Tag Archives: Animation

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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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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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Every Bugs Bunny Ever – Operation: Rabbit (1952)

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Operation: Rabbit (1952)

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

Prior to the 1952 “Operation: Rabbit,” Bugs Bunny’s foes could be classified in one of four categories: the dimwitted hunter, the hotheaded loudmouth, the pompous authority figure, and the smart-ass who consistently played Bugs for a chump – Cecil Turtle and the gremlin in “Falling Hare” were among the rare detractors who kept getting the best of him.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Big Top Bunny (1951)

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Big Top Bunny (1951)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Charles McKimson, Rod Scribner, Phil DeLara, Bob Wickersham
Music by Carl Stalling

The reigning animal star of Col. Korny’s Circus is Bruno the Slobokian Acrobatic Bear – the ursine star is a burly biped with a tan body, a chalk white face and a green and red derby, as well as a heavy accent that sounds like it comes from any country behind the Iron Curtain. Bruno’s spotlight reign is threatened when he is given a new performing partner with Bugs Bunny. Bruno is furious at this arrangement and tries to sabotage Bugs during their premiere engagement. Bugs quickly realizes Bruno’s intentions and deftly turns the tables on the arrogant acrobat, ultimately resulting in a big top ejection via a cannon.
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Bargain Daze (1953)

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No one approaches Heckle and Jeckle cartoons expecting art – or, for that matter, coherent storytelling, sophisticated dialogue or an ironic reflection on the emotional palette. But, of course, they were never intended to provide cerebral invigoration or display the fullest spectrum of animated creativity. As the producer of the cartoons Paul Terry once succinctly declared regarding the quality of his work compared to the master of the genre: “Let Walt Disney be the Tiffany’s, I want to be the Woolworth’s.”
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The Bootleg Files – B.C.: The First Thanksgiving

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BOOTLEG FILES 887: “B.C.: The First Thanksgiving” (1973 animated television special).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On a VHS video release.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Probably not.

The transition from newspaper comic strip to film or television production is not an easy journey. For every “Popeye the Sailor” or “Peanuts” that seamlessly moved from the funny pages to the screen, there are too many comic strips that tried and failed to make the jump.
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