Case of the Missing Hare

Case of the Missing Hare is a 1942 Merrie Melodies short directed by Charles M. Jones.
== Title ==
The title is a typical play on "heir," and although it suggests a mystery story, it bears no apparent relationship to the plotline.
== Plot ==
A magician named Ala Bahma is nailing self-promoting posters on every conceivable surface including, as it turns out, a tree in which Bugs Bunny is living. He busts through the poster to go gather some carrots before climbing back into his tree. Ala Bahma puts up another poster, leading Bugs to protest having his home encroached, proclaiming that "there's still such a thing as private property, you know." He continues the protest until the magician apologizes and asks Bugs if he likes blackberry pie. The bunny's expression changes to joy for the moment, as Ala Bahma produces a pie from under a "magic" cloth... until he splatters it in his face, walking away and ridiculing the rabbit. Bugs, with pie-filling and bits of crust dripping down his face, calmly says, "Of course, you realize this means war!"
The rabbit spends the rest of the movie at the theater where Ala Bahma is performing, wreaking havoc during his prestidigitations. He thinks he has blown Bugs away with a shotgun. Instead, Bugs pops out of the magic hat and awards him a lit cigar... which promptly explodes in his face and stuns him. In a delicious bit of revenge, Bugs produces a pie from under a magic cloth. He says to the audience, quoting Red Skelton's "Mean Widdle Kid", "If I dood it, I dit a whippin'... I DOOD IT!" and splatters the pie in Ala Bahma's face. Bugs then sings "Aloha `Oe" while playing a ukulele as he descends into the hat.
== Caricatures ==
* Groucho Marx - "Of course you realize, this means war!"
* Red Skelton's "Mean Widdle Kid" - "If I dood it, I get a whippin'. I dood it!"
== Music Cues ==
* The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish (by Harry Warren)
** Plays during the opening
* Under a Strawberry Moon (by Mabel Wayne) 
** Played when Bugs and Ala Bahma first confront each other by the tree
* The Latin Quarter (by Harry Warren)
** Plays briefly before Ala Bahma introduces himself to the audience
* Sobre las olas [Over the Waves] (by Juventino Rosas)
** Plays when Ala Bahma throws his cape away and starts his performance and when Ala Bahma is talk to the audience.
* Piano Concerto No. 1 (by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) 
** Hummed by Bugs as he gets out of the hat
* The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish (by Harry Warren)
** Plays when Bugs tempts Ala Bahma with a sword fight
* Sobre las olas [Over the Waves] (by Juventino Rosas)
** Plays again when Bugs put a cigar in Ala Bahma's mouth
* Aloha Oe (by Queen Liliuokalani)
** Bugs sings it as the picture ends
== Availability ==
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 4.jpg|(1993) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 4, Side 1
Golden Collection box 3.jpg|(2005) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc One (with optional commentary by Greg Ford)
Lt cbobb3.jpg|(2005) DVD Looney Tunes Collection Best of Bugs Bunny Volume 3
Lt cv3.jpg|(2018) DVD Looney Tunes Collection Volume 3
=== Streaming ===
Lt boomerang.jpg|Boomerang App (2017 - ) 
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2023)
lt max.jpg|Max (2023 - 2024)
File:Lt itunes.jpg|iTunes ( - ) (restored)
== Censorship ==
* When this cartoon aired on TBS and on the United Kingdom's BBC channel in the 1980s as part of Rolf Harris Cartoon Time, the beginning establishing shot showing posters for Ala Bahma's show plastered all over walls, fences, and trees was cut, most likely due to time constraints.http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-c.aspxhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2hyBWn1Qpk
== Notes ==
* This is Chuck Jones' first short to use experimental, strongly graphic, nearly abstract, and simplistic backgrounds with flat colors, which is a stark contrast to the lush, realistic backgrounds used in his previous cartoons, hence breaking away from the more realistic Disney-esque animation style used in his previous cartoons. Jones would continue to use such abstract background art again in later cartoons such as "Wackiki Wabbit" and "The Aristo-cat" the following year, as well as several one-offs such as "High Note" and "Now Hear This" later in the 1960s.
* This short is notable for starting the trend of bigger and meaner threats going up against Bugs Bunny and him being wronged by an opposer.
* This short's plot is similar to that of "Long-Haired Hare" (1949).
* Unlike in other shorts, Bugs lives in a hole in a tree instead of a hole in the ground.
* This is one of the few shorts where Bugs does not say, "Eh, what's up, Doc?" although he does say, "Pardon me, Doc."
* Ala Bahma would later reappear in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode "The Cat Who Knew Too Much" as a chef and in a brief cameo in Space Jam.
* This short entered the public domain in 1970 due to United Artists failing to renew its copyright in time.
==Gallery==
390-Credits.png
PS124.jpg|Lobby card
Case Of the Missing Hare 1.JPG|"Of course you realize, this means war!"
MissingHareBGLayout.png|Background color key by John McGrew
==References==
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons
Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones
Category:Hollywood in Cartoons
Category:Bugs Bunny Chuck Jones
Category:Shorts
Category:1942
Category:Public domain films
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Cartoons animated by Rudy Larriva
Category:Cartoons with layouts by John McGrew
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Gene Fleury
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package
Category:Cartoons where Bugs Bunny says "This means war!"