" . . . is the hobgoblin of small soles," so Bugs Bunny sets out to prove WWE wrong in FORWARD MARCH HARE. Though Bugs is later shown to have much keener eyesight (and, consequently, reading ability) than a human, all of the events of FORWARD are predicated upon Bugs mistaking an Army Draft Notice addressed to "B.(ERTRAM) BONNY" as a missive intended for B. BUNNY (that is, himself). As one might expect, it takes many days for an army officer to exclaim, "Jumping catfish, we've inducted a rabbit!" Setting aside this example of military intelligence, FORWARD is about as graphic as FULL METAL JACKET in depicting the horrors of boot camp. For instance, when Bugs is punished with K.P. (Kitchen Patrol) Duty and ordered to clean and dress a flock of roosters for officers' mess, the very literal hare tricks out the fated fowl in tuxedos! This reminds me of a Real Life incident in which a close relative of mine drew similar duty, only his was to cut grapefruit for 50 men at breakfast. Never having handled this jumbo citrus fruit before, he bisected all of them pole-to-pole, instead of at their equators!

This is a 7-minute short film from over 60 years ago and like so many other it was directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese and voiced by Mel Blanc. Still, I have to say this is not the best work from the trio, especially Maltese as I felt this one was not written really funny enough to make a memorable impact. Bugs Bunny gets a letter that was actually intended for somebody else and the letter says that he gets drafted. Lucky day for Daffy, Porky and Elmer as Bugs will get on somebody else's nerves this time. So when in the army, Bugs has a tough time running for miles with heavy luggage, but his commander seems to have an even harder time. And we find out that Bugs has the eyesight of an eagle it seems. Military-themed cartoons were far more popular during the days of World War II, but these were also really more motivational. This one here is exclusively comedic, but not as funny as I hoped it would be. Not recommended. Hundreds of superior Warner Bros. cartoons out there.

I adore Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny, and while I loved Forward March Hare as a kid I only like it now. I also think that the story is rather silly, the idea of not being able to tell the difference between a human and a rabbit is rather hard to swallow, and instead of the arrogant, intelligent and sharp-witted personality that he is so famous for he is rather obtuse and somewhat of a buffoon, messing things up a lot of the time and not realising. However, the animation is wonderful especially in the beautiful silhouetted opening sequence, though the fluidity and lavish colours are apparent also in the military sequences. The music score is terrific, characterful and enhances the action brilliantly, and the dialogue is fresh and witty, "So they're inducting rabbits" is just one of the jewels. Not all the gags work, but there are a fair few that do, the sequence with the eye-chart shows briefly Bugs in the persona we know and love, and Bugs knocking all the soldiers over, the sergeant exploding and Bugs running around with a baseball bat are just as effective. The Sergeant is a great character, while Mel Blanc's voice work is brilliant. All in all, decent but not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This episode reminded me of a "Sergeant Bilko" television classic in which a chimp was inducted into the army, carelessly being passed along an assembly- type line, getting through the physical and passing his way into the army. It's all way more than just a bit of a stretch, but so is this cartoon, especially since Bugs usually is a little smarter than he appears in this adventure. Of course, none of the humans are too observant, either. I mean, you can't tell the difference between a human face and that of a buck-toothed rabbit?! It takes several days before sometimes notices the "Private" has long ears and a tail and might be a bunny?In this cartoon, Bugs mistakenly gets a letter addressed to a neighbor, "B. Bonny,": and thinks it's for him, so it opens it. (A gust of wind had blown the letter out of the mailbox into Bugs' hole)The letter flying into this rabbit hole, and Bugs not being careful with what he's reading both turn out to to be his misfortune because the letter it's a "draft notice." The rest of the cartoon detail a couple of Bugs' days in the Army. Like his final scene, most of the gags were "duds."Once again, we get superlative graphics and colors with these Warner Brothers "Collection" DVDs. The opening silhouette shot was great as were the golden hues in many of the military scenes, such as the one in which they were climbing a hill. It's just beautiful artwork.