. . . it is still occasionally funny seven plus decades after its release. Merrie Melodies producer Leon Schlesinger could have chosen to make Bugs Bunny the "Hiawatha" Native American character here, but everyone knew that the voice of Bugs--Mel Blanc--was a white guy ("blanc" even means "white" in French). Bugs always needed to be the sharpest knife in the drawer under the rules of Merrie Melodies, and everyone else needed to be portrayed as a bumbling idiot. The doltish clown could be a farm animal, such as a pig, or it could be a historical or literary figure known to the target audience, such as "Hiawatha." The latter was a character in a long poem 100 years old by the time the cartoon came out, dreamed up by a member of the Authors playing card deck named Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (who had a bushy gray beard to cover up facial scars incurred when his wife stood too close to the fireplace and burned to death, despite the author's futile efforts to quench her flames). American school teachers used to punish young children by making them memorize and recite the sonorous opening of this interminable piece, with the kid parroting back the most lines gaining the same sort of freakish recognition as the child reciting the number pi to the most decimal places. As you may guess, a lot more kids watching this in their local Bijou were pulling for Bugs (not a character in Longfellow's Hiawatha) than the ill-fated Native American!

Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt (1941) *** 1/2 (out of 4) This is one of the best known Merrie Melodies shorts as Indian Hiawatha goes out looking for a rabbit and unluckily for him he runs into Bugs Bunny who makes his life one misstep after another. Of all the early incarnations of Bugs, this here is probably one of the most popular and it's easy to see why because the rabbit is given a perfect co-star and the two really work well together. Yes, some might object to some of the stereotyped humor but I tend not to let these things bother me. The film works so well because of the way Bugs manages to drive Hiawatha crazy and one of the best sequences is when Bugs jumps into his water for a bath and even helps him put a log onto the fire. Another funny joke involves a cliff but I won't even think about spoiling the gag. The two characters here are given quite a lot to do and they work so well together that you can't help but have a smile on your face the entire time. There's plenty of nice laughs and just as many good action scenes. If you're a fan of animation then this here is a must see.

Understanding the racial stereotypes in "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt", it's got some funny stuff, as Bugs Bunny avoids getting trapped by the eponymous Native American. As I understand it, this cartoon is a parody of a Silly Symphony from Disney, but I've never seen that one. I first saw clips from this cartoon in "What's Cookin', Doc?", in which Bugs submits this cartoon for an Oscar nomination. Watching the later cartoon in "Bugs Bunny Superstar" as a little boy was the first time that I'd ever heard of the Academy Awards.Anyway, it's an OK cartoon. The tricks with the river are the best part. The cartoon even has a little twist at the end.PS: This was the first time that Friz Freleng directed Bugs Bunny, and also the first time that Gerry Chiniquy helped animate Bugs.

"Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" is Bugs Bunny's first film directed by Friz Freleng, and it's a wonderful sample of what Freleng would have in store for Bugs for the next 23 years.Freleng already starts throwing a curveball into the standard Bugs formula by inserting Bugs into the story of Little Hiawatha. While there is not much difference in intelligence between Hiawatha and, say, Elmer Fudd, Freleng does a great job at making the new character look funny (particularly in Hiawatha's run, which causes him to trip over himself often).Freleng also introduces a new traditional Bugs joke...having the wabbit climb into a boiling pot thinking it's a bathtub. This little sequence alone is also fun to watch, including the little puff of relaxing steam that comes out of Bugs' mouth once he gets both feet inside.And although Bugs acts more confident in this picture than he has in the recent past, even he is not safe from foolish mistakes. At the end of one scene Bugs leaps into the air, intending to land into a rabbit hole, but just misses and smacks his head on the ground. He sheepishly crawls into the hole, looking apologetically at the audience. How can you not like this character??Sadly, this cartoon is not seen often because it deals with a Native American character. But if you get the chance somehow, do sit down and watch this cartoon. It's one of the early Bugs' best.