Funny Bugs Bunny short directed by Robert McKimson. This time Bugs shows up at a greyhound racetrack, where he mistakenly thinks a fake rabbit used as a lure for the dogs to chase is real. So Bugs tries to rescue the rabbit and winds up fighting with the dogs. A simple but fun cartoon with some good gags and lines. The animation is beautiful, with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Love the colors. Carl Stalling's music is quite nice and the voice work from Mel Blanc is, as usual, excellent. This isn't one of my favorite Bugs cartoons but it is a good one that movies along quickly. The stuff with the racetrack announcer is probably my favorite part of the short.

. . . but Bugs Bunny's idea of recreation during the 1940s Warner Bros. Looney Tune THE GREY HOUNDED HARE seems to be Sex on a Stick. Bugs apparently doesn't get out much, because the mechanical rabbit at a dog track strikes him as the epitome of "female pulchritude." If it were up solely to Bugs, the phrase "breeding like rabbits" would be synonymous with "multiplying like unicorns." Of course, Bugs' dream boat cruises around the canine raceway like a slot car. Bugs mounts her split inner rail several times, seemingly willing to do the deed in full view of the grandstand crowd. However, since the NC-17 movie rating wasn't around in the 1940s, Bugs is necessarily thwarted at every turn. (As the animation department at Warner delighted in clever wordplay referencing previous, usually outside, works, they surely would come up with a snappier title for this entry were it released today: LARS AND THE REAL BUNNY or BROWN BUNNY DOWN are a couple that come readily to mind.)

As a huge Looney Tunes fan, I re-visited The Grey-Hounded Hare after seeing it a few times as a kid and completely forgetting about it, and I liked it. The story is rather standard and the lead dog while not a complete dud I agree didn't strike me as memorable. However, Bugs is great as always, likable but with a bit of arrogance about him. The animation with good colours and backgrounds and decently drawn characters is quite good, and the attention to visual detail is evident. The music is as quirky and energetic as I like it, the dialogue is witty and fresh and the pace is solid. Mel Blanc's voice work throughout is superb. Overall, above decent. 8/10 Bethany Cox

An enjoyable short, though not one of the best Bugs Bunny shorts. It has more than a few moments and an entertaining ending. Because i want to discuss some details, this is a spoiler warning: Bugs winds up at a dog racetrack and decides to check out the dogs. He goes over to where they're being fed and pokes and prods them, going so far as to stop one of them from eating so he can check out his teeth. The dog makes it clear that he doesn't like rabbits.At one point, there's a panning shot of the dogs in the upcoming race, with a very pun-filled voice-over describing the dogs (for example, "Motorman's Glove will have a hand in it!") and then the race begins.That's when Bugs discovers that a (mechanical) rabbit is used to get the dogs to run and Bugs falls in love with this "hunk of feminine pulchritude!", but then he realizes that the dogs are *GASP* chasing his "dreamboat". Declaring that "Chivalry is not dead!", Bugs begins setting out to prevent the dogs from harming his "lady" fair, with disastrous consequences for the track and the dogs. The voice-over is hilarious.Naturally, Bugs has to have a primary nemesis and it's the dog he got into a scuffle with earlier. They have several encounters, most of which go badly for the dog, until the dog surrenders toward the end. Bugs can now join his "dreamboat", who has been ignoring his advances and running in circles. The ending is cute, so I won't spoil it here. This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and is well worth seeing. Recommended