Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.While not one of my favourite cartoons of all time and never will be, 'Porky's Hare Hunt' is nonetheless very well made and very entertaining. It is interesting to see a proto-version of Bugs Bunny before Bugs Bunny became famous and Porky Pig paired with a character that wasn't primarily Daffy Duck. There's not much wrong actually in 'Porky's Hare Hunt', it is very slight on story and there's not much original in it.Porky is a lot of fun and very likable in a type of role that suits him, but he makes more of an impression as a supporting character later on, he sometimes was a little bland in early lead roles. Having said that, there is so much to recommend.However, the animation is very good. It's beautifully drawn, very detailed and it's done in a crisp black and white, complete with some great expressions for particularly the rabbit.Carl Stalling's music score is typically lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms, it's also beautifully synchronised with the action and gestures/expressions and even enhances the impact. All of those things Stalling was an unparalleled master at in animation, or at least in my view.The rabbit is no Bugs, not as interesting in personality, but the character drives the action to fun effect. There are a lot of very funny and cute moments. Zero is the same. Timing is lively. Mel Blanc's versatility as ever shines impeccably.Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

By the late 30's, the Schlesinger studio had crystallized their in-house style, which echoed the spirit of the live action Warner Bros. features.Tex Avery's unit had created Daffy Duck the previous year who stole the show in Porky's Duck Hunt, which caught audiences by surprise. He started to appear in a handful of shorts in 1938. Ben Hardaway, inspired by Avery, directed a similar titled short featuring what he called "that crazy duck in a rabbit suit". This also got the attention of audiences. As most fans know, this rabbit became Bugs Bunny within the next two years, molded by several directors and artists. It's also interesting to note Porky's development during this time-frame. He went from a very round character to a slimmer refined design. Although there were still different Porky designs depending on the director. Clampett's Porky around this time closely resembles the Porky we know today. Hardaway used a very similar design for Porky that Tashlin was using at this time, which was wide-eyed and boyish. To the casual observer, the rabbit would not register as Bugs Bunny as there's virtually no physical or personality resemblance. This is one of the more memorable and enjoyable B/W Looney Tunes from the period.

On the Cartoon Brew site, Jerry Beck linked from YouTube a video by one Martha Sigall called The Story of Bugs Bunny. Who is this woman who's now in her 90's? She was in the Ink and Paint department at "Termite Terrace" during the various formations of what would become "that wascally wabbit". It's quite a fascinating tale with Ms. Sigall using a framed demonstration of the various character poses and different drawings of the wabbit to the one we know of him today. That YouTube segment led me to watch the original cartoon that featured what was the first version of what became Bugs Bunny (named after the director who made this cartoon, Ben "Bugs" Hardaway) on the same site. It's sort of the same short as Porky's Duck Hunt made by Tex Avery except Porky's hunting rabbits. "Bugs" here is actually all white and has the voice and laugh of Woody Woodpecker which is not surprising since this rabbit's voice originator, Mel Blanc, would create that same voice and laugh for that character at Walter Lantz a couple of years later. Anyway, there were some creative gags I liked such as when a toy decoy rabbit kicks Porky's dog Zero in the face or when the rabbit uses his ears as propellers in escaping from Porky and his dog. And how about the first time he quotes Groucho Marx's line from Duck Soup, "Of course you know, this means war!" Quite enjoyable this early short but since Daffy Duck was already the resident "crazy", it was decided to make Bugs more of the wiseguy type by the time Avery recreated him in the form we know him as today in A Wild Hare. Good move, Tex! So on that note, I recommend Porky's Hare Hunt. P.S. Ms. Sigall has a book about her experience at Leon Schlesinger Productions/Warner Bros. Cartoons called "Living Life Inside the Lines" out now.

The little white nameless rabbit with the bulbous black nose is considered by many as the very first version of what would later become Bugs Bunny. An early Porky goes rabbit hunting with his dog and is outwitted again and again by this "granddaddy" of Bugsy!!!In June 2001, Cartoon Network ran an almost entire filmography of Mr. Bunny, beginning with Porky's Hare Hunt. The second cartoon in this "filmography" featured this same pinkish-white bunny with a big black nose in a haunted house with 2 dogs.As the weekend marathon, known as "June Bugs" progressed from this 1938 cartoon to the very latest of Bugs' works, we saw the little pinkish white rabbit who was kind of daffy and hyper metamorphose into the wise cracking, brazen hare of Tex Avery and Robert Clampett fame, and then into an older, kinder, more mature Bugs that Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Robert McKimson preferred. As a lifelong fan of Bugs and the Looney Tunes, I could not ignore the need for this little cartoon to be mentioned.