Falling Hare

Plot synopsis:
This cartoon opens with the title credits over the strains of “Down by the Riverside”, then into an extended series of establishing shots of an Army Air Force base, to the brassy strains of “We’re in to Win” (a World War II song also sung by Daffy Duck in Scrap Happy Daffy two months before). The sign at the base reads "U.S. Army Air Field", and below that is shown the location, the number of planes and number of men, all marked "Censored" as a reference to military secrecy. Beneath those categories, the sign reads "What men think of top sergeant", which is shown with a large white-on-black "CENSORED!!", as the language implied would not pass scrutiny by the Hays Office.
Bugs is found reclining on a piece of ordnance next to a bomber plane, idly reading Victory Thru Hare Power (a spoof of the 1942 book) and laughing uproariously at the book’s claim that gremlins wreck American planes through "di-a-bo-lick-al saa-boh-tay-jee." He immediately encounters one of the creatures, who is experimentally striking the unfused nose of a bomb Bugs is sitting on with an oversized mallet to the tune of “I've Been Working on the Railroad”. Bugs casually asks the gremlin what he’s doing. The gremlin replies that blockbuster bombs like the one in question do not detonate unless they’re struck with perfect precision. Noticing the gremlin’s lack of success, Bugs offers to help him. But after taking the mallet and raising it in preparation to strike the bomb, Bugs suddenly comes to his senses and refrains from following through milliseconds from striking it, screaming "WHAT AM I DOING?!" as he does so. He then ponders if the creature in question was a gremlin. The gremlin replies as loud as he could: "It ain’t Vendell Villkie!"
The Gremlin ties up Bugs’s ears leaving him confused and hits his foot with a monkey wrench, further taunting Bugs by "laughing" the first seven notes of Yankee Doodle once aboard the aircraft. Bugs recovers and gives chase, repeatedly getting slighted by the gremlin, which includes repeated strikes with a monkey wrench and the "laughed" musical taunt. Bugs chases the gremlin inside a bomber, and finds himself locked from the outside. Then the gremlin takes the plane to the air, unbeknownst to Bugs. Bugs manages to burst out of the plane’s exit door, narrowly escaping plunging to his death when he realizes the plane is airborne. He manages to get back in, only to slide right out the other door due to strategically placed banana skins; when the gremlin opens the door again, he finds Bugs (who has apparently and humorously aged several years through sheer terror) clinging to it with his heart beating "4F" (Army code for drastically limiting medical condition, hospitalization required). His cat-and-mouse game with the gremlin continues, until Bugs realizes that the Gremlin is flying the plane toward a pair of skyscrapers. Bugs rushes into the cockpit, takes control of the airplane, rolls it vertically and flies through an extremely narrow slot between the towers to avoid what seemed to be an inevitable impact.
The plane goes into a tailspin, its wings ripping off during its descent, with only the fuselage remaining, making Bugs both airsick and terrified. However, the plane sputters to a halt, half a short distance above the ground and hanging in mid-air, defying gravity. Both Bugs and the Gremlin then casually address the audience: the gremlin apologizes for the plane's fuel depletion, while Bugs points to a wartime gas rationing sticker on the plane's windshield and remarks: "Yeah. You know how it is with these A cards!"

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
Mega Cartoon Short.
Falling Hare is my favorite cartoon short ever.
What I like the most about it is that Bugs Bunny "gets it good"!
It seems like Bugs gets his way in every one of his cartoons (except for when he races with Cecil the Turtle)!
Watching Falling Hare, however, is way better than watching Bugs lose to Cecil in the races.
In Falling Hare the Gremlin really (and I mean really) lets Bugs have it.
Another reason why I think this animated short is so cool is because it is "fast paced!" Almost all of it takes place in an Airplane!
I could watch this over and over and never get bored of it.
If you are tired of watching Bugs win all of his battles (which I am) I highly recommend that you record Falling Hare..
other gremlins, another Bugs.
Whereas Joe Dante's holiday classic "Gremlins" portrayed its title characters as evil, conniving little monsters, "Falling Hare" shows a (slightly) different side.
In this case, Bugs Bunny is reading "Victory Thru Hare Power" when he reads about gremlins sabotaging the airplanes.
But when a gremlin starts sabotaging the airplane that Bugs is working on, Bugs suddenly changes.
Usually the cool-headed, acerbic type, he becomes an impetuous, accident-prone twerp.
And the gremlin knows exactly how to use Bugs's weaknesses against him.
I guess that you could say that the little guy becomes Bugs, while Bugs becomes most of the other Looney Tunes.So, while the gremlin here is still conniving, he's clearly got his goals laid out.
It's a pretty neat cartoon.
