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Hare-um Scare-um is a 1939 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton, and first released on August 12, 1939 by Warner Bros. It marks the third appearance of Happy Rabbit and the first time he, thanks to a redesign by Charlie Thorson, appears as a grey rabbit instead of a white one resembling Bugs Bunny. The title is a homonym with an old nonsense expression that has nothing to do with rabbits as such. The voices are done by Mel Blanc, although he is not mentioned as his exclusive contract was yet to be created.
The rabbit would be redesigned for Elmer's Candid Camera.
Plot
A man reading a newspaper comes across an article stating that meat prices have soared. Angry, he declares that he'll hunt his own meat to get back at the government for the price inflation. He takes his dog with him, revealing he is going hunting for rabbits.
In the woods, a rabbit leads the dog into a hollow log and pushes the log down a hill, where it smashes into a tree. Meanwhile, the hunter sees several rabbits hopping over a hill. He fires his gun several times and runs to where the rabbits were. When he gets there, he finds two spinning wheels with pictures of rabbits on them, giving the perception of moving rabbits.
The hunter then sees the rabbit sleeping. The hunter starts pouring salt on the rabbit, who quickly gets up and holds a stick of celery under the stream of salt. The rabbit then runs into a cave, and the hunter runs after him. Before he reaches the cave, a pair of elevator doors closes, which the hunter runs into.
The bunny then dresses female dog, successfully seducing the hunter's dog. When the dog finally realizes he's with the rabbit rather than another dog, he resumes his chase. The rabbit then pretends he's a policeman, citing the . He then sings the same song as below. The hunter then finds dog for numerous crimes (speeding, running on the wrong side of the street, intoxiated "driving", etc.).
After confusing the dog and running away, the rabbit begins singing a song about how crazy he is. When he finishes his song, he turns to find the hunter with his gun aimed at him. The rabbit, trying to gain sympathy, begs for his life, explaining how poor and sick he is. The hunter begins crying, feeling sorry for the rabbit. Despite this, the rabbit shocks the hunter with a joy buzzer. The hunter then pronounces that he can whip the rabbit and his whole family. Suddenly, a large group of rabbits surround the hunter, looking for a fight.
Transcript
Hunter: (reads newspaper showing inflation on meat prices) "They can't do this to me. I'm a citizen, a taxpayer. Who do they think they are? I'll show them, I'll get my own meat. (changes into his hunting clothes and gets his gun) (says to his dog), You and me are going hunting, rabbit hunting, I'll show them.
Happy: "Guess who, (dog barks) guess again, (barks) you're getting warmer, (barks) THATS CORRECT ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!" (rabbit then laughs and kicks the log with the dog and hits the tree)
Happy: "Too bad. (disguised as a doctor, comes riding in a motorboat) Do you have dizzy spells? Do you see spots before your eyes? Do your ears ring? Are you subject to fits? (dog nods to all questions) SO AM I, MAYBE THAT'S WHATS THE MATTER WITH ME!" (rabbit then laughs and jumps in the water)
Happy: "Celery, mighty fine nerve tonic, boy have I gotten nerve" (rabbit laughs and tickles hunter)
Happy: (in the cave that transformed into an elevator) "Main floor, pottery, leather goods, washing machines and aspirin, going up. (rabbit goes up and comes back down) You don't have to be crazy to do this, but it sure helps!" (rabbit laughs)
Happy: "I think you got something there, buddy." (dog finds out female dog was the rabbit and chases rabbit)
Happy: (imitating a policeman) "Goin' a little fast aren't you buddy? you're on the wrong side of the street too, (sniffs) hmm, intoxicated, let me see your drivers license, just as I got, haven't got one. You know what this will cost you, thirty days hath September, April, June, and Montana, all of rest have cold weather, except in the summer, which isn't often." (rabbit laughs and runs away)
Happy: (singing song) "All the world was gay,
swinging on its way,
things were looking brighter day by day (laughs).
Nothin' ever wrong,
life was just a song, til that Looney Tune came along (laughs).
Oh, I'm going cuckoo, woo-woo (laughs while ripping a picture of Porky Pig),
Here comes the choo-choo, woo-woo (laughs),
I'm so gooney, looney tuney, t'hected in the head, (ketchup bottle appears by "magic")
Please pass the ketchup, I think I'll go to bed,
Am I the screwball, woo-woo, (laughs, sprays ketchup on screen)
Throw me the 8-ball, woo-woo (laughs)
Once I knew a thing or two,
But now I'm a buffer-roo,
Hinky-dinky parley, woo-woo!" (laughs, hunter then interrupts song)
Happy: "Don't shoot, don't shoot, I was only fooling, honest I was."
