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Western Animation / The Million Hare

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"The Million Hare" is a 1963 animated short in the Looney Tunes series, directed by Robert McKimson and starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

Daffy, upon visiting Bugs in the latter's residence for vacation, is interested in only watching television and refuses Bugs' invitation to venture outside. Just then, a game show host on TV draws the lots of two friends who are now selected to compete for the grand prize of $1 million, with Bugs and Daffy being the chosen, and the only caveat is to be the first to reach the studio where said game show is broadcast. Daffy sets out to reach the studio at once, with Bugs making his way there as well, and the rest of the short centers around their competition to be the first one to reach the goal.


I wonder if that silly duck will remember that he can trope.

  • All for Nothing: Daffy actually wins the contest, only for him to publicly announce that he will give away all of his winning prize to Bugs due to not fully realizing the cash prize is inside the boxes that are initially presented.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Upon winning the contest against Bugs of reaching the studio first, Daffy is presented with a huge box marked "The Million Box" with a million of small boxes within. Assuming that those boxes are all that he gets as the prize, Daffy promptly announces publicly that he'll give all of his prizes away to Bugs, after which the host compliments Daffy's generosity... before stating that each of the one million boxes contains a crisp $1 bill.
  • Forgot About His Powers: Daffy demonstrates in this short that he has forgotten he can fly and swim, despite being a duck himself. Bugs remarks about this.
    • When Daffy runs off a cliff due to not watching ahead of him:
      Bugs: I wonder if Daffy will remember that he can fly. *Daffy lands with a "thud" off-screen* Nope, I guess not.
    • As Daffy rides a scooter off a broken bridge:
      Bugs: I wonder if that silly duck will remember that he can swim. *Daffy falls into water below with a splash* Nope, I guess not.
  • Friendship Moment: Albeit of a very bitter one for Daffy. After believing the prize to be a dud, he offers it to Bugs on live TV. Upon the revelation that it's actually a million boxes with one dollar bills inside, Daffy is congratulated for his genorosity and even gets a hug off of Bugs. Daffy looks less than gratified to say the least.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: After Daffy rejects Bugs' repeated suggestions of taking a hike outside rather than watching TV all the time, Bugs decides to join Daffy in TV-watching.
  • Lame Pun Reaction: Downplayed since Daffy is still woozy after ramming a tree just a moment before Bugs makes a pun, but he's nonetheless not amused by it.
    Bugs: Yoo hoo! See you in the city, slicker. *hops away*
    Daffy: *in dazed state* Yeah, sure... city slicker.
  • Metaphoric Metamorphosis: After finding out that he just gave Bugs one million dollars, Daffy's head turns into that of a jackass. When asked to say a few words to the audience, Daffy just brays.
  • Noodle Incident: Daffy mentioned that "two little old ladies from Pasadena nearly killed each other to get the prize.
  • Pun-Based Title: To "the millionaire".
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: Daffy narrowly beats Bugs in reaching the studio and eagerly anticipates for receiving the $1 million prize, but he changes his mind and publicly declares that he'll give all of the prize to Bugs upon seeing the prize in front of him is a huge box that contains a million small boxes. Right after Daffy's declaration of his generosity, the game show host compliments Daffy... and then states that each of the million boxes contains a $1 bill, ensuring that Daffy's struggles to win the contest has been All for Nothing.
  • Team Rocket Wins: Daffy actually wins this contest, but the victory is short-lived due to Daffy's own subsequent action of public announcement that he would donate all of his prize to Bugs.
  • Tempting Fate:
    • Arriving at a point with a keystone that would cause an avalanche, Daffy presses it in an attempt to sabotage Bugs. The avalanche falls... on Daffy himself, before he manages to get out of the way.
    • Daffy sees Bugs yelling for him to stop due to a broken bridge (and there's a sign that reads "STOP: BRIDGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION" next to Bugs) while riding a scooter, but he assumes Bugs is merely tricking him and so keeps riding, knocking Bugs aside along the way. It only serves to cause him to ride off the broken bridge and fall into the water below.
  • Visual Pun: Right after the game show host states that within each of the 1 million tiny boxes is a brand-new, crisp $1 bill, Daffy's face changes from a duck's to a donkey's (indicating he's an idiot that just made a complete fool of himself) due to having already announced publicly that he'd donate his hard-won prize to Bugs before he realized what the full contents of the prize are. When the host asks him for a comment, all Daffy can manage is to bray like a donkey.
  • Watch Out for That Tree!: Daffy's use of motor engine hits a snag when it propels him to a tree straight ahead.
  • Worthless Treasure Twist: Subverted. Daffy wins the prize, only to find that instead of a million bucks, he actually got a box that contains one million smaller boxes. He then donates the prize to Bugs, only to learn that there was a one dollar bill inside of each of those million boxes, meaning it really was a million bucks prize.

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