"Sahara Hare" is a 1955 Looney Tunes cartoon staring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. It was directed by Friz Freleng.
Bugs tunnels his way to what he thinks is Miami Beach, only to discover he's arrived in the Sahara Desert. As he searches around for some water, Riffraff (Yosemite) Sam arrives on a camel. Upon finding the rabbit's tracks, he declares that someone is trespassing in his territory, and aims to make them pay. He soon finds Bugs bathing in an oasis and pursues him to a deserted French Foreign Legion fort where the rabbit fends off Sam's attacks with his usual trickery.
"Sahara Hare" provides examples of:
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: As Bugs holds up in the fort, Sam orders him to open the drawbridge. Bugs obliges — by dropping the drawbridge on top of Sam, who then yells for Bugs to close up the fort again.
- Book Ends: Bugs arrives in the desert by tossing various beach gear out of his hole and then running about excited at the prospect of finally arriving in Miami. At the end of the short, Bugs witnesses Daffy Duck do the exact same thing.
- Bowdlerization: On ABC, the two times Sam conks his unstoppable camel on the head were cut.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Bugs tries to warn Daffy that they're not in Miami Beach, but he gives up when the duck runs off. He tells the audience that Daffy can figure it out for himself.
- The Cameo: Daffy shows up at the very end, hoping for some fun at Miami Beach.
- Comically Missing the Point: After running for who knows how long, Bugs muses this is one long beach suffering from low tide. He then mistakes the oasis for "the big pond" and tries to dive in.
- Cranial Eruption: Sam knocking the camel on the head results the camel getting a lump there. Not only that, but as the lump rises, the natural hump on its back recedes.
- Dawn of an Era: This is the first Looney Tunes cartoon to use a brand-new version of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" created by Milt Franklynnote . This version would be used for the remainder of the run of Warners' cartoons until the animation studio's initial closure in 1964.
- Elephants Are Scared of Mice: At one point, Sam tries to smash the fort door down with an elephant, but Bugs simply sends out a windup toy mouse, which causes the elephant to freak out, slam Sam into the ground repeatedly with its trunk in trying to swat it, and then run off. The toy mouse chase after him.
- Hollywood Mirage: Bugs thinks he spots an old car he can use to get away from Riffraff Sam, but it fades out as he climbs in and tries to start it up. Bugs' line afterwards is the trope's page quote.Bugs: What a spot to pick for a mirage-ee!
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: At one point, Sam tries shooting at Bugs, but keeps missing. Until he finally made a shot in the tail. Through a sand dune.
- Recycled Animation: The animation of Bugs tunneling into and running across what he thinks is Miami Beach is reused from Frigid Hare.
- Shot in the Ass: Bugs casually walks off, as Sam takes multiple shots with a rifle. Sam misses Bugs every time, except for this one. The pain of it sends Bugs flying into the air.
- Tap on the Head: When Sam's camel won't whoa on command, Sam resorts to forcibly making the camel whoa by conking it on the head with the butt of his gun, laying it out cold.Sam: When I say "whoa", I mean "whoa"!
- Too Dumb to Live: "I wonder if [Sam]'s stubborn enough to open all those doors?" Cue explosion."Yep, he's stubborn enough."
- Wrong Turn at Albuquerque: The cartoon opens with Bugs arriving in what he thinks is Miami Beach, only to discover he is way off once again. Subverted, in this case, in that Bugs doesn't actually mention any wrong turns he had made.
