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Half-Fare Hare is a 1956 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson.

Plot[]

Bugs Bunny reads the newspaper dropped by a train stating that in rise of the upcoming winter leading to failing carrot crops, rabbits have moved northeast to Chattanooga in droves. Hoping to make it there, Bugs boards the Choo-Choo train to Chattanooga.

Meanwhile, two starving hobos who resembles Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton from The Honeymooners, both of which had snuck into the same train, are starting to get desperately hungry that they hallucinate any open flesh as meat to eat, such as Ed's foot. As Bugs enters the same cart with Ralph and Ed, the two realize the rabbit would make for a nice meal. However, Bugs thinks he's invading their cart and tries to exit, but the two insist that Bugs stay. As the train starts to leave the station, Ralph and Ed prepares to set up dinner using a cauldron of boiling water. As Bugs asks what they're making, the two hobos tries to convince that it's a surprise, although they plan to hit him when it gets dark under a tunnel. Ed tries to smack Bugs when the train passes a tunnel, but he ends up hitting Ralph instead. Bugs decides he doesn't want "boiled lobster" and climbs out of the cart to get something else.

Ralph and Ed are in pursuit of Bugs, as they chase him atop of the train carts. The steam of the train's exhaust makes it difficult for the three to see, although Bugs manages to trick the two into running into a cart with alligators. Bugs tries to flee back into the same cart, but he hides in the gap between two carts while Ralph and Ed head inside the cart. Bugs floods the hoboes cart using a water tank, and forces them out. Just as Bugs can claim the cart though, the conductor catches him as a stowaway and tries to whip him, forcing the rabbit to escape to the top of the cart again. As Ralph and Ed boards the top again to catch Bugs, the two sees Bugs heading towards them, and gets ready to whip him. However, Bugs ducks under a tunnel, which the two hoboes slam into. Now finally rid of the two, Bugs laughs at the two the he'll "bumper crop" his way to Chuttanooga. However, Bugs now gets hit by a second tunnel behind him, leaving him stranded but with a real "bumper crop" of lumps on the head.

Caricatures[]

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • The CBS version of this cartoon cuts two scenes:[2]
    • The scene where Norton hangs Bugs by his scarf on the wall of the boxcar (though the part where Norton offers to hang the scarf for Bugs was left in).
    • The part after Ralph climbs out of the cauldron, looking like a boiled lobster, where Ralph shoves Norton's nose into the hot water.
  • The ABC version also airs with these cuts, though ABC also cut Norton offering to hang Bugs' scarf (which leads to Bugs being hanged on the boxcar wall) for continuity reasons. Cartoon Network and Boomerang despite the two channels having a history of editing out characters being hanged also left this part uncut.

Notes[]

  • The cartoon features the song "Carolina in the Morning", rather than the more obvious choice "Chattanooga Choo Choo"; "Carolina in the Morning"'s faster melodic rhythm and emphatic downbeats complement the timing of the action in the cartoon.
  • This is one of the few times Bugs and the villains lose.
  • This is the last cartoon to use Bugs Bunny's original design in the "Bugs Bunny In" card, which originated from "Hare Trigger". It would be reanimated again starting with "Wideo Wabbit".
  • One scene was recycled from the cartoon "All a Bir-r-r-d".
  • Robert Gribbroek's initials appear on a boxcar for the "R.C. & G” Railway, claiming it “serves outer space”. and his name appears on a boxcar for "Gribbroek Pacific Lines".
  • Animator Russ Dyson's name appears on a boxcar.
  • Title card artist Don Foster's name appears on a boxcar for the "Don Foster Fruit Express". The initials “D.E.F.E.” also appear on the same boxcar, and “D.E.F.” on another one.
  • The car ahead of the R.C.&G. boxcar is labeled “1414”, which is the production number of this cartoon.

