The Old Grey Hare (1944)

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:

Revealing mistakes: As Old Bugs runs away from Elmer, a futuristic building in the background keeps disappearing repeatedly just as it reaches the edge of the frame.

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:

The Old Grey Mare

Far, Far Off In The Future - Gulp....That's Us!

Wow, this was a strange feeling to watch this cartoon near the end of 2007. The animated short was made almost 65 years ago and deals with Elmer Fudd being transported by God to the future: the year 2000, which probably seemed far, far away to audiences in the theater back then. Now, here we are almost another decade later.

Anyway, Elmer suddenly finds himself "all winkled" and "gway," still in his hunter's outfit and sitting under a tree. He sees a newspaper headline that claims "Smellovision Replaces Television." Hey, I've seen today's programs and that prediction has pretty much come true!

Even better is when Bugs pops out of his hole nearby and has a white goatee - hey, he's in style!!! Who knew back in 1944? "What's up, prune face?" he asks old-man Elmer.

Bugs may need a cane to walk with his bad hip and limp, but he's still a wise-guy. Mel Blanc voicing Bugs as an old man is a hoot, too.

Time is reversed in the second half of the cartoon when Bugs - supposedly on his death bed - relives old times with Elmer, beginning when the latter was baby crawling along the ground with diapers and a popgun, looking for "Bugsy."