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Knight-Mare Hare is a 1955 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones.

Plot[]

While Bugs reads a book on the Knights of the Round Table, an apple hits his head and knocks him out. When he wakes up he finds himself in the times of King Arthur, at the pointy end of a knight's lance. Bugs asks, "What's up, Duke?" and the knight commands Bugs to surrender as prisoner of his lance. The knight identifies himself as "Sir O of Kay, Earl of Watercress, Sir Osis of the Liver, Knight of the Garter, and Baron of Wooster-cester-shister-shyster-schuster-shister-sister-shire...sher." Ready to take Bugs' challenge to tilt with him for the insult of Bugs' friends Duke of Ellington, Count of Basie, Earl of Hines, Cab of Calloway and Satchmo of Armstrong, who are called "upstarts and rogues" by the knight (whom Bugs calls "Pressure Cooker" and "Sir Rupp of Figgs") offers Bugs a too-heavy sword, then begins to charge at him, during several comedic attempts by Bugs to get the sword off the ground. At the last second, Bugs puts his leg out tripping the knight's horse. The horse falls, and the knight pole vaults on his lance over the castle wall and into a high window of a castle tower, falling LOUDLY to the bottom inside the tower.

Bugs is chased by a dragon who breathes fire at him. He later stops him by spraying water into the dragon's mouth. The dragon loses his fire breath, whimpers about it, and runs away.

Bugs goes to another castle, the residence of a warlock named Merlin of Monroe (a reference to Marilyn Monroe). He tricks the warlock into becoming a donkey. Angered by this, Merlin tries to change himself back to normal by also unzipping, but is shocked when he realizes that he is in the same donkey appearance, then tries to unzip again, feels confused, and ends up being in the same donkey appearance, no matter how many times he unzips the costume. To try to return to the present, Bugs Bunny throws an apple in the air to hit him on the head. "Well, why not? After all, they laughed at the man when he discovered penicillin". He wakes and walks down a country road, thinking it was just a dream, until he hears a farmer call a donkey "Merlin".

Availability[]

Streaming[]

Censorship[]

  • Versions of this cartoon shown on Cartoon Network and Boomerang cut the short scene of Bugs Bunny tying a blindfold over his eyes as the knight charges into him and the brief scene of Bugs still standing as the knight charges into him before Bugs sticks his foot out and makes the horse trip and the knight fly off his horse and into the tower. These cuts were done because Bugs had a lit cigarette in his mouth and Cartoon Network (and, by proxy, Boomerang) almost always cuts cigarette smoking from their classic cartoons.

Notes[]

  • The cartoon is loosely based on Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
  • The book Bugs is reading is written by "Burton". This is possibly a reference to production manager John W. Burton. After succeeding Eddie Selzer as producer, Burton accepted the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject for the similarly themed "Knighty Knight Bugs" in 1958.
  • Certain elements of this cartoon were utilized in Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court, such as Merlin's house being shown at the beginning, and Merlin himself as well, although he was replaced with Yosemite Sam.
  • Much of this cartoon's plot was utilized in the PlayStation video game Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time, down to reenacting the scenes with Merlin shot for shot for the opening and ending cutscenes.
  • This is the first short to credit Chuck Jones as the aforementioned name; in earlier cartoons, he was credited as "Charles Jones" or "Charles M. Jones".
  • Vitaphone release number: 2522[1]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Liebman, Roy (2003). Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts. McFarland, page 318. ISBN 978-0786412792. 

External Links[]

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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