Herr Meets Hare

Plot synopsis:
The cartoon opens with a faux Walter Winchell-like voice discussing the end of the Third Reich, saying that "Germany has been battered into a fare-thee-well", and musing about where the high leadership, and "Fatso" Göring in particular has gone. The scene soon cuts to the Black Forest, where Hermann Göring—in bemedalled lederhosen—is "soothing his jangled nerves" marching while on a hunt. Nearby, a familiar furrow in the ground appears, with a hole at the end.
Bugs pops out of the hole, and sees no sign of the Black Forest on his map (variants of this scene would be used in later cartoons as the lead-in to the joke that Bugs, while tunneling underground, did indeed turn wrong somewhere in New Mexico, usually by not taking a left turn at Albuquerque. This cartoon is the first time Bugs says the popular catchphrase: "I KNEW I ‘shoulda’ (should have) made ‘dat’ (that) left ‘toin’ (turn) at ‘Albakoikie’ (Albuquerque)"). Bugs asks Göring about the directions to Las Vegas, oblivious to his location. Göring is almost tricked into going to Las Vegas, but then quickly realizes, "Las Veegas? Why, there is no Las Veegas in Germany!" before he fires his musket at Bugs. Genuinely alarmed by his mistaken destination ("Joimany [Germany]?! Yipe!"), Bugs hightails it. Göring chases after the rabbit, trying to suck Bugs out of his hole with his musket as a plunger.
A few chase gags go by in which Bugs insults the integrity of Göring’s medals by bending one with his teeth. Suckered into bending one himself, Göring declares them ersatz and mumbles all sorts of anti-Hitler sentiments ("Oh, do I hate that Hitler swine, that phony führer, that…"). Bugs masquerades as Adolf Hitler using a bit of mud, and faces the surprised Göring. Göring disappears off-screen in a flash to change into his Nazi uniform adorned with all sorts of medals. After the usual Nazi salute, Bugs berates him in faux German as he rips all of the medals off Göring's uniform (Klooten-flooten-blooten-pooten-meirooten-tooten!), quickly followed by his belt. Göring "kisses" in reverence, saying, "Look! I kiss mein Führer’s hand. I kiss right in der Führer’s face!" (the joke being a wildly popular song at the time of the same name composed by Oliver Wallace, and performed by Spike Jones's band, and the subject of a rival short animated subject from the Walt Disney Company). Afterwards, Göring exclaims "Oh, I’m a bad flooten-boy-glooten!", a variant on Warner Bros. cartoons' frequently-cited Lou Costello-type catchphrase: "I'm a bad boy!".
Later, when the jig is up, Bugs rides in on a white horse, dressed as Brünhilde—from Wagnerian opera, to the tune of the "Pilgrims’ Chorus" from Tannhäuser). Entranced, Göring responds by dressing up as Siegfried. The two dance, before Bugs once again makes a fool of Göring and escapes (a scene later re-used in What's Opera, Doc?, co-starring Elmer Fudd).
Eventually, Göring gets a hawk to capture Bugs. Bugs, standing next to Göring asks, "Do you think he’ll catch me, doc?" to which Göring replies, "Do I think he'll catch you? Why, he’ll have you back here before you can say Schicklgruber." (Schicklgruber was the original surname of Hitler’s father Alois.) Bugs runs off and jumps into his rabbit hole, but as he falls down the hole, the hawk, which imitates Jimmy Durante, catches Bugs in a bag, capturing him. Göring brings the bag to Hitler, who plays solitaire in front of a map depicting the decline of Fortress Europe. Göring identifies the captive in the bag as "Bugsenheimer Bunny" (as opposed to "Weisenheimer", or "wise guy") to der Führer. As Herr Hitler talks of the great rewards he’s going to pile upon Göring for this act of heroism, he peeks inside the bag and is shocked ("Ach!! Himmel!"). Göring goes and looks inside the bag as well, to be shocked as well (again, "Ach!! Himmel!"). Out of the bag comes Bugs dressed as Joseph Stalin—complete with an enormous pipe and a large moustache—staring back at them. As the cartoon ends, Bugs glances back at the camera and asks, in a Russian accent: "Does your tobacco taste different lately?", citing an ad slogan of that era for the Sir Walter Raleigh pipe tobacco manufactured by the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
The Great Dictate-Hare.
