. . . -Y and getting away with it, which gives them the confidence to become President of the United States. Mel Blanc, on the other hand, said during broadcast interviews that he devoted his time in junior high to perfecting his "Ha Ha Ha HAA Ha!" Heckle-and-Jeckle cackling laugh, which he tries out here first on D. Bugs Bunny (the "D" standing for Daffy). The "hare" in PORKY'S HARE HUNT is meaner than Yosemite Sam, nastier than Nasty Canasta, and more Satanic than the Tasmanian Devil. By the end of Porky's ill-fated rabbit quest, Prototype Bugs has put the porker into a hospital bed, with his broken leg winched toward the ceiling in traction. Beta Bugs stops by to visit Porky, bearing a bouquet of buds. However, when Big Pig informs Funny Bunny that he's "okay," expecting to be discharged in a week, the nightmare hare chortles "That's what you think!" proceeding to inflict MORE fractures upon Porky's limbs and loins. This all goes to prove that IF Mr. Blanc had NOT frittered away his middle school years in idle pursuits, but instead done something worthwhile such as groping girls (mastering The Art of the Feel), he too could have been a POTUS contender.

Some people disagree on whether this episode is Bugs Bunny's first appearance. The rabbit/ hare here is incredibly different from the Bugs we know today. However, I like to think that this is Bugs Bunny and in ways I prefer him to the later Bugs. I just slightly prefer what he looks like in this to his nowadays state (and his size). Bugs Bunny's original name was Happy Rabbit, which I think suits him here.I like this episode because of the personality of the old Bugs Bunny, the gags (which are a little like Disney gags) and Zero (Porky's dog) is sweet. It may have little plot, but this is hardly a flaw. Indeed, it could have been better with a plot, but it was not necessary.What happens, is that (like in Porky's Duck Hunt) Porky is hunting, but this time for rabbits. With his dog Zero Porky Pig tries to catch the wild and Houdini-like Bugs Bunny, but is not seeming to be managing...Recommended for people who enjoy old Looney Tunes and who would like to see the most charming Bugs Bunny ever! Enjoy "Porky's Hare Hunt"! :-)

And thus is born the earliest version of Bugs Bunny (informally called Happy Rabbit). Though anonymous in "Porky's Hare Hunt" and hardly resembling the rascal famous today, the screwball rabbit is one of the funniest characters whom I've ever seen. Sporting a Woody Woodpecker voice, he does pretty much the same sorts of things that the early Daffy Duck did in "Porky's Duck Hunt".So at the very least, this cartoon should be required viewing for animation historians. The hooligan hare utters Groucho Marx's "Of course you realize this means war!" for the first time. It would still be two years before audiences would hear "What's up, doc?" spoken by the rabbit's more familiar form, but there's a sense that this bunny has some really cool tricks up his sleeve. You gotta love it.All in all, definitely a cartoon milestone. Available on YouTube.

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.