952)

Directed by Charles M. Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam
Music by Carl W. Stalling

In the early 1950s, flying saucers could be found in newspaper headlines and movie screens. The Termite Terrace gang tapped into that environment by bringing back the extra-terrestrial characters of 1948’s “Haredevil Hare” – but whereas Bugs Bunny went into the space to encounter those otherworldly characters for that film, the 1952 short “The Hasty Hare” has the beings from out there land their flying saucer on Earth to meet the rascally rabbit.
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Deep Throat (1972)

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Back in 1972, Bob Hope inserted this unlikely joke into an opening monologue for one of his television specials: “I went to see ‘Deep Throat’ because I’m fond of animal pictures. I thought it was about giraffes.”

For those of you who were not around in the early 1970s, it might be difficult to comprehend the pop culture sensation created by “Deep Throat,” a cheaply-made ($25,000) little X-rated movie. It wasn’t the first pornographic film to gain mainstream attention, and Lord knows it wasn’t the best of the skin flick orbit. But “Deep Throat” was the ultimate anomaly – a charming porn flick with a silly sense of humor, and its off-beat personality enabled the film’s reputation to grow so quickly that even Bob Hope referenced it.
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The Bootleg Files: Chu Chu and the Philly Flash

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BOOTLEG FILES 892: “Chu Chu and the Philly Flash” (1981 comedy feature starring Alan Arkin and Carol Burnett).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Only available on VHS.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.

While viewing this 1981 comedy film, a nagging thought kept cycling through my mind: Did anyone during the creation of this work genuinely believe they were making a funny movie? Granted, there is a surplus number of unfunny comedy films – but “Chu Chu and the Philly Flash” is such an astonishing misfire that it could inspire an academic consideration of how not to make a comedy film.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Water, Water Every Hare (1952)

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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.
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