Monday, February 21, 2022

MERRIE MELODIES / "Falling Hare" - 1943

Here's a great Bugs Bunny cartoon, it's directed by Bob Clampett, written by Warren Foster, with voices by Mel Blanc and Bob Clampett, Mel doing Bugs and Bob doing the gremlin!!

Bugs is on an airfield, relaxing and reading a book.

He's learning all about how rabbits have contributed to the victories in the war against Germany and Japan...

He gets to a segment in the book about gremlins, who wreck planes with their diabolical acts of sabotage. That makes him chuckle to himself... Gremlins!

But when one of them tries to use a mallet on a blockbuster bomb to no avail, Bugs offers to help the little guy out. He takes the mallet, winds up, swings and comes within an inch of hitting the bomb before he realizes what he's doing. Bugs grabs a big wrench and chases the little troublemaker.

Of course Bugs is the one that gets conked on the head. When he asks the gremlin... Which way did he go, George?.. The little guys says... He went that-a-way! Bugs thanks him and then falls flat on his face.

After shaking off the conk on the head, Bugs chases the gremlin into the plane.

The gremlin ducks out of the plane, starts the engines, and pushes the wheels until the plane takes off into the wild blue yonder...

Bugs tries to get to the gremlin (on the outside) by busting down the door, but the little guy opens the door instead, and Bugs rushes out into thin air. That's how Bugs feels after he realizes what he's done!

Bugs rushes back inside the plane only to slip and slide his way back out the other door!

The little gremlin menace is now flying the plane, and it's like he's trying to wreck it. So, Bugs grabs the controls and does his own insane maneuvers, until...

The plane goes into a nose dive and starts streaking toward the ground below.

As Bugs turns green from air sickness, the gremlin calmly plays with a yo-yo!

And the freaking ground just keeps getting closer!

Bugs makes the best faces in this one!

And wouldn't you know it! They ran out of gas!!.. This is one of the best cartoons to come out of Termite Terrace!

6 comments:

kd said...

Don't think I ever saw this one. It looks hi-larious! And that Gremlin! HA-HA! Funny-looking little critter, ain-t he! Bugs eats carrots, while the Gremlin eats bananas, torments Bugs, and plays with a yo-yo! Wow, those old wartime 'toons! My good ol' Daddy-O was an aircraft mechanic during WWII, so I'm sure he would have loved this one too! Yay!

Grant said...

This sounds like I'm taking things far too literally, but Bugs Bunny is such a great troublemaker for other characters that I like the cartoons where HE'S out of his depth. And this is a pretty great one.

Realm Of Retro said...

3rd photo down:
Love the plane...beautiful retro-futuristic overtones like it was
inspired by a pulp sci-fi cover.
Look at the detail in the shading.
Those planes were a high-priority item when this was made.

Little things like this are why I like retro.

kd said...

Good thoughts, RoR! Nothing wrong at all with retro! Most of the movies, tv shows, music, books and comics I have are retro! Sooo...my life is 95% retro!

(The 5% non-retro is the hopefully fresh food I buy at the supermarket.) ;)

I save a little room for a snack of Yoo-Hoo and Twinkies (retro junk food)!

Realm Of Retro said...

@Kd: THanks for that.

SCB said...

My favorite Bugs Bunny short. Love that, at the time, it was slightly scary and gave one of the first depictions of gremlin lore. If any Bugs Bunny short can be described as epic, it’s this one. It has a certain melancholy charm.

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