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Mad as a Mars Hare is a 1963 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble.

Title[]

The title is a play on the phrase "mad as a March hare."

Plot[]

Marvin the Martian observes the planet Earth from Mars through a telescope. He is examining a rocket launch that is taking place. As he watches, the rocket takes off from Earth and soon appears to be heading straight towards him. Soon enough, the rocket lands on Mars, and a reluctant Bugs Bunny exits it. It is quickly apparent that he is the only occupant, and he has been lured onto the rocket by a carrot and then sent to Mars as what Earth considered an expendable "astro-rabbit."

Bugs immediately claims Mars, using a metal carrot with a flag inside in the name of Earth. However, Marvin does not agree with this and decides he will not allow Bugs to take his planet away from him. After failing to disintegrate him with his disintegrating pistol, which resulted in Marvin getting disintegrated himself and going off to be re-integrated, "Being disintegrated makes me very angry! [huff, puff] Very angry indeed!", Marvin gets his time-projector gun and sets it to advance Bugs forward into time so that he can use him as a lifelong slave. However, when Marvin zaps Bugs, though Bugs tried to beg for mercy, which of course makes Marvin angry, he realizes too late that he had the gun in reverse, so Bugs is reverted into a Neanderthal Rabbit, who immediately grabs Marvin and crushes him with just one hand; Marvin goes off to be regenerated again, while saying, "Well, back to the old electronic brain!" Bugs then eats the metal carrot and says Elmer Fudd and all the hunters back on Earth are going to be in for a big surprise when Bugs gets back to Earth.

Availability[]

Notes[]

  • "Mad as a Mars Hare" marks several milestones in the golden age Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies series:
    • It marks the final cartoon completed by Chuck Jones prior to his firing in 1962.
    • Production order-wise, it was the last cartoon to use the classic bullet-shot Merrie Melodies rings used in every cartoon of the series since "I Wanna Play House" in 1936.
    • It marks the last classic-era cartoon (also in production order) to use "Merrily We Roll Along" for its theme song, which had been used since '"Boulevardier from the Bronx" back in 1936.
    • It marks the final appearance of Marvin the Martian in a classic cartoon.
  • Though Elmer Fudd does not appear, he is mentioned by Bugs Bunny at the end of this cartoon when he speaks to the audience about how he and all the hunters back on Earth are going to be in for a big surprise due to his Neanderthal form when Bugs gets back to Earth.
  • Marvin's outfit is the same brown/green (as opposed to green/red) color scheme as in "Hare-Way to the Stars".

Gallery[]

TV Title Cards[]

External Links[]

Preceded by
The Unmentionables
Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1963
Succeeded by
Transylvania 6-5000
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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