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
Barbary-Coast Bunny
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1956
Succeeded by
A Star Is Bored
Bugs Bunny Shorts
1938 Porky's Hare Hunt
1939 Prest-O Change-OHare-um Scare-um
1940 Elmer's Candid CameraA Wild Hare
1941 Elmer's Pet RabbitTortoise Beats HareHiawatha's Rabbit HuntThe Heckling HareAll This and Rabbit StewWabbit Twouble
1942 The Wabbit Who Came to SupperAny Bonds Today?The Wacky WabbitHold the Lion, PleaseBugs Bunny Gets the BoidFresh HareThe Hare-Brained HypnotistCase of the Missing Hare
1943 Tortoise Wins by a HareSuper-RabbitJack-Wabbit and the BeanstalkWackiki WabbitFalling Hare
1944 Little Red Riding RabbitWhat's Cookin' Doc?Bugs Bunny and the Three BearsBugs Bunny Nips the NipsHare Ribbin'Hare ForceBuckaroo BugsThe Old Grey HareStage Door Cartoon
1945 Herr Meets HareThe Unruly HareHare TriggerHare ConditionedHare Tonic
1946 Baseball BugsHare RemoverHair-Raising HareAcrobatty BunnyRacketeer RabbitThe Big SnoozeRhapsody Rabbit
1947 Rabbit TransitA Hare Grows in ManhattanEaster YeggsSlick Hare
1948 Gorilla My DreamsA Feather in His HareRabbit PunchBuccaneer BunnyBugs Bunny Rides AgainHaredevil HareHot Cross BunnyHare SplitterA-Lad-In His LampMy Bunny Lies over the Sea
1949 Hare DoMississippi HareRebel RabbitHigh Diving HareBowery BugsLong-Haired HareKnights Must FallThe Grey Hounded HareThe Windblown HareFrigid HareWhich Is WitchRabbit Hood
1950 Hurdy-Gurdy HareMutiny on the BunnyHomeless HareBig House BunnyWhat's Up Doc?8 Ball BunnyHillbilly HareBunker Hill BunnyBushy HareRabbit of Seville
1951 Hare We GoRabbit Every MondayBunny HuggedThe Fair Haired HareRabbit FireFrench RarebitHis Hare Raising TaleBallot Box BunnyBig Top Bunny
1952 Operation: RabbitFoxy by Proxy14 Carrot RabbitWater, Water Every HareThe Hasty HareOily HareRabbit SeasoningRabbit's KinHare Lift
1953 Forward March HareUpswept HareSouthern Fried RabbitHare TrimmedBully for BugsLumber Jack-RabbitDuck! Rabbit, Duck!Robot Rabbit
1954 Captain HareblowerBugs and ThugsNo Parking HareDevil May HareBewitched BunnyYankee Doodle BugsBaby Buggy Bunny
1955 Beanstalk BunnySahara HareHare BrushRabbit RampageThis Is a Life?Hyde and HareKnight-Mare HareRoman Legion-Hare
1956 Bugs' BonnetsBroom-Stick BunnyRabbitson CrusoeNapoleon Bunny-PartBarbary-Coast BunnyHalf-Fare HareA Star Is BoredWideo WabbitTo Hare Is Human
1957 Ali Baba BunnyBedevilled RabbitPiker's PeakWhat's Opera, Doc?Bugsy and MugsyShow Biz BugsRabbit Romeo
1958 Hare-Less WolfHare-Way to the StarsNow, Hare ThisKnighty Knight BugsPre-Hysterical Hare
1959 Baton BunnyHare-abian NightsApes of WrathBackwoods BunnyWild and Woolly HareBonanza BunnyA Witch's Tangled HarePeople Are Bunny
1960 Horse HarePerson to BunnyRabbit's FeatFrom Hare to HeirLighter Than Hare
1961 The Abominable Snow RabbitCompressed HarePrince Violent
1962 Wet HareBill of HareShishkabugs
1963 Devil's Feud CakeThe Million HareHare-Breadth HurryThe UnmentionablesMad as a Mars HareTransylvania 6-5000
1964 Dumb PatrolDr. Devil and Mr. HareThe Iceman DuckethFalse Hare
1979 Bugs Bunny's Christmas CarolFright Before Christmas
1980 Portrait of the Artist as a Young BunnySpaced Out Bunny
1990 Box Office Bunny
1991 (Blooper) Bunny
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers
1995 Carrotblanca
1997 From Hare to Eternity
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las VegasDaffy Duck for President
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