Hunter: "Oh yeah, well I'm not fooling, tomorrow morning you will be sizzling in my frying pan." (he then laughs evilly)
Happy: "Listen chief, you don't want to eat me, why I'm full of skin and bones see. (With a rejected government stamp) Look even the government turned me down. And besides, I haven't been feeling well lately. (fake coughs) (The hunter then starts to cry and have sympathy for the rabbit) That's all right, sucker, I mean soldier, lets shake hands and forget the whole thing." (The rabbit holds a joy buzzer and shocks the hunter)
Hunter: (furious with rabbit) "Come back here and fight like a man, I can whip you and you whole family. (A bunch of rabbits appear ready to fight)
Happy: "You oughta get that fixed, somebodys liable to get hurt." (rabbit laughs and bounces pogo-stick style) (hunter about to throw a tantrum then bounces like the rabbit)
Songs
The goofy song the Bugs Bunny "prototype" sings:
All the world was gay.
Swinging on its way.
Things were looking brighter day by day.(laugh)
Nothing ever wrong;
Life was just a song,
'Till that Looney Tune came along.(laugh)
Ohhh. I'm going cuckoo, woo-woo!
Here comes the choo-choo, woo-woo!
I'm so gooney, looney tuney, te'ched in the head...
Please pass the ketchup,
I think I'll go to bed! Hoo!
Am I the screwball, woo woo!
Throw me the 8-ball woo woo!
Once I knew a thing or two, but now I'm a buffer-roo. Hinky dinky parley woo woo!(laugh)
Note: A buffer is gypsy slang meaning a "square" or a "mark."
Eight years later, the song would be varied somewhat and reprised by the now fully-realized character Bugs Bunny, in Easter Yeggs:
Here's the Easter Rabbit, hooray!
Makin' life funny, hooray!
I am gettin' Looney Tuney, touched in the head
This whole thing is gooney, I should have stood in bed.
Here's the Easter Rabbit, hooray!
The happy Easter Rabbit, hooray!
Hens would hide the eggs they'd lay, then I give them all away
Crazy Easter Rabbit, hooray!
Note that Daffy Duck will sing a similar song at the beginning of Boobs in the Woods.
Goofs
- Before the rabbit puts the foot stamp all over the stone, notice its color changes from a very bright white-gray to a slightly darker tone.
- As the rabbit shows the hunter his celery and begins discussing it, the white part of his feet turn gray like his fur.
Trivia
- Happy Rabbit has a laugh similar to that of Woody Woodpecker.
- All of Happy Rabbit's family members look identical to each other.
- Final cartoon where WARNER BROS. was on a banner.
- Porky Pig makes a cameo appearance in a billboard during the Hare-Um Scare-Um song sequence.
- Boomerang airs the "dubbed version" without the lost ending since 1995, even after 2012, when the lost ending came out.
- The hunter sometimes is known as Egghead's last cartoon before Elmer Fudd, but these characters do not resemble each other that much.
Lost ending
There has been speculation about the real ending of this cartoon. While the version seen in theaters and television ends abruptly after the rabbits appear following the hunter threatening to beat up the wacky rabbit and his entire family, there are actually two endings that are said to exist. None of these endings are said to be true as of 2012.
- One ending showed the rabbits attacking the hunter and his dog, followed by an iris-out as the cartoon cloud of hostility rages.
- The other ending supposedly showed the rabbits attacking the hunter and his dog and, once the smoke clears, the viewer sees that the hunter and his dog have been reduced to heads and the heads roll off into the sunset.[1]
However, animation historian David Gerstein posted a report on his blog showing that the rabbits attack the hunter in a cartoon smoke and then run away.[1] The smoke clears up to show the hunter disheveled, but head still intact. The rabbit returns to give the hunter his busted rifle saying "You oughtta get that fixed. Somebody's liable to get hurt." He then returns to his looney self, bouncing on his head like a pogo stick down the road. The hunter snaps and goes insane, bouncing on his head like a pogo stick. This scene might have been removed because, as Gerstein theorizes, the ending scene was too similar to the ending of Tex Avery's Daffy Duck and Egghead.
Hare-um Scare-um is available with the lost ending restored on Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, disc 2.
References
Gallery
| Preceded by Prest-O Change-O |
Happy Rabbit Cartoons 1939 |
Succeeded by Elmer's Candid Camera |