While the Sylvester and Tweety cartoon 'Hyde and Go Tweet' is the better take on the classic Jekyll and Hyde story, being funnier and more creative, 'Hyde and Hare' is still very entertaining in its own right.'Hyde and Hare's' chief weak point is the ending. With the exception of Bugs's final line, which is pretty amusing, you can smell it from a mile off, Bugs's Hyde character is rather ugly and not frightening enough and the cartoon would have been two-joke if there was enough done with Bugs in the Hyde guise. Instead the ending scene felt rushed and in comparison to Dr Jekyll as Hyde there was nowhere near enough time dedicated to Bugs as Hyde. This viewer also does somewhat agree that the story is a touch thin and stretched, and also a touch repetitive (always a danger with one-joke cartoons).On the other hand, the animation (as was the case with most 1950s Looney Tunes cartoons) is very nice, typical Fritz Freleng, and the one element that is- slightly- better than 'Hyde and Go Tweet's', which was still very good but made at a time where the Looney Tunes cartoons' budgets were starting to get lower and animation getting cheaper (though it only started to get bad in the mid-60s with primarily the Daffy and Speedy series and the later Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote shorts. In 'Hyde and Hare' the backgrounds are fluid and colourful, the colours are bright and quite attractive to look at, Bugs and Dr. Jekyll are drawn well and Dr. Jekyll as Hyde this viewer personally found pretty frightening.Carl Stalling, a consistently great composer and my personal favourite for the Looney Tunes cartoons (like Milt Franklyn's scores a lot too, much less keen on Bill Lava's) provides a characteristically jaunty and characterful music score. It's lushly orchestrated, haunting in places (especially the opening credits) and syncs with the gags excellently and even enhances them (Franklyn was also very good at doing this, Lava's a good deal of the time were cheap-sounding, repetitive and even misplaced).There are funnier, more creative and less predictable Looney Tunes shorts, sure, but the dialogue is still clever and witty- Bugs bagging all the best lines, particularly the one quoted in the review summary, Dr Jekyll's comparatively is ever so slightly bland and repetitive- and the gags range from amusing to hilarious. 'Hyde and Hare' is paced efficiently and Freleng (one of the more famous and popular Looney Tunes directors, second to Chuck Jones) directs with energy, his directorial and animation style unmistakable. Bugs' distinctive personality shines brilliantly, his energy and actions getting increasingly manic, while Dr Jekyll is a good, understated (if much less funny) contrast, the rapport between the two never coming across as dull, which is good because it is the thing that holds 'Hyde and Hare' together. Mel Blanc's voice work is faultless, once again showing the unparallelled ability to voice more than one character in the same cartoon and give them different and individual personalities to one another.All in all, very entertaining. 8/10 Bethany Cox

With a likable animation style that happens to crop up in a few good Looney Tunes cartoons, Hyde and Hare is, for myself, one of the better episodes. What I like about the cartoon is that it combines the traditional wild, slapstick WB themes and the rarer Disney-type themes that can run in Looney Tunes. Based on Jekyll and Hyde, Bugs Bunny lives contentedly in a park, every day looking forward to meet the man who feeds him. One day, when Bugs goes up to retrieve a carrot from the man, he decides that he would like to just live with him and be done with it. The man seems to be very gentle, kind and quite delicate and takes to the (talking) rabbit, bringing him to his house. We later find out that the man is a doctor and has an evil potion that can temperamentally turn him into a monster. Cartoon confusions commence...Expect a traditional Looney Tunes ending, as the first half is the Disney-type stuff. It is not all sweet and fluffy, but it is no big issue.I recommend this episode to people who like "turning worms" Looney Tunes episodes, to people who like Bugs Bunny (he is very good in this episode) and to people who have a vague idea (or a big idea!) of the Jekyll and Hyde story. Enjoy "Hyde and Hare"! :-)

Friz Freleng's 'Hyde and Hare' is a tedious and ugly cartoon which I've disliked from the first time I saw it. Adopted by Dr. Jekyll, Bugs Bunny encounters the psychotic Mr. Hyde. Attempting to save himself and Jekyll, he gets into a confusing chase in which he can't understand how Hyde keeps breaking down his defences and where Jekyll keeps disappearing to. It's a one joke cartoon executed with no real pizazz and so it just becomes extremely repetitive. The character designs and backgrounds are awkward, angular and garish. Mr. Hyde is particularly disappointing as he represents a missed opportunity for a really creative and frightening design. Instead, he is just a slightly ugly green man with long, dragging hands. Freleng directed a better take on the Jekyll and Hyde story five years later with the Tweety and Sylvester short 'Hyde and Go Tweet', which worked better thanks to the two way chase between the characters. With no real motivation to do anything but escape, Bugs has very little to do here but panic and hide, panic and hide, again and again. The result is a cartoon that never even threatens to come alive right up until its predictable, half-hearted climax.

Directed by Friz Freleng, "Hyde and Hare" is virtually a one-gag cartoon. Bugs Bunny is adopted by a kindly scientist appropriately named Dr. Jekyll, who repeatedly transforms into a hideous green, long-armed, long-haired, red-eyed monster simply because of a formula that Jekyll cannot resist drinking. The brilliant Carl Stalling's musical accompaniment greatly enhances the back-and-forth transformation between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I actually find it quite astonishing that the usually sharp Bugs Bunny just can't seem to figure out that Jekyll and Hyde are one and the same.Some of the funnier gags in this short include the following (don't read on until after you have seen it): One particular Jekyll/Hyde transformation occurs while Bugs and Jekyll are hiding inside a dark closet; the sight of Jekyll's eyes turning red is hilarious. Bugs plays Chopin's Minute Waltz on the piano, adapting a Liberace voice saying, "I wish my brother George was here" (this Liberace gag also appeared in other Warner Bros. cartoons such as "Wideo Wabbit" [1956] and "Three Little Bops" [1957]); when Hyde then approaches Bugs from behind, Bugs' terrified facial expression and distorted piano playing are quite amusing. And the ending gag is also very funny, as Bugs himself transforms into a hideous green monster (presumably from taking a swig of Jekyll's formula) and becomes puzzled at everyone being frightened of him.Some folks might complain that the constant Jekyll/Hyde makeover wears thin after awhile, but "Hyde and Hare" is still a fine Bugs Bunny cartoon with ample humor.