In one of the many WWII-themed Looney Tunes cartoons, Bugs Bunny misses that left turn at Albuquerque for the first time and ends up in the Black Forest, where he meets Nazi official Hermann Goering.
One scene in particular in "Herr Meets Hare" reminded me of Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator", where Bugs starts ripping Goering's clothes off.
But probably the most fascinating scene is when Bugs rides in dressed as Brunhilde, as he later would in his all-time masterpiece "What's Opera, Doc?".
As for the end...well, I assumed that Bugs was going to pull something, but I didn't predict that one!
I just always love how they poke fun at the Nazis, in this case making Hitler say "Heil me!".
Bugs Bunny is just the greatest..
Another WW-II Gem. The first time I saw this cartoon was on the same Internet site where I found "Tokio Jokio", and let me tell ya: Aside from Bugs Bunny disguising himself as Hitler and Stalin, this cartoon is tame enough even for cable (and it was.
A CN special on World War Two cartoons managed to show this uncut).
Besides, today's kids wouldn't get the jokes, so why are the PC Police making older cartoon viewers suffer by banning this and other WW-II cartoons from all media?BTW: The scene where Bugs Bunny dresses as the Brunhilde and dances with Hermann Goerring was later re-used in the magnificently done, Chuck Jones-directed, "What's Opera, Doc", only Goerring was replaced with Elmer Fudd dressed in Viking garb, there was a duet called "Return My Love" (that ALWAYS made me cry everytime I watch it.
Why, don't ask?) that was sung by Elmer and Bugs, the scene was longer than it was in "Herr Meets Hare", and the setting was excellently done by the late, great Maurice Noble (1910-2001)..
Goimany?
Yipes!.
A lost Bugs Bunny hits the surface in Germany's Schwarzwald where he meets up with Goering (Eh Doc, which way to Las Vegas?).
Goering tries to catch him with his bird as this Bugs short is taking all the well-known steps: Bugs dresses up a couple of times (including one time as Hitler), and Goering is foolish enough to fall for it.
Then Goering finally catches Bugs and takes him to Hitler.
This is such a funny scene!
As Goering goes in he shouts 'Heil Hitler'.
Hitler doesn't even look up from his solitaire card-game (!) and says: 'Heil Me'.
That really cracked me up.A funny propaganda short, this one: 7/10..
Not one you're likely to ever see.....
This cartoon features Bugs Bunny tunneling and accidentally ending up in Germany during WWII.
And, of all the people to meet, he sees a lederhosen-clad Herman Goering frolicking about and soon the Nazi is determined to kill the American schwein.
Later, Hitler joins in on the fun as well!
"Herr Meets Hare" is a pretty good Bugs Bunny cartoon.
However, you are very unlikely to see it unless you look for it.
That's because the cartoon is very dated, as WWII propaganda films are practically ancient history.
Plus, we are in a VERY politically correct time, and the notion of a cartoon featuring Hitler as well as Bugs dressing up like Hitler is something incompatible with current mindsets.
Now I am NOT pro-Hitler or anything like that--just wondering why anyone is against showing Bugs kicking Hitler and Goering's butts!
Besides, this IS a part of our history--why not embrace this sort of propaganda film, as it's all in good fun.If you do want to see the film, you can currently download it for free at archive.org.
Just don't hold your breath waiting to see it on television!.
Looney Tunes meets World War II.
Not one of my favourite Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny cartoons by all means, with some of the material being of the time (also prefer cartoons with a wittier touch rather than a propaganda touch) and younger audiences may find some of 'Herr Meets Hare' goes over their heads or a touch heavy-handed.That's understandable, because the references that 'Herr Meets Hare' has are less than subtle.
Again though this is part of the fun (and to be honest the people that are referenced are as far from subtle as one can possibly get), and the cartoon did have balls for doing this when World War II was still very much happening, with the Nazis still terrorising innocent people and Hitler still in power.'Herr Meets Hare' has beautiful animation, colourful, meticulously detailed, rich and very smooth and fluid.
It's lusciously and energetically scored too, and it was great to hear the Venusberg theme from Wagner's 'Tannhauser', pre-dating one of the greatest cartoons in history 'What's Opera Doc' which used the same music to iconic and even more memorable effect.
The music not only adds so much but enhances the action too.While not as hysterical as other Looney Tunes efforts, the dialogue is fresh and witty and the gags are no less than very funny, the best bits hilarious.
