The Million Hare

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The Million Hare
The Million Hare title card.png
Title card
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story byDave Detiege [1]
Produced by David H. DePatie
Starring Mel Blanc
(all voices) [1]
Edited by Treg Brown
Music by Bill Lava
Animation by Warren Batchelder
Ted Bonnicksen
George Grandpre
Keith Darling
Special Effects:
Harry Love [1]
Layouts by Robert Gribbroek
Backgrounds byRobert Gribbroek
Color process Technicolor [1]
Production
company
Distributed by Vitaphone [1]
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
April 6, 1963 (USA)
Running time
6:16
LanguageEnglish

The Million Hare is a 1963 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short directed by Robert McKimson. [2] The short was released on April 6, 1963, and stars Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. [3] In this film, Bugs and Daffy compete in a game show.

Contents

Clips from The Million Hare were used, with color commentary by John Madden and Pat Summerall, as part of the fourth quarter of the 2001 Cartoon Network special The Big Game XXIX: Bugs vs. Daffy.

Plot

During the opening titles, the song "With Plenty of Money and You" is heard. The camera pans down a stack of TV antennas and enters the underground home of Bugs Bunny, who is being visited by Daffy Duck. As they watch a TV game show called "Beat Your Buddy", an announcer says he will draw two names from the "buddy barrel", and that the first name to reach the television studio will win "a million bucks." He then draws Bugs and Daffy's names.

Bugs and Daffy race each other to the studio. Daffy finds himself continuously hindered, usually due to his own impatience. For example, he drives a moped onto a bridge under construction and winds up in the water below, forgetting that he can fly and swim.

Bugs, keeping a steady, simple pace, reaches the studio's building first. Daffy dons a jet pack, hoping to beat Bugs to the top floor. He flies to the top floor, grabs Bugs, and zooms out the other end of the building. They land in an antique glass shop and are taken to a hospital. Even though they are in bandages, with Daffy on crutches and Bugs in a wheelchair (yelling "giddy up, mule, ya, ya!"), they continue the race and Daffy crosses the finish line first.

Daffy discovers that the "million bucks" is actually a "Million BOX"—a huge box filled with one million little boxes. Considering the prize worthless, Daffy gives it to Bugs. The announcer then reveals that "inside each of the one million little boxes, there is a crisp, brand-new $1 bill." "With Plenty of Money and You" plays again, and the announcer asks Daffy if he wants to say something to the audience. Daffy's head slowly changes into that of a donkey (a "jackass"), and he starts braying.

Home media

"The Million Hare" is available on the Looney Tunes Superstars and The Best of Bugs Bunny DVD’s. However, both releases have the short cropped to widescreen format. This short can also be found in its original aspect ratio on the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray set.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Webb, Graham (2011). The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features and Sequences (1900-1999) (Second ed.). McFarland & Company Inc. p. 229. ISBN   978-0-7864-4985-9.
  2. Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 342. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  3. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
Preceded by Bugs Bunny Cartoons
1963
Succeeded by