Case of the Missing Hare (1942) User Reviews

So what if Bugs Bunny lives in a tree!

[Mightyzebra · 8/10 · 29 July 2008]

In this Bugs Bunny episode, we meet the rascally rabbit living happily in a tree. And why are some people not OK with this? It is perfectly fine - it is actually quite a good touch to the episode - funny in some aspects.

Also, kissing can be quite funny, cartoon or real life. The way that the Looney Tunes characters used to do it can strike up a chuckle or two. In this day and age, I do not find it terribly funny, but it does not matter.

Anyhow, this is a very funny episode, another one of those ones where Bugs Bunny earns revenge from a nasty stage person. The animation of Bugs Bunny is good, the jokes are good (especially where Bugs Bunny is imitating a dog with his fingers) and the theme of the episode is used well.

In this short, a stage magician is putting up posters advertising his magic show. He so happens to pin a poster over the door of Bugs Bunny's home - a tree, funnily enough. Bugs Bunny starts to become annoyed with the stage magician, who in fact turns out to be an obnoxious meanie. Bugs Bunny will soon fight for revenge...

I recommend this Bugs Bunny episode for anyone who likes stage magic (a lot of the jokes here are based on it), old Bugs animation and Looney Tunes. Enjoy "Case of the Missing Hare"! :-)

we all get a whipping sooner or later

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 6 April 2007]

When a--hole magician Ala Bahma nails a poster over Bugs Bunny's tree-hole (since when does Bugs live in a tree?) and subsequently shoves a pie in Bugs's face, Bugs decides that it means war. So, Ala Bahma's show that night becomes a venue for Bugs to make a mess of everything. Whether it's the carrot, the swords, or the end, this is a magic show unlike any other. Why can't we all do this more?! So, maybe "Case of the Missing Hare" isn't the best Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies cartoon ever, but it's still a real pleasure. Bugs always knows how to turn the power structure on its head, even when dressed like a little kid. Really funny.

He dood it alright.

Bunnies live in trees??

[movieman_kev · 8/10 · 3 November 2005]

When a magician desecrates Bugs Bunny's tree home (yea I know Bugs doesn't usually live in a tree, but just go with it), the rabbit decides to go to the magician's show to heckle him unmercifully, making him look quite the fool in front of his audience. If you can get over the whole tree thing, you'll find that this IS a truly funny short, and worthy to be more widely known than it appears to be. This animated short can be found on Disk 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 and includes an optional commentary by Greg Ford which is quite informative by itself and is worth at least one listen.

My Grade: B+

"Look, Doc! Do I go around nailing signs over YOUR house?!"

[slymusic · 9 April 2009]

Written by Tedd Pierce, animated by Ken Harris, and directed by Chuck Jones, "Case of the Missing Hare" is a very good Warner Bros. cartoon that pits Bugs Bunny against a world-renowned magician, who invades the sanctity of Bugs' home. This cartoon proves a very well-known point: If you pick on Bugs Bunny, you sure as hell better watch out, because he'll give it back to you a lot worse than you can imagine.

One particular scene in "Case of the Missing Hare" I especially find funny: Assisting the magician with a swords-through-the-basket trick (in which the swords don't penetrate, as the magician explains), Bugs actually squeals in mock pain with each sword, causing the magician to sweat profusely. I also like how both the magician and the rabbit have difficulty pronouncing "prestidigitator".

Director Chuck Jones was still in his experimental stages with "Case of the Missing Hare", and there ain't nothing wrong with that. One particular oddity, however, is that the onstage backgrounds keep changing color. Big deal.

Bugs Never Backs Off

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 11 February 2019]

This is pretty much one of those cartoons where someone crosses our famous rabbit. This is a mistake because once you confront this guy, he'll get ya! Here a famous magician wants to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but that rabbit is Bugs, and he's not interested. What happens is a series of events that drive the magician crazy. It's not bad, but there is nothing that stands out.

"Case" of the giggles!

[Mister-6 · 10/10 · 25 February 2002]

TIDBIT - Hey, all you up-and-coming magicians: it's not a good idea to get a bunny mad at you.

In "Case of the Missing Hare", Bugs Bunny takes matters in hand when vile magician Ala Bama (as mystical as the same-named state) plasters posters for his show all over Bugs' woodland home and gets plastered himself with a blackberry pie. Of course you realize, this means war!

That night at the theatre, the magician finds himself embarrassed, humiliated, clobbered and otherwise cut down to size by the vengeful Bugs as Ala tries to pres-ti-digi-toot (or pull) a rabbit out of his hat and fails...several times.

Director Jones and writer Pierce create a case for all magicians to stick with working with more docile animals...like tigers or lions, maybe. And as always, Mel Blanc's voices make it all the funnier.

Ten stars and a RED LIGHT for this nut "Case".

Case of the Missing Hare

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 9 May 2021]

Bugs Bunny goes to war on renowned magician Ala Bahma after he hung up a poster on Bugs Bunny's treehouse.

Ala Bahma also blasted Bugs Bunny with some blueberry pie.

The mischievous rabbit ruins Ala Bahma's show.

These early 1940s cartoon has zaniness courtesy of Chuck Jones but is not as polished as the later ones.

