Hair-Raising Hare
1946 · 7m · USA
Directed by Chuck Jones
Genres: animation, comedy, horror
Tones: dark, darkly comic, humorous
A mad scientist, caricatured after Peter Lorre, lures Bugs Bunny to his castle using a mechanical female rabbit, intending to feed Bugs to his giant orange sneaker-wearing monster Gossamer. Bugs must outwit both the scientist and the creature to escape.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Gossamer's debut and Bugs breaking the fourth wall to sic the monster on the audience — Chuck Jones operating at full smirk. Mean and economical.
Gossamer's debut and the legendary fourth-wall-breaking finale make this one of Jones's purest horror-comedy fusions. The restored Archive print is generously available.
The fourth-wall break where Bugs points out the audience is one of the cleanest pure-comedy beats in the Jones catalog — it works because Gossamer's design (huge but vulnerable) makes the gag land. Restored 418MB Archive print.
Reviews
Tedd Pierce has turned in a great script which includes some viciously amusing eye-poking, a priceless scene involving a suit of armour and the best 'What's up, Doc' joke you'll ever hear.
Looney Tunes and Chuck Jones at the top of their game, featuring the memorable debut of Gossamer and brilliant fourth-wall comedy.