Hair-Raising Hare (1946)

hyped garbage

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Classic Bugs Bunny short from the great Chuck Jones that gives us a Peter Lorre mad scientist, a female rabbit robot, and the first appearance of Gossamer, the big hairy orange monster that wears sneakers. A very funny cartoon with lots of clever gags and witty lines. Some really lovely animation with nicely-drawn characters and backgrounds. Rich Technicolor is always a plus in my book. Energetic score from Carl Stalling. Excellent voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc. So many great moments but my favorite might be the "doctor in the house" gag. A truly wonderful cartoon that should bring a smile to even the most curmudgeonly of faces.

The current NSA scandal makes the beginning of "Hair-Raising Hare" all the more eye-opening. Holding up a candle and looking around the area outside his rabbit hole, Bugs Bunny poses the question "Did ya ever get the feeling you was bein' watched?". Then, we see that he is being watched. Not by the FBI, CIA, KGB, or anything like that, but by a Peter Lorre-resembling scientist (whose name is later revealed to be Evil Scientist). Evil Scientist promises his pet monster that dinner will be served shortly, after which he sends a female rabbit robot to attract Bugs. Once Bugs enters the castle, much of the cartoon consists of Bugs fleeing the monster (at one point even taking on a seemingly gay persona as a manicurist).Obviously, the coolest aspect of this cartoon is how it brings out Bugs's tricks while also poking fun at the monster movies from that era. There's a scene where the monster looks in the mirror and scares his own reflection; maybe that brings up the issue of how we interpret horror, or whether reality is better/worse than its flip side. But I still like how Bugs talks about being watched. It should be a stark reminder to us all, and such a comment could only come from one of these cartoons. Really good. And remember: don't go up there; it's dark! PS: this cartoon was semi-remade in 1952 as "Water Water Every Hare".

What a wonderful Bugs Bunny cartoon! Apart from great production values and writing, this movie marks the first appearance of the cute giant orange hairy monster that will later appear in other Warner cartoons.Bugs is in an old creepy castle when he realizes that the crazy doctor (clearly patterned after Peter Lorre) is trying to kill him for his evil experiments. Bugs fleas and the doctor unleashes his secret weapon--a giant hairy orange monster wearing tennis shoes! He's really awfully cute, though also quite intent on capturing Bugs. Well, Bugs responds by using his cleverness to beat the monster and escape. A wonderful and funny cartoon. It especially excels when it breaks through the fourth wall--and involves the audience!If you liked this cartoon, try watching WATER, WATER, EVERY HARE (1952)--a follow-up to this movie.

Bugs Bunny thinks he's being watched. Is the bunny getting paranoid in his old age? Nope, because as we see, someone IS watching him, an Evil Scientist. The scientist uses a robotic female rabbit to lure Bugs into his castle. Once there the robot self-destructs as Bugs kisses it. Then the evil scientist lets Gossamer, the hair monster to catch the wasscily rabbit. That's when the fun starts. For some reason this short didn't tickle my fancy as much as others that I've seen with Gossamer in them. Not to say this one isn't worth seeing, as it most definitely is.This cartoon is on Disk 3 of the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1" It also has an optional commentaryMy Grade: B