A lot of fun to watch and a great history lesson.
This is a true time capsule of a cartoon in that it gives wonderful insight into what life was like for Americans back in 1943.
There are so many wonderful references to gremlins, Wendell Wilkie and gasoline ration cards that the cartoon could be used as a tool to teach kids about WWII.
Fortunately, while it is jam-packed full of such interesting tidbits, it also is pretty funny and well worth watching over 60 years later!
The film does seem a bit strange, though, as for once, Bugs Bunny is NOT the wise-cracking or annoying jerk he was in most films made of him during the war.
Instead, he is the unlikely voice of reason that tries to thwart the evil but mischievous intentions of the gremlin!
The short abounds with cute jokes, sight gags and a very original script (the only similar cartoon I can think about is GREMLINS FROM THE KREMLIN--another Looney Toons cartoon, but one where a huge swarm of gremlins are working for the allies to destroy the Nazi menace)..
Falling Hare: Inner workings of a Cwazy Wabbit.
Mr. Freeling, Producer of the Bugs cartoons in their most classic era, believed there were two basic dramatic types: Identification Characters (Porky, Elmer Fudd ) and Aspiration Characters ( Bugs, and...Yosemite Sam?
Bugs as we know is a supernatural Being, with powers ordinary rabbits or humans do not have.
In this movie he encounters another such Being, the Gremlin.
But the Gremlin is even more Elemental than Bugs---he's a sort of Primordial Force of Destruction.Its not that he hates anybody; its his job, and he does it well, like James Bond.
Right at the outset of the Bug/Gremlin collaboration the little guy says that you have to hit Blockbusters just right; Bugs, with his typical streetwise sangfroid says, "Yeah?" but instead of the usual blowing off of the other character, the Gremlin even more authoritatively replies "YEAH!" and makes it stick.
From then on, the Gremlin is in charge.For another Bugs-Tables-Turned storyline, see the one with the Lion ( married to Hortense ): "I gotta go Mr. Bunny; sorry I can't stay and Kill you."But for me the most important and intriguing detail of the cartoon is during the sequence with the Blockbuster Bomb, when the music distinctly plays the phrase "I'll Take Manhattan." This was 1943, remember, and the Manhattan Project was top secret..
I love Looney Tunes, and this is one of my favourites.
It has a great and original story.
The animation and settings look great, and don't look dated.
The gags are wonderfully timed and ones not to forget in a hurry.
Bugs' mental breakdown is one of the best in cartoon history, and Bugs himself while different from his normal persona is just great.
The gremlin is for me one of the most memorable foils/support characters in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, he looks cute but his actions suggest otherwise.
And not to mention, this is one of those cartoons where it does a very good job at keeping everything in sync, just hear how the gremlin strikes the bomb with his hammer in tune to the music, hearing that you'll probably agree that bit especially is very cleverly done.
All in all, a classic.
All in all, a classic.
10/10 Bethany Cox. A bit dated now, but entertaining nonetheless.
This short has a lot of topical humor, which is the case with most of the work produced anyway, but this is topical to World War II and to many people alive today, that seems like eons ago.
References to Wendell Wilkie and "A" cards and the like will sail by many in the audience, but sight gags and the overall wackiness will be enjoyable enough.
Check out the title of the book Bugs is reading at the start-it's a great gag!
Well worth watching.
This Certainly Was Not The Bugs Bunny We Know.
Here's another World War II cartoon, this one beginning at a U.S. Army airfield.
The first thing I appreciated was the tremendous artwork regarding those war planes.
Part of that, of course, is due to the tremendous restoration job they have done on these Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs.Bugs in nearby, reading "Victory Through Hare Power." Bugs is laughing at what he's reading.
He clues us in with, "Get this folks: it says 'a constant menace to pilots is are the gremlins who wreck planes with their diabolical sabotage.' Ha ha, what a joke.
Gremlins - what a fairy tale.
ha ha."It doesn't take a genius to figure out that in the next scene, he's going to see one of these little creatures.
He does, but then surprises me by not saying the customary "What's up, doc?" but "What's all the hubbub, bub?"Actually, this wasn't nearly as much fun as the normal Bugs Bunny cartoon because, as his fans know, Bugs is very, very smart guy.
This Bugs Bunny is a dope and the little Gremlin makes a fool of him constantly.
In this cartoon, Bugs literally turns momentarily into a "jackass," and that pretty much describes him in those one - certainly not the Bugs we know.Overall: disappointing..
A Different Kind of Bugs Short.
Falling Hare (1943)*** (out of 4)World War II produced short has Bugs Bunny reading a book warning that there are "gremlins" out there who want to harm America.
