. . . (aka, The Looney Tuners) knew that the BIG FIGHT this week was NOT Mayweather vs. McGregor Saturday, but Yankees vs. Tigers a couple days earlier in Detroit. Warner's always meticulous prognosticators start their warning to America (and the thousands of geezers at Comerica Park for "Grandparents' Day") by depicting the trio of obnoxious geriatric Yankee gear-clad Yanks fans sitting in Row 3 of Section 337 as an ape, hippo, and giraffe (spot-on caricatures, if you saw them!). As Miguel "Miggy" Cabrera pushes his walker to the plate for perhaps the final time, you can hear this Deplorable Fat Cat One Per Center Trio muttering the EXACT opening lines of HOLD THE LION, PLEASE: Oldster #1 "He ain't kidding anybody--he's all washed up!" Ancient Bozo #2: "He's been through for years!" Creaky Clown #3: "A has been--nothing but a has been!" Warner's animators also nail Miggy with another Big Cat representation in the wheezing lion of this cartoon. Soon Yankee Catcher Gary Sanchez arrives on the scene (fresh from hitting his fourth home run against the hapless home town team in three days) in the form of Bugs Bunny. Bugs constantly lips off this-lion-with one-foot-in-the-grave, caring not a whit whether or not Leo-as-Miggy is a future Hall of Famer. Bugs than preempts Sanchez by 75 years in delivering a Spanish curse word in Sotto Voice, and all Hell breaks loose. Warner accurately forecasts ALL four bench-clearing brawls and all eight ejections, as well as every twist and turn of the 4 hour, 13 minute (9-inning!) game. HOLD THE LION, PLEASE ends with the Tigers' ultimate triumph (when they inject some young blood into the mix, such as teenager Dixon Machado taking third strikes on Miggy's behalf), and even wrap up with an otherwise mystifying tiff between Mr. and Mrs. Lion (not to mention Mr. and Mrs. Bugs Bunny), Clairvoyantly Presaging the Tiger dugout battle between their superannuated designated double play ground-out man Victor Martinez and fading pitching ace Justin Verlander, when the latter says that he'd be defecting to the Yankees by the Aug. 31 post-season eligibility trade deadline because Super Model Kate Upton wears the pants in the Verlander Family.

Nah! I'm just kidding around! This is a funny and harmless cartoon, no bloodshed or anything like that in sight. The ending is a bit of a let-down, and the Lion while well voiced by Tedd Pierce, is not as well drawn as he could have been and is annoying at times. Complaints aside, Hold The Lion, Please is a very entertaining Bugs Bunny cartoon with excellent animation and music and Bugs himself is on top form. The dialogue and visual gags are a delight as are the one and only Mel Blanc's immortal characterisations that always help elevate even the most mediocre of cartoons(ie. the worst of Speedy Gonzales). Overall, not Bug's best, but an entertaining and very re-watchable cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Under Chuck Jones's directing and supervision, Bugs Bunny is tagged after a lion following the same theme as the earlier Elmer Fudd episodes. We're first introduced with a lion and his friends in the jungle featuring a monkey, a giraffe and a hippopotamus. What's attention grabbing is that each animal has a line, thus the voice acting is very substantial through Tex Avery and Tedd Pierce's teamwork with Mel Blanc.The earlier model layouts for Bugs Bunny was unformed. Not just that, also the character layouts for the animals are 1930s' Disney level. The lion has a jaw like an ape. Some of its movements are taken from Goofy. Above all, even though Bugs Bunny is smaller than its actual size, the lion looks the same size as him. That size issue really distracts attention while he is attacking at Bugs, as we know that the lion is trying to prove he's not washed up from being the king of the jungle. It should have been drawn up at least a little brutal. Yet, what Chuck Jones offers is just Elmer Fudd in lion appearance.Put the layouts aside, the story is so-so. It doesn't have any unique development and jokes at all. Storytelling sometimes gets very weak that more than a couple times, Bugs uses signboards. Something very unique but silly: Bugs Bunny's mum appears at end, "Mrs.Bugs Bunny". It all relies on Woody Woodpecker-type fast motion tricks. After all, a Bugs Bunny episode, only good for infants and children at age 6.

This is a really funny early Bugs cartoon. He's in the jungle now, which is a fresh (and funny) change. The lion is not quite the perfect foil for Bugs, and the beginning is slow. However, the jokes are great. I've never seen a lion hunt like that! The old door sequence is back, or it may be its debut. The beginning is weird, but the hippo (voiced by Tex Avery! Surprise!) is funny. I think the start is too stretched-out. The ending is kind of a let-down. A good cartoon, good to see in print.