Hold the Lion, Please (1942)

The Worst Film Ever

Such a frustrating disappointment

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

. . . (aka, The Looney Tuners) knew that the BIG FIGHT this week was NOT Mayweather vs. McGregor Saturday, but Yankees vs. Tigers a couple days earlier in Detroit. Warner's always meticulous prognosticators start their warning to America (and the thousands of geezers at Comerica Park for "Grandparents' Day") by depicting the trio of obnoxious geriatric Yankee gear-clad Yanks fans sitting in Row 3 of Section 337 as an ape, hippo, and giraffe (spot-on caricatures, if you saw them!). As Miguel "Miggy" Cabrera pushes his walker to the plate for perhaps the final time, you can hear this Deplorable Fat Cat One Per Center Trio muttering the EXACT opening lines of HOLD THE LION, PLEASE: Oldster #1 "He ain't kidding anybody--he's all washed up!" Ancient Bozo #2: "He's been through for years!" Creaky Clown #3: "A has been--nothing but a has been!" Warner's animators also nail Miggy with another Big Cat representation in the wheezing lion of this cartoon. Soon Yankee Catcher Gary Sanchez arrives on the scene (fresh from hitting his fourth home run against the hapless home town team in three days) in the form of Bugs Bunny. Bugs constantly lips off this-lion-with one-foot-in-the-grave, caring not a whit whether or not Leo-as-Miggy is a future Hall of Famer. Bugs than preempts Sanchez by 75 years in delivering a Spanish curse word in Sotto Voice, and all Hell breaks loose. Warner accurately forecasts ALL four bench-clearing brawls and all eight ejections, as well as every twist and turn of the 4 hour, 13 minute (9-inning!) game. HOLD THE LION, PLEASE ends with the Tigers' ultimate triumph (when they inject some young blood into the mix, such as teenager Dixon Machado taking third strikes on Miggy's behalf), and even wrap up with an otherwise mystifying tiff between Mr. and Mrs. Lion (not to mention Mr. and Mrs. Bugs Bunny), Clairvoyantly Presaging the Tiger dugout battle between their superannuated designated double play ground-out man Victor Martinez and fading pitching ace Justin Verlander, when the latter says that he'd be defecting to the Yankees by the Aug. 31 post-season eligibility trade deadline because Super Model Kate Upton wears the pants in the Verlander Family.

Nah! I'm just kidding around! This is a funny and harmless cartoon, no bloodshed or anything like that in sight. The ending is a bit of a let-down, and the Lion while well voiced by Tedd Pierce, is not as well drawn as he could have been and is annoying at times. Complaints aside, Hold The Lion, Please is a very entertaining Bugs Bunny cartoon with excellent animation and music and Bugs himself is on top form. The dialogue and visual gags are a delight as are the one and only Mel Blanc's immortal characterisations that always help elevate even the most mediocre of cartoons(ie. the worst of Speedy Gonzales). Overall, not Bug's best, but an entertaining and very re-watchable cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is a really funny early Bugs cartoon. He's in the jungle now, which is a fresh (and funny) change. The lion is not quite the perfect foil for Bugs, and the beginning is slow. However, the jokes are great. I've never seen a lion hunt like that! The old door sequence is back, or it may be its debut. The beginning is weird, but the hippo (voiced by Tex Avery! Surprise!) is funny. I think the start is too stretched-out. The ending is kind of a let-down. A good cartoon, good to see in print.

When a lion has to prove himself by hunting down a small, defenseless animal, don't you think he could have picked a better target than Bugs Bunny?In "Hold the Lion, Please", the Lion of the title must lure Bugs out of hiding by bribing him ("Carrots are good for rabbits"), faking him out of position by dirt-swimming (spitting all over himself - hilarious!) and doing that old stand-by: standing on either side of a propped-up outside door each thinking they're safe from the other (Bugs even taunts the lion with the key!).Then, the lion finally corners him, and.... But no, that would spoil the surprise.Chuck again runs amuck and creates funny visual time and again, and there's even a surprise voice-over by fellow animation giant Tex Avery as a condescending hippo. Perfect compliment to Mel Blanc's voicework, including that of our man Bugs!Ten stars for this "Lion". Hilarity from the animal kingdom!