Falling Hare
Falling Hare
NR | 30 October 1943 (USA)
Falling Hare Trailers

Relaxing with a carrot at a U.S. Army air field, Bugs is reading "Victory Through Hare Power" and scoffs at the notion of mentioned gremlins, little creatures who wreak havoc on planes with their diabolical sabotage.

Reviews
utgard14

Fun Bugs Bunny short with a wartime backdrop. During WWII, unexplained accidents and mechanical problems aboard aircraft were jokingly blamed on mischievous creatures called gremlins (which were inspiration for the creatures in the Joe Dante movie we all know and love). In this cartoon, Bugs doesn't believe that gremlins are causing sabotage to airplanes until he catches one in the act. What follows are a series of funny gags as Bugs tussles with the gremlin on land and in the air. The music and voicework are great. Love the animation, especially the airplane crash dive scene. The gremlin actually gets the best of Bugs throughout the short, something that you didn't see very often.

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slymusic

"Falling Hare", directed by the wacky Robert Clampett, is a Bugs Bunny cartoon with plenty of wildly funny sight gags as Bugs chases an airplane-wrecking gremlin around a U.S. Army air field. HOWEVER, when I first saw this cartoon during my high school days (late '80s/early '90s), I found it highly disturbing. Why? Because I didn't like to see Bugs Bunny be the fall guy. But this was characteristic of Clampett; he didn't follow all the rules. Bugs Bunny didn't ALWAYS win.Here are my favorite moments from "Falling Hare". Composer Raymond Scott's familiar "Powerhouse" can be heard as Bugs chases the gremlin directly into the airplane cabin. Then we hear the familiar strains of "Ochi Tchornya" as Bugs tries to break down the cabin door, after which we hear a familiar jocular melody as Bugs turns into a jackass. After Bugs saves the plane from crashing into a cavalcade of tall buildings, he becomes out of breath as the gremlin fans him.As I mentioned earlier, I was initially very disturbed by "Falling Hare", but I eventually got over it. And by the way, the opening shots of the massive air field, accompanied by some wonderfully patriotic music, must have done quite a bit to boost morale for our brave soldiers on combat duty during World War II. And the drawing of Bugs as he reads "Victory Thru Hare Power" is probably the best drawing of the wascawwy wabbit I've ever seen!

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Mightyzebra

One of many Looney Tunes cartoons set and made during the Second World War, "Falling Hare" does not show any fighting (unlike in some shorts at the time) but has many references to what was happening at the time. Looney Tunes was at first geared for adults, so cartoons that had references to the time at hand were not disapproved as they usually are today (of course, children would have watched this as well). I like this short because of the entertaining, quite early Bugs Bunny (he still had a different voice), the animation and some of the gags. I find the gremlin quite unnecessary, why the makers of this short wanted to include him I do not know, but without the gremlin the jokes would be geared in a much different way. The humour is slightly similar to that of humour today, but with a more old fashioned note. The episode starts with Bugs reading a book about creatures called gremlins. He thinks they are definitely not real, until he sees one trying to make a bomb explode. Quite a few troubles follow.I recommend this to anyone who likes every Bugs Bunny episode and for people who are interested in watching early episodes. Enjoy "Falling Hare"! :-)NOTE: For anyone who watches this cartoon, be aware that Bugs Bunny is a bit (to put it plainly) thick in this short. This has already been a slight disappointment to Bugs Bunny fans, but as long as you know it, it should be OK. ;-)

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bob the moo

Bugs Bunny is relaxing on an A-Bomb reading a magazine and laughing at stories of gremlins interfering in the workings of aircraft. However when one such gremlin starts to mess around with the aircraft and equipment on the base, Bugs overcomes his disbelief to try and stop it.Taking a good idea this film pitches Bugs against a gremlin to reasonable good effect to create an enjoyable, if far from great, cartoon. The gags are pretty good but parts of it do drag on a little too long without being funny – the final punch-line is weak but yet seems to be built up to for at least a minute! Despite this it still worked quite well, although many of the topical (at the time) references went over my head – made me think what watching Shrek will be like in about 50 years time! The other big weakness it did have was in it's lead character – which was a surprising thing to me. I love Bugs and enjoy seeing him twist things on those who would get him! I like to se the many ways he gets the upper hand. However here he was very much the lesser character in terms of scoring points. He is shown to be easily tricked and fooled and, at times, out of his depth – in fact in the plane he is portrayed as terrified for the majority of the time. This didn't ruin the cartoon for me as it was still funny, but this was not the usual character I expect to see when I watch Bugs Bunny.Overall this was an enjoyable cartoon despite it's weaknesses. Fans of Bugs (as I am) may struggle to enjoy it simply because our hero is painted as some sort of coward and weakling – a far cry from his usual wise-ass self!

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