Hold the Lion, Please

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Hold the Lion, Please
Hold the Lion Please title card restored.jpg
Restored title card of Hold the Lion, Please.
Directed bySupervision:
Charles M. Jones
Story by Ted Pierce
Produced by Leon Schlesinger
Starring Mel Blanc
Tedd Pierce
Robert C. Bruce (all uncredited)
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • June 6, 1942 (1942-06-06)
Running time
8:00
LanguageEnglish

Hold the Lion, Please is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon, first released on June 6, 1942, [1] [2] distributed by the Vitaphone Corporation and Warner Bros. This is the first Bugs Bunny cartoon where the title does not refer "hare", "bunny", or "rabbit", the character's tenth appearance overall, and Chuck Jones' 39th Warner Bros. cartoon. Tedd Pierce handled writing duties, while Carl W. Stalling composed the music.

Contents

The title is a play on the expression used by switchboard operators of the day, asking the caller to "hold the line." The Three Stooges made a short with a similar title, Hold That Lion , which also featured a renegade lion.

Synopsis

The short focuses on a lion named Leo who is trying to prove he is still 'King of the Jungle' by hunting a rabbit, since another animal bet he could not even hunt a rabbit. He uses a carrot to lure Bugs Bunny, who accepts, eating the carrot on Leo's paw. Upon Bugs Bunny realizing he is facing a lion who is hunting for rabbits, he runs away in fear. While Bugs Bunny is gardening for carrots, Leo sneaks up on him, then a chase ensues. Leo eventually gets Bugs under one paw while raising the other one, claws extended, and looking extremely angry, as Bugs looks frightened.

Just then, Leo's wife, Hortense, calls him on Bugs' phone, and Leo immediately goes from ferocious to meek. After a brief conversation, Leo tells her that he is on his way home. After hanging up the phone, Leo apologizes to Bugs about not being able to "stay and kill him," and dashes home to Hortense. Initially, Bugs makes fun of Leo for his submissiveness to his wife, but it is quickly shown that Bugs is just as submissive to his own wife, Mrs. Bugs Bunny (according to a sign behind her), whose presence sends her husband sheepishly slinking back into their rabbit hole. Mrs. Bunny then asks the viewer, "Who wears the pants in this family?" before lifting up her skirt to show her literally wearing a pair of pants.

Cast

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References

  1. ↑ Webb, Graham (2011). The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences 1900-1999 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 163. ISBN   978-0-7864-4985-9.
  2. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice And Magic: A History Of American Animated Cartoons (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Plume. p. 426. ISBN   0-452-25993-2.
Preceded by Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1942		Succeeded by
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