History WesternAnimation / AWildHare

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Bugs' design looks a bit odd if you're used to his finalized design from the Fifties. But alternatively, one could look at the 'Happy Hare' shorts that preceded this as EarlyInstallmentWeirdness which was finally lifted in this short.

''A Wild Hare'' is a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1940]] Warner Bros. ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]]'' animated short film. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, directed by Creator/TexAvery, and written by Rich Hogan, and originally released on July 27, 1940. ''A Wild Hare'' is considered by many film historians to be the first "official" WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon, and set the basic comedy formula for the rest of Bugs Bunny's shorts, solidifying Bugs as a KarmicTrickster and finalizing WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd's personality and design. The opening lines of both characters--"Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits" for Elmer, and "Eh, what's up Doc?" for the rabbit--would become {{catchphrase}}s throughout their subsequent films.

[[caption-width-right:241:The Birth of an [[WesternAnimation/BugsBunny Icon.]]]]

* SmellySkunk: When Elmer catches a skunk in his rabbit trap instead of Bugs, he walks right up to Bugs and proudly brags about it, before slowly realizing that he's holding a skunk.

''A Wild Hare'' is a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1940]] Warner Bros. ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]]'' animated short film. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, directed by Creator/TexAvery, and written by Rich Hogan, and originally released on July 27, 1940. ''A Wild Hare'' is considered by many film historians to be the first "official" WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon, and set the basic comedy formula for the rest of Bugs Bunny's shorts, solidifying Bugs as a KarmicTrickster and finalizing Elmer Fudd's personality and design. The opening lines of both characters--"Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits" for Elmer, and "Eh, what's up Doc?" for the rabbit--would become {{catchphrase}}s throughout their subsequent films.

The short begins with Elmer Fudd setting out to hunt for [[ElmuhFuddSyndwome wabbits]], and instead encountering Bugs, who after not falling for Elmer's first trick to lure Bugs out of his hole with a carrot comes out of a separate hole, and as Elmer is still peeking down the first rabbit hole, he chews on his carrot and nonchalantly asks [[CasualDangerDialog "What's up Doc?"]] This sets the tone for the rest of the short, in which Bugs manages to outsmart Elmer at every turn and foil every trap. After Elmer becomes overly frustrated Bugs offers him a free shot with his shotgun, and when Elmer misses Bugs plays dead [[FinalSpeech ("Everything's gettin' dark...")]], which leaves Elmer [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone sobbing and calling himself a murderer.]] Bugs gets up, [[LiteralAssKicking kicks Elmer in the rear]] and shoves a cigar in his mouth, before tip-toeing away ballet-style. This leaves Elmer storming away in mental anguish. Bugs asides to the audience, "Can ye imagine anyone acting like that? Ya know, I think the poor guy's screwy!" Bugs then begins to play his carrot like a fife, and marches with one stiff leg towards his rabbit hole.

* CasualDangerDialog: A concept lost on many modern viewers. When the rabbit sees a hunter, he doesn't scream, run or play dead. He just settles down next to him and nonchalantly asks "What's up, doc?"

"A Wild Hare" is a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1940]] Warner Bros. [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]] animated short film. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, directed by Creator/TexAvery, and written by Rich Hogan, and originally released on July 27, 1940. "A Wild Hare" is considered by many film historians to be the first "official" WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon, and set the basic comedy formula for the rest of Bugs Bunny's shorts, solidifying Bugs as a KarmicTrickster and finalizing Elmer Fudd's personality and design. The opening lines of both characters--"Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits" for Elmer, and "Eh, what's up Doc?" for the rabbit--would become {{catchphrase}}s throughout their subsequent films.

* BirdPoopGag: Defied. As Bugs stands in place for Elmer to shoot him, he notices two birds over him. He tells Elmer to stop for a moment as he steps aside.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original version, during Bugs' game of "Guess Who?" with Elmer, Elmer's second guess was "Carole Lombard." Creator/CaroleLombard was a blond, comic actress of the 1930s and 1940s who died in a plane crash in 1942. In the re-release of this short, "Carole Lombard" was replaced with "Barbara Stanwyck." The "Barbara Stanwyck" version is the one shown a lot on television and most home video and DVD releases. The original "Carole Lombard" version was thought to be lost to the ages, until it appeared on TNT's 1990 special ''What's Up, Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny''; however, it was not given a home video release until years later, as part of ''The Essential Bugs Bunny'' DVD and the ''Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Volume 2''. As of 2020, the "Carole Lombard" version is the version that appears on HBO Max and the ''Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary'' Blu-Ray set.