The vulture and the scene with Hitler do raise some quite big laughs, but even funnier are Bugs' brilliant if obvious disguises (always amazing that his opponents nearly always fall for them so easily), especially the Hitler and Brunnhilde guises.Bugs leads the cartoon brilliantly, such a charismatic and funny character, and Goehring is a very worthy and effective opponent.
Mel Blanc does impeccably as ever with the vocals, is there anything this enviously talented man cannot do?
All in all, very entertaining cartoon if not one of my favourites.
8/10 Bethany Cox. Herr Meets Hare depicts Bugs Bunny hilariously poking holes at German arrogance of Hitler and Goering.
Just rewatched this Bugs Bunny cartoon on the Hollywood Canteen DVD after first seeing this on a local children's show called "Buckskin Bill's Storyland" back in the late '70s.
Back then, I didn't know about Hermann Goering or Stalin but I did know about Adolf Hitler and about how evil Germany was under him so it was very hilarious whenever Bugs disguises himself as Der Fuehrer and deflates Goering's ego by taking medals off of him causing him to lose his pants!
A couple of notable firsts in a Bugs Bunny cartoon happened here: He says his first "I knew I took the wrong turn at Albuquerque" when he finds himself at the Black Forest and does his initial Brunhilda disguise to the music of Wagner 12 years before the iconic What's Opera, Doc?
This short is a bit politically incorrect by today's standards and dates a little badly but you might get a little pleasure out of seeing the American rabbit punch holes at German stereotypes, American vernacular, and Russian accents.
So on that note, Herr Meets Hare is worth a look..
That Odd Turn at Albuquerque Goes to the Black Forest.
This was the last of the three World War II cartoons shown on the TURNER CLASSIC FILM "Cartoon Alley" show yesterday.
This one is of interest because of it's connections with the future Bugs Bunny cartoons.
First off, this is the cartoon where Bugs is driven off course in his underground travels by making the wrong turn at Albuquerque, New Mexico for the first time.
Secondly, in his confronting Goering (a fat, blond figure in lederhausen, who vaguely resembles horrible Herman), Bugs vanishes for a few seconds, and reappears (to the strains of the "Venusburg" music of Wagner's TANNHAUSER) as Brunhilde on a fat German horse.
This, as mentioned elsewhere here, is the original for the classic scenes between Bugs and Elmer Fudd in WHAT'S OPERA DOC?
But there is a trifle more here which I don't believe is in the later cartoon.
Goering sees "the beautiful" Brunhilde, runs off and returns in Wagnerian - Middle Ages costume, complete with Viking helmet - and as he looks at Brunhilde again the horns on the hat take on an "erection" appearance that is unexpected.The cartoon is set on Goering's estate in the Black Forest, where the second man of the Reich hunted and acted like his own idea of what a "Rennaisance" man was like.
In fact, Goering did more than shoot game on his estate - he shot up.
Goering became a total drug addict, and his system was not cleaned out until the Allies put him under medical control at Nuremburg.
Ironically, in real life, when that happened his brain power actually resurrected itself, and he was able to present a formidable presence at the war crime trial.This aspect is not in the cartoon (it was barely known in early 1945).
Instead we see Goering relaxing at his estate, which Bugs accidentally invades.
Bugs is able to momentarily trick Goering into believing he is Hitler (and into confessing that Hitler annoys Goering - which leads Bugs as Hitler in stripping Goering of all his decorations).
But eventually Bugs is captured by Goering's pet vulture, and Herman takes Bugs in a bag to Berlin to give to Der Fuhrer.
Hitler is playing solitaire at his desk, and barely seems to hear Goering, but stops his game, and starts talking like a pitchman (saying "Tell you what I'm going to do!").
He gives another medal to Goering, and then opens the bag, screams in fear, and flees.
Goering follows suit, and does the same.
Then we see Bugs rise out of the bag, made up to look like Joseph Stalin - which explains why this cartoon did not get shown on television in the 1950s and 1960s when I first got into Bugs Bunny cartoons..
Bugs takes his first wrong turn in Albuquerque.
This short opens with Bugs emerging from a hole in the Black Forest; after consulting a map he comments that he 'knew he should have taken the left turn in Albuquerque' as a fat Hermann Göring goes by.
