Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas is a Looney Tunes short directed by Bill Kopp and Peter Shin starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. It was part of a series of shorts intended to be made following the release of Looney Tunes: Back in Action before that film’s box-office failure caused the project to be cancelled. It was initially included in the Australian DVD release of Back in Action in 2004 alongside the few shorts from that project that were fully completed.
Sam has built a massive casino on Bugs’ rabbit hole, prompting the latter to try his luck at the games it has to offer. Bugs easily wins at all the games there and after Sam finds out it's the rabbit's foot that’s giving Bugs his winning streak, he gives chase to his perpetual enemy. Like all of his previous encounters with Bugs, luck is not on Sam’s side.
If it’s tropes he wants, tropes he shall get.
- 13 Is Unlucky: A rickety slot machine labeled "unlucky" that contains the number 13 among other symbols synonymous with bad luck is the first game that Sam directs Bugs to after the latter tests his luck at the casino. Bugs ends up winning money from it and it’s only the start of Sam’s bad luck from there.
- Big Dam Plot: The climax of the short takes place in Hoover Dam, where a slot machine is conveniently present. Sam, down to his last quarter, uses it to try and win something for once. His prize is getting washed away by water and the dam entirely drained.
- The Cameo: Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner appear as part of the movie Bugs is watching in his newly won penthouse.
- Casino Episode: Most of the short is set inside Sam’s casino and focuses on Bugs getting lucky there.
- Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey: While chasing Bugs in a pirate ship, Sam fired a cannonball at him, which ended up hitting a model Eiffel Tower. Almost immediately did a White Flag of surrender appear on top of it.
- Cool Car: One of the prizes in the casino that Bugs wins and quickly uses to get away from Sam.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: It isn't until he starts running down the list of banned Good Luck Charms to some other casino attendants that Sam realizes the reason Bugs has been extremely lucky in his casino is due to Bugs' own Lucky Rabbit's Foot being with him the whole time he was gambling, by which point Bugs had already left.note
- Good Luck Charm: To Sam, anyone who has these kinds of items (such as a Four-Leaf Clover) are considered cheaters and even has a poster saying they're not allowed in his casino. While going down the list, he realizes that Bugs was able to win because he had this (rabbit’s feet) with him the whole time.
- Head Desk: After Bugs beats him in blackjack, Sam slams his head on the blackjack table in irritation.
- High-Pressure Emotion: Sam was always someone who can be easily angered, but his reaction to finding out that Bugs had rabbit’s feet with him the whole time in his casino is one of his more vivid displays of rage.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Sam gets hit by this trope many times throughout this short. Bugs easily wins gobs of money from any and all forms of gamble he tries in Sam's casino because Sam insists that Bugs either play in the casino or not enter at all (Sam is unaware of Bugs' Lucky Rabbit's Foot until well after the fact). Moreover, the plot of the short may have never occurred had Sam not built his casino directly on Bugs' rabbit hole in the first place.
- Lucky Rabbit's Foot: The main point of frustration for Sam and why Bugs is able to win at the casino’s games easily in this short.
- Mythology Gag: Sam reprises his role as casino owner from Back in Action for this short. Bugs rapidly asking Sam to play a card during blackjack brings to mind D.J. Drake and Foghorn Leghorn’s interaction from that film as well.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: One to Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
- Ship Out of Water: Sam takes a pirate ship to land in order to chase Bugs, who is driving a car he won from the casino. He even parks it like a car before pursuing Bugs on foot.
- Tempting Fate:
- Bugs spends a moment relishing the clear space around his rabbit hole, remarking it's "so tranquil, so peaceful... just me, the moon, and my shadow". Barely five seconds later, Sam's massive casino literally lands on his rabbit hole.
- Sam plays the slot machine that just so happens to be there at the Hoover Dam at the climax with his last quarter and is ecstatic when he wins. His prize? Being washed away by the water of the dam, which is spelled out by the slot machine as "H", "2", "O".Sam: (through cellphone call to Bugs) I hate you, rabbit.
- Unconventional Vehicle Chase: Bugs drives a car he won from the casino while Sam chases him with a pirate ship.