Bugs laughs this idea off but before long he's being beaten and abused by a gremlin.FALLING HARE isn't what I'd consider a "classic" short but it's certainly rather unique.
Many of the famous cartoon characters from this era were put into wartime shorts where they battled Germany, Hitler and various others.
This film is certainly unique since we get to see Bugs taking the abuse that he normally hands out to other people.
Obviously there's a "warning" message in the film and it comes across very well.
Overall this is a fun short that has some great animation and a rather good storyline.
The film is missing the laughs that you get with a normal Bugs short but it's still very much worth watching..
Fun Bugs Bunny short with a wartime backdrop.
During WWII, unexplained accidents and mechanical problems aboard aircraft were jokingly blamed on mischievous creatures called gremlins (which were inspiration for the creatures in the Joe Dante movie we all know and love).
In this cartoon, Bugs doesn't believe that gremlins are causing sabotage to airplanes until he catches one in the act.
What follows are a series of funny gags as Bugs tussles with the gremlin on land and in the air.
The music and voicework are great.
Love the animation, especially the airplane crash dive scene.
The gremlin actually gets the best of Bugs throughout the short, something that you didn't see very often..
Good gags but not a normal Bugs.
Bugs Bunny is relaxing on an A-Bomb reading a magazine and laughing at stories of gremlins interfering in the workings of aircraft.
However when one such gremlin starts to mess around with the aircraft and equipment on the base, Bugs overcomes his disbelief to try and stop it.Taking a good idea this film pitches Bugs against a gremlin to reasonable good effect to create an enjoyable, if far from great, cartoon.
The gags are pretty good but parts of it do drag on a little too long without being funny  the final punch-line is weak but yet seems to be built up to for at least a minute!
Despite this it still worked quite well, although many of the topical (at the time) references went over my head  made me think what watching Shrek will be like in about 50 years time!
The other big weakness it did have was in it's lead character  which was a surprising thing to me.
I love Bugs and enjoy seeing him twist things on those who would get him!
I like to se the many ways he gets the upper hand.
However here he was very much the lesser character in terms of scoring points.
He is shown to be easily tricked and fooled and, at times, out of his depth  in fact in the plane he is portrayed as terrified for the majority of the time.
This didn't ruin the cartoon for me as it was still funny, but this was not the usual character I expect to see when I watch Bugs Bunny.Overall this was an enjoyable cartoon despite it's weaknesses.
Fans of Bugs (as I am) may struggle to enjoy it simply because our hero is painted as some sort of coward and weakling  a far cry from his usual wise-ass self!.
Not my favourite episode, but this had its good parts..
One of many Looney Tunes cartoons set and made during the Second World War, "Falling Hare" does not show any fighting (unlike in some shorts at the time) but has many references to what was happening at the time.
Looney Tunes was at first geared for adults, so cartoons that had references to the time at hand were not disapproved as they usually are today (of course, children would have watched this as well).
I like this short because of the entertaining, quite early Bugs Bunny (he still had a different voice), the animation and some of the gags.
I find the gremlin quite unnecessary, why the makers of this short wanted to include him I do not know, but without the gremlin the jokes would be geared in a much different way.
The humour is slightly similar to that of humour today, but with a more old fashioned note.
The episode starts with Bugs reading a book about creatures called gremlins.
He thinks they are definitely not real, until he sees one trying to make a bomb explode.
Quite a few troubles follow.I recommend this to anyone who likes every Bugs Bunny episode and for people who are interested in watching early episodes.
Enjoy "Falling Hare"!
:-)NOTE: For anyone who watches this cartoon, be aware that Bugs Bunny is a bit (to put it plainly) thick in this short.
This has already been a slight disappointment to Bugs Bunny fans, but as long as you know it, it should be OK.
"Diabolical sabotage".
"Falling Hare", directed by the wacky Robert Clampett, is a Bugs Bunny cartoon with plenty of wildly funny sight gags as Bugs chases an airplane-wrecking gremlin around a U.S. Army air field.
HOWEVER, when I first saw this cartoon during my high school days (late '80s/early '90s), I found it highly disturbing.
Because I didn't like to see Bugs Bunny be the fall guy.
But this was characteristic of Clampett; he didn't follow all the rules.
Bugs Bunny didn't ALWAYS win.Here are my favorite moments from "Falling Hare".
Composer Raymond Scott's familiar "Powerhouse" can be heard as Bugs chases the gremlin directly into the airplane cabin.
Then we hear the familiar strains of "Ochi Tchornya" as Bugs tries to break down the cabin door, after which we hear a familiar jocular melody as Bugs turns into a jackass.
