"Hare Lift" is a 1952 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng featuring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The short revolves around the "world's biggest" (and worst-guarded) airplane which Bugs wanders aboard after it is parked over his rabbit hole and left unattended. Sam is a fleeing bank robber who boards the plane as well, mistaking Bugs for the pilot and forcing him to take off. As always, Hilarity Ensues, but as seen below, the short's two best-remembered gags involve the use of the plane's two parachutes.
Much of the comedy with the airplane makes the cartoon a Spiritual Successor to Bugs' 1943 Falling Hare.
"Hare Lift" provides examples of:
- Acting Unnatural: Sam tries to put on a very unconvincing show of being unconcerned when "pilot" Bugs demands an apology as he lets the plane plummet towards the ground.
- Billions of Buttons: The plane's cockpit comes equipped with these. At least the one that activates the robot pilot is clearly labeled.
- Cool Plane: The setting for it all.
- Door Judo: Bugs does this with Sam using a Banana Peel and the plane's two exterior doors.
- Drawing Straws: Bugs suggests doing this to see who gets the last parachute. Sam has other ideas.Sam: You draw the straws, I'm a'takin' the parachute!
- Evil Gloating: Sam as he bails out of the plane. His triumph is very short-lived.
- Exact Words:
- Sam finally orders Bugs to "give him the wheel". OK! Rrrip!
- And it turns out the plane is equipped with "air brakes".
- Failsafe Failure: The robot pilot is less than helpful.
- Falling into Jail: Sam parachutes out of the plane with his stolen loot directly into an open-topped police car filled with officers. Provides the page image.
- Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: Sam keeps falling out of the plane and scrambling through thin air to get back aboard
- I Fell for Hours: The plane goes into more than one endless dive.
- Instant Expert: Bugs picks up the basics with a (relatively) quick read through the plane's instruction manual. He would have done it even faster, but he's clearly trolling Sam.
- It's Not About the Request: As the plane goes into a nosedive, Sam is shocked to find Bugs calmly reading a manual on how to fly. Panicking, Sam pulls his gun on Bugs and demands that he read faster. Bugs then closes the book and says, "I refuse to look up any more reference because you talked mean to me. Say you're sorry." Sam refuses, but as he sees the ground approaching fast, he relents and says sorry. Bugs then asks that he say "sorry with sugar on it" just to twist the knife. Sam refuses again, but now the plane is almost about to crash, and after some failed attempts to act nonchalant, Sam swallows his pride and says, "I'm sorry with sugar on it." Bugs then pulls the plane out of its nosedive, just mere feet from hitting the ground.
- Just Plane Wrong: Pretty much everything. Done quite deliberately in service of Rule of Funny, especially the last gag involving the plane having "air brakes".
- Laser-Guided Karma: As noted, Sam's fate at the end of the short.
- Oh, Crap!: Sam's reaction every time he realizes Bugs has tricked him out of the plane. And then a truly classic one at the very end, as his gloating and Evil Laugh dwindle away to a very unhappy "ooooh..." as he realizes where he's landing with his parachute.Sam: So long, sucker! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ah.. uh.. (realizes he's landing in a fully occupied police car) Oooh...
- Pragmatic Adaptation: In The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special (1980), the scene where Yosemite Sam robs the Last National Bank is replaced with Elmer Fudd offering him a bounty of a large sum of money if Sam can find Bugs and arrest him (since Bugs himself, framed for being the Tall Dark Stranger, has escaped from Sing-Song Prison at the end of Big House Bunny); the scene where Sam threatens to shoot him if Bugs can't help him escape is replaced with Sam ordering him to "fly us back to Sing-Song Prison"; and the scene where Sam ends up parachuting into a police car of officers is replaced with Elmer flying toward Sam and telling him that he did a "wotten" job before taking the bounty money back and firing him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The robot pilot's immediate reaction upon being activated and seeing how dire the situation has become is to strap on one of the two parachutes and bail out.
- SkeleBot 9000: The robot pilot is one of these, complete with a light bulb for a head.
- So Long, Suckers!: Yelled by Sam when he bails out with the last remaining parachute. He of course immediately suffers Laser-Guided Karma.
- Tempting Fate: Sam is his usual Jerkass self, but Bugs did board the plane without any sort of authorization, sit in the pilot's seat and wear his cap.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Sam of course.
- Wrong Parachute Gag: Somewhat amazingly averted, in that both of the parachutes included on the plane work exactly like they are supposed to. Not that it does Sam much good. A later clip-show toon,"Devil's Feud Cake" partially re-used footage from this segment to play the trope straight, with Sam ending up with a backpack of camping supplies instead.