Bugs Bunny still provide some nice touches as during the sword scenes.

Another Looney Tunes gem

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 17 June 2010]

I love this cartoon, I think it is clever and original. These Looney Tunes cartoons were part of my childhood, and this was one of those that I constantly loved and still love watching. The animation is detailed and expressive, the music is sparkling, the dialogue is funny and the sight gags are clever and inventive. And I love the chemistry between Bugs and the magician. Bugs is still his rascally and somewhat arrogant self, while the magician himself is an interesting character, for he is weak, obnoxious and inferior at his job. Just watching Bugs outsmart him is part of the fun of this cartoon. On a finishing note, Mel Blanc once again is faultless with the voices. Overall, another gem. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Octavia Spencer's four times Great Grandma invented the "Pie in the Face" . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 6 July 2016]

. . . movie comedy bit during the Third Lincoln-Douglas Debate in the 1850s. Overwhelmed by the odoriferous "Old Family Recipe" pastry Ms. Spencer's ancestor had just plastered onto his visage, Douglas famously fell flat on his kisser as Abe quipped, "A pie divided against itself cannot stand." Though many cinema pioneers tried to top this "Who cut the cheesecake?" moment from the Sepia Age of Film, no one came close until 1942's animated short, CASE OF THE MISSING HARE. While the pie fillings involved in HARE may be more mannered than the Spencer Family Manure, the facials exchanged between magician Ala Bahma and Bugs Bunny up the ante considerably (or, as Bugs says, pie-faced to the hilt, "Of course you know, this means War!"). Warren Buffet has brought this American political tradition forward into its Third Century, with his posting of the $10 million Project Pie Prize for the first group to get Donald Trump this-faced in Cleveland this summer. Vegas odds-makers have made Black Lives Matter a 3-2 early favorite, though the last I heard the Occupy Movement was closing fast.

A Few Questions.......

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 27 May 2007]

Ala Bahma, the world renown magician is performing at Bijou Theater, amidst a lot of fanfare. (Billboards announcing this event are everywhere.) It turns out the slob magician is the one posting all the notices. He makes the mistake of posting on on a tree in which Bugs is occupying. (That's the first time I've seen Bugs living in a tree. What's with that?)

Anyway, Bugs gives the guy lip and the portly one throws a blackberry pie in the rabbit's face. It is then we hear the famous words, outside of "What's up, doc?" of a BB cartoon: "Of course, this means war!"

Unfortunately, the war isn't much. It would have been 5-10 years later in the Looney Tunes cartoons but these early 1940s ones weren't very wild. They were very tame - too tame - compared to the 1950s editions. In other words, not a lot happens here.

Also, what's with all the big kisses on the lips? It seems to be another trait of the period, along with the corny humor. I see it here several times and in other cartoons of the early '40s? Kissing your opponent on the lips.....was that supposed to be funny?

Bugs Bunny in the hat

[Petey-10 · 30 October 2011]

Bugs Bunny starts a war with a magician called Ala Bahma.When Ala is on stage, it's Bugs who comes out of his hat.Case of the Missing Hare (1942) is a Chuck Jones short.Mel Blanc is the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Ala Bahma.This short has a lot of hilarious stuff.Ever since Bugs gets a pie in the face and uses the Groucho Marx catchphrase: Of course you realize this means war! One funny moment is where Ala tries to lure Bugs out of the hat with a carrot, and Bugs hits Ala with a mallet that was meant for Bugs.And what about when Bugs pretends to be a little boy from the audience, assisting the magician.Bugs goes in the basket, and the magician sticks swords through it.Bugs screams inside the basket, as if the swords penetrate him.And that causes excessive sweating to Ali.Also the use of colors brings a stylish touch to this short.

Of course you realise, this is a flimsy pretext for war!

[phantom_tollbooth · 3/10 · 3 November 2008]

Chuck Jones's 'Case of the Missing Hare' is a slow- moving and not particularly funny cartoon. An early Bugs Bunny short, 'Case of the Missing Hare' pits Bugs against a weak magician character who never proves to be much of a foil for the rabbit. Opening with a feeble pie-in-the-face routine which serves as a flimsy pretext for a "Of course you realise this means war" moment, 'Case of the Missing Hare' quickly segues into the magician's magic act and Bugs's inevitable sabotage of it. Ultimately, the script isn't all that funny and Jones has little to work with but he also seems to be having an off day, showing none of the sparkle which characterises his work. The result is a flat, dull cartoon with little to no laughs.

Don't Mess with the Bunny

[Michael_Elliott · 28 March 2016]

Case of the Missing Hare (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Magician Ala Bahma is in the forest hanging up posters for his upcoming show and he crosses paths with Bugs Bunny. After throwing a pie into his face, Bugs decides to go to the show and cause the magician some trouble.

While this film is far from a classic it still contains enough good moments to where fans of Bugs will enjoy watching it. As you'd expect the animation quality is extremely high and that beautiful color is on full display throughout. Ala Bahma appeared in several shorts and I honestly never found him to be the greatest of villains. The entertainment factor certainly comes from Bugs with one of the highlights dealing with swords.