The Old Grey Hare (1944)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Robert Clampett

Writer:

Michael Sasanoff (story)

Release Date:

28 October 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Elmer Fudd is taken far into the future (past 1990) and Bugs thinks back to when they first met as little babies.

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Future | Elmer Fudd | 2000s | Young Versions Of Characters

Cast

Mel Blanc

...

Bugs Bunny / God (voice)

Runtime:

8 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Although angels and devils are common sights, this is one of the few, if not only, times God has made an appearance (albeit off-screen) in a Warner Bros. cartoon.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Bugs digs "his" grave, he shovels the dirt to his left, but in the next shot, as he buries Elmer he shovels from the right.

Quotes:

[First lines]
Elmer J. Fudd: [Crying] I twied and I twied, but I just simply can't seem to catch that old wabbit!
God: If at first you don't succeed, Elmer, try, try again.
Elmer J. Fudd: Why twy again? Think of how wong it would take?
God: Come, Elmer. Let us look far into the future.
Elmer J. Fudd: Will I eventually catch the wabbit?
God: Come, Elmer. Come past the years 1950, 1960, past 1970, '80, '90... When you hear the sound of the gong, it will be exactly 2000 A.D.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Behind the Tunes: Man from Wackyland - The Art of Bob Clampett (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet

When Clampett was good, he was vewy vewy good.

I have gone on record as not being the biggest fan of Robert Clampett. He repeats a lot of corny gags that didn't really bear repeating, some of his animation had the tendency to become too rubbery, but what I most objected to was actually not a failing of his own, but a sort of tribute, as dozens of animators that followed trying to emulate him most often accentuated his bad traits at the expense of his genius. Ah, that's the rub! How can you copy genius?

This cartoon was one of those masterpieces Clampett created while he was at Warner Bros. We've all seen a hundred cartoons (my exaggerate - he he) where they show characters in infancy to old age, but never has anyone captured the brilliance of this one. As Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd go to the year 2000, the chase is on with a space age type rifle, and when we see them as infants, the chase was on even then with a popgun.

Like I said, I'm not a huge fan of Clampett's, but all animation lovers have to be indebted to those works he directed at WB that even today (especially today) are high water marks for anyone in this medium.