Bugs asks him the way to Las Vegas; and he says there is no Las Vegas in Germany; Bugs appears genuinely shocked but takes it in his stride.
Bugs goes in to torment him by suggesting that his medals are fake, prompting Göring to start cursing Hitler...
just as Bugs disguises himself as Hitler!
There are more gags that I won't spoilt...
one of which was so good that it was recycled to use in 'What's Opera Doc'; possible the best Bugs Bunny short made.This wartime short was pretty funny and if anybody deserves to be laughed at it is the Nazis.
While some fun is had at the expense of German stereotypes I can't see too many modern Germans being too offended by anything here.
The jokes were good; I particularly liked the way Göring tried to capture Bugs using a vulture.
It was unusual to see Bugs get caught although Bugs being Bugs he turned this to his advantage and got to have a joke at Hitler's expense.
If you are a fan of Bugs Bunny or if you are interested on wartime propaganda this one is certainly a must see..
There Is No Las Vegas In Germany.
WB produced the most entertaining propaganda of WWII.
Clampett's and Tashlin's shorts are among the wildest propaganda Hollywood ever produced.
Compared to those, Freleng's HERR MEETS HARE looks very tame at first glance, but it's a strong entry in its own right.It has been pointed out that this is a Bugs Bunny first in a couple regards.
This marks the first time Bugs makes a wrong turn at Albuquerque.
Bugs' cross dressing in this short is a foreshadow, if not inspiration, of Jones' WHAT'S OPERA DOC more than a decade later.While it wouldn't play well to current audiences due to irreverent Nazi humor, there is a lot of great comedy to see.
The hawk's remark on Goering and the exchange between Bugs and Goering is priceless.
There is also a subtle reference to the pop tune turned Disney short DER FUEHER'S FACE in the soundtrack when Goering attempts to get Bugs out of the hole with a plunger.The irony of this short is that shortly after it was released, Hitler would commit suicide and Goering would do the same after his capture..
The Fuhrer is a shtinker!.
Directed by Friz Freleng, "Herr Meets Hare" is a fine Bugs Bunny cartoon released at the tail end of World War II.
Specifically, this cartoon makes a hilarious spoof of Field Marshal Hermann Goering, nicknamed "Fatso" in this film.
Fatso is the epitome of mental retardation as he pursues Bugs Bunny in the Black Forest.My favorite moments from "Herr Meets Hare" include the following (DO NOT read any further if you have not yet seen this cartoon).
I love Bugs' Hitler disguise and mock German dialect as he gives Goering a verbal dressing-down and rips off all his medals.
Bugs is also really funny with his Stalin disguise at the very end of the cartoon.
AND watch for Bugs' Wagnerian Brunhilda disguise (predating "What's Opera, Doc?" [1957]) and his subsequent dance with Goering (as Siegfried)."Herr Meets Hare" was supposedly unseen from the time of its theatrical release until the time it was released on DVD (the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 Disc 2).
But unless my memory deceives me, I DO recollect seeing this cartoon on TV during my high school days (early 1990s), because I distinctly remember Bugs Bunny's lame Hitler disguise.
Maybe he paraded as Hitler in other cartoons besides this one..
About the same time the Nazis were stuffing Anne Frank's corpse .
. into a Real Life witch's oven, Warner Bros.
dressed up Bugs Bunny in drag as Gretl, Brunnhilde, or some other fairy tale German chick to cavort in the Black Forest, playing footsie with top-ranking Nazi Hermann Goering.
After joking around with "Fatso" Goering's take on Sigfried, Bugs decides to add a Josef Stalin impression to his Stylings on Adolph Hitler, so that all the European Front's Villains-in-Chief are covered during HERR MEETS HARE.
Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes Animation Division taught America that there's always a silver lining in even the grimmest of situations.
Following in Bugs Bunny's paw steps, a New York City-area mattress store recently ran a TV ad for its September 11 Fifteenth Anniversary Sale featuring two "towers" of mattresses toppling down!
Not to be outdone, a European-raised Quarterback-of-Color has responded to the spate of Cop Killings in places such as Dallas and Baton Rouge by initiating a post-Olympics gymnastics event in which he and many of his athletic peer group compete to see who can contort themselves in the most disrespectful manner as our Star Spangled Tribute Hymn to the World War Two KIA's, space shuttle, and 9-11 victims is played.
Surely Bugs Bunny would die laughing to see THAT!