Hare-Breadth Hurry (Looney Tunes)
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| Hare-Breadth Hurry (episode 918) | ||||||||||||
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 Stick to watching "Operation: Rabbit" instead of this.
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Hare-Breadth Hurry is a 1963 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble. The short was released on June 8, 1963, and stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. This is the fifth and final pairing of Bugs and the Coyote, and unlike the previous four outings, this cartoon follows the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner formula (substituting Bugs for the Road Runner). As such, Wile E. Coyote is silent, although Bugs does speak in the short, often to the audience. "Hare-Breadth Hurry" is also one of the few cartoons where Bugs does not eat a carrot.
Why It Should Be Eaten Alive
- Bugs Bunny comes off as a jerk towards Wile E. Coyote since Wile E. didn't do anything wrong to deserve it. Not helping is how Wile E. Coyote doesn't talk here, unlike in the other encounters with Bugs Bunny, where Wile E. sometimes gloats on Bugs Bunny and mocks him for the latter's "lack of intelligence in comparison to Wile E.'s "super genius" intellect".
- Lacks the charm and humor of the previous Bugs vs Wile E. Coyote cartoons.
- Obnoxious sound effects, such as the gargling SFX heard when Wile E. Coyote was getting eaten by a giant fish.
- Weak writing by John W. Dunn.
- The cartoon feels like a rejected Road Runner cartoon but with Bugs Bunny in the Road Runner's place. Funnily enough, Bugs himself is aware of the situation, claiming that he is actually standing in for the Road Runner because the latter "sprained a giblet" while going through a sharp curve the other day.
- While Wile E. Coyote obediently follows the Road Runner cartoons, Bugs Bunny on the other hand keeps breaking the rules of the Road Runner cartoons such as harming Wile E. Coyote, which the Road Runner never does aside from beeping at him, so much that it can even make "The Larriva Eleven" look tame in terms of how much it breaks the Road Runner rules.
- Relatively speaking, in this short Bugs frequently breaks the following Road Runner rules as established by Chuck Jones, which are being; #1: The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "beep, beep.", #4: No dialogue ever, except beeping and yowling in pain, and #5: Road Runner must stay on the road — for no other reason than that he's a roadrunner.
- Mediocre and rather simpler animation compared to other Chuck Jones cartoons at the time.
- Some of the jokes are also flat, such as Bugs asking the audience after Wile E. Coyote almost hit a door when answering a telephone booth ("Did you realize that he almost hit this door?").
- This short was a rather weak way to end the rivalry between Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote.
- This cartoon is a rehash of "Operation: Rabbit", where the concept of that episode was handeled much better than this episode.
Redeeming Qualities
- Some funny moments such as the anvil joke.
- There are admittedly very unpredictable gags, like the scene where Bugs draws two lines and in front of him and Wile E. Coyote, making the ground between the two lines the latter steps on fall.
- Mel Blanc does a great job voicing Bugs Bunny.
- The concept of this short is rather unique, as Bugs Bunny acts like the Road Runner in this short while also talking, but the process is not greatly executed (see BQ#5).
- Wile E. Coyote is a likable and enjoyable character in this short.
- While William Lava's music is not that brilliant, some of the music in this short (such as the one heard on the title card) can be pretty catchy or energetic to listen to, which is one of Lava's more higher points in his career for composing the music for the series.
Reception
Despite the short mostly being mediocre, it currently holds a 7.1/10 rating on IMDb, making it one of the more higher rated shorts from the late 1962-64 era of "Looney Tunes". In November 2020, this short was given a restoration on HBO Max.
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