The short begins with Elmer Fudd setting out to hunt for [[ElmuhFuddSyndwome wabbits]], and instead encountering Bugs, who after not falling for Elmer's first trick to lure Bugs out of his hole with a carrot comes out of a separate hole, and as Elmer is still peeking down the first rabbit hole, he chews on his carrot and nonchalantly asks [[CasualDangerDialog "Eh, what's up Doc?"]] This sets the tone for the rest of the short, in which Bugs manages to outsmart Elmer at every turn and foil every trap. After Elmer becomes overly frustrated Bugs offers him a free shot with his shotgun, and when Elmer misses Bugs plays dead [[FinalSpeech ("Everything's gettin' dark...")]], which leaves Elmer [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone sobbing and calling himself a murderer.]] Bugs gets up, [[LiteralAssKicking kicks Elmer in the rear]] and shoves a cigar in his mouth, before tip-toeing away ballet-style. This leaves Elmer storming away in mental anguish. Bugs asides to the audience, "Can ye imagine anyone acting like that? Ya know, I think the poor guy's screwy!" Bugs then begins to play his carrot like a fife, and marches with one stiff leg towards his rabbit hole.

'''"A Wild Hare"''' is a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1940]] Warner Bros. [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]] animated short film. It was produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, directed by Creator/TexAvery, and written by Rich Hogan, and originally released on July 27, 1940. ''A Wild Hare'' is considered by many film historians to be the first "official" WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon, and set the basic comedy formula for the rest of Bugs Bunny's shorts, solidifying Bugs as a KarmicTrickster and finalizing Elmer Fudd's personality and design. The opening lines of both characters--"Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits" for Elmer, and "Eh, what's up Doc?" for the rabbit--would become {{catchphrase}}s throughout their subsequent films.

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!! This short contains examples of:

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original version, during Bugs' game of "Guess Who?" with Elmer, Elmer's second guess was "Carole Lombard." Creator/CaroleLombard was a blond, comic actress of the 1930s and 1940s who died in a plane crash in 1942. In the re-release of this short, "Carole Lombard" was replaced with "Barbara Stanwyck." The "Barbara Stanwyck" version is the one shown a lot on television (mostly the Turner-owned channels TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang, since pre-1948 cartoons didn't air much on the other channels due to rights issues) and most home video and DVD releases. The original "Carole Lombard" version was thought to be lost to the ages, until it appeared on TNT's 1990 special ''What's Up, Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny''; however, it was not given a home video release until years later, as part of ''The Essential Bugs Bunny'' DVD and the ''Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Volume 2''. As of 2020, the "Carole Lombard" version is the version that appears on HBO Max and the ''Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary'' Blu-Ray set.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original version, during Bugs' game of "Guess Who?" with Elmer, Elmer's second guess was "Carole Lombard." Creator/CaroleLombard was a blond, comic actress of the 1930s and 1940s who died in a plane crash in 1942. In the re-release of this short, "Carole Lombard" was replaced with "Barbara Stanwyck." The "Barbara Stanwyck" version is the one shown a lot on television and most home video and DVD releases. The original "Carole Lombard" version was thought to be lost to the ages, until it appeared on TNT's 1990 special ''What's Up, Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny''; however, it was not given a home video release until years later, as part of ''The Essential Bugs Bunny'' DVD and the ''Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Volume 2''.

* AnnoyingLaugh: This is the cartoon that established Elmer Fudd's machine-gun chuckle.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original version, during Bugs' game of "Guess Who?" with Elmer, Elmer's second guess was "Carole Lombard." Creator/CaroleLombard was a blond, comic actress of the 1930s and 1940s who died in a plane crash in 1942. In the re-release of this short, "Carole Lombard" was replaced with "Barbara Stanwyck." The "Barbara Stanwyck" version is the one shown a lot on television and most home video and DVD releases. The original "Carole Lombard" version was thought to be lost to the ages, until it appeared on TNT's 1990 special What's Up, Doc? A Salute to Bugs Bunny; however, it was not given a home video release until The Essential Bugs Bunny DVD and the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Volume 2.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original version, during Bugs' game of "Guess Who?" with Elmer, Elmer's second guess was "Carole Lombard." Creator/CaroleLombard was a blond, comic actress of the 1930s and 1940s who died in a plane crash in 1942. In the re-release of this short, "Carole Lombard" was replaced with "Barbara Stanwyck." The "Barbara Stanwyck" version is the one shown a lot on television and most home video and DVD releases. The original "Carole Lombard" version was thought to be lost to the ages, until it appeared on The Essential Bugs Bunny DVD and the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection volume 2.

* ButtMonkey: Elmer

The short was nominated for the 1940 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, but lost out to an Creator/{{MGM}} Creator/HarmanAndIsing short, "WesternAnimation/TheMilkyWay".

* AsideGlance

* CradlingYourKill

* ElmuhFuddSyndwome

* FakingTheDead

* KarmicTrickster
* LiteralAssKicking

* TakeThatKiss