After Bugs saves the plane from crashing into a cavalcade of tall buildings, he becomes out of breath as the gremlin fans him.As I mentioned earlier, I was initially very disturbed by "Falling Hare", but I eventually got over it.
And by the way, the opening shots of the massive air field, accompanied by some wonderfully patriotic music, must have done quite a bit to boost morale for our brave soldiers on combat duty during World War II.
And the drawing of Bugs as he reads "Victory Thru Hare Power" is probably the best drawing of the wascawwy wabbit I've ever seen!.
Bugs as victim makes for a classic and unforgettable cartoon.
Bob Clampett's 'Falling Hare' is one of the greatest Bugs Bunny cartoons ever made.
Part of the fascinating sub-genre of "Bugs as loser" cartoons, 'Falling Hare' sees Bugs being terrorised by a little gremlin for seven minutes.
Far from a gentle needling, the gremlin puts Bugs in genuine fear of his life as he is imprisoned on a plummeting aircraft.
Deceptively cute, the gremlin's nonchalance makes his psychopathic intentions all the more disturbing.
He chuckles to the tune of 'Yankee Doodle' as he sets about destroying a plane in mid-flight and attempting to dispense of Bugs by having him plummet to his death.
Though the gremlin is a fascinating character, 'Falling Hare' is really Bugs's show as he is driven to complete hysteria as he battles for his life.
He goes through fits of screaming desperation, Technicolor nausea and complete collapse.
It's one of the great cartoon breakdowns of all time (for another great animated mental collapse, see Friz Freleng's 'Canned Feud') and the fact that it is the usually cocky and self-assured Bugs going through it makes 'Falling Hare' even more remarkable.
The sight of Bugs screaming at the window of a plane as it goes down has stuck with me ever since the first time I saw 'Falling Hare'.
For anyone who makes the claim that Bugs must always be the winner, 'Falling Hare' is a must-see.
Falling Hare places Bugs Bunny in a unique position for him.
Just watched this Leon Schlesinger cartoon again on the Thank Your Lucky Stars DVD.
When I first watched this on "Buckskin Bill's Storyland" on weekday mornings on WAFB-TV in the late '70s as a child, I did not like it because of Bugs' becoming the fall guy instead of a winner.
However, as I grew up and became aware of the World War II era and the culture of the time, I appreciated the way many icons of the time dealt with whatever fears they had.
And so it's now very enjoyable to see the wabbit have his outs with the gremlin who keeps tricking him in various ways throughout.
And it's always a special treat whenever Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" plays as part of Carl Stalling's score.
And to paraphrase various cartoon characters, ain't director Bob Clampett a stinker?
So on that note, Falling Hare comes highly recommended..
There's a version of this Looney Tune .
. titled FALLING HARE STORYBOARD REEL, which can be found on Disc 4 of Volume 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.
The extremely crude binary-colored artwork is on static display here for maybe two-thirds of a nine-minute running time, meaning viewers see about one-third of the final cartoon (though they hear all of it).
This narrow focus makes one realize how arcane Great Granddaddy's World War Two Era has become.
For instance, when Bugs crawls back into the plane the second time, his heartbeat is labeled "4F." This was NOT some Fascist version of the 4H Club.
WWII was fought mostly by draftees, led by the physically fit "1A" Class.
At the end, Bugs Bunny refers to his "A Card." This was part of the War-Time civilian gas rationing program (though if John Wayne HAD accepted his movie stunt man-deserving "1A" draft board rating, he'd have smuggled a Civilian Ration Card overseas to keep his jeep 200 miles from the Front Lines).
And, of course, the German Gremlin supports Wayne's Pachyderm Party choice for U.S. President, "Vendell Villke," a.k.a. that Dead Man Walking, Wendell Willke..
One of the earlier film treatments of gremlins .
"Diabolical saboteurs" in times of War, gremlins are as likely as not to undertake suicide attacks.
They are capable of launching pilot-less aircraft, and steering these military drones toward civilian skyscrapers.
In Real Life, gremlins apparently succeeded in ramming a WWII-era bomber through an upper floor of New York City's Empire State Building a few years after FALLING HARE's warning came out.
To keep up morale, such acts are often blamed upon mechanical failure or the weather, as was the case here.
In other episodes, pilots themselves have been deemed to suffer from Gremlin Possession, with the ocean-diving Egypt Air pilot and the more recent German Alps "suicide" jockey just two of many examples.
Statistically, air travel is said to remain the second safest form of transportation, after elevators.
But if you were on "the lift" in the World Trade Center the morning of Sept.
11, 2001, it wasn't so safe, as up to 500 folks "going up" never made it.
Sounds a lot like the work of "diabolical saboteurs," doesn't it?