The Heckling Hare

The Heckling Hare is a 1941 Merrie Melodies short directed by Tex Avery.
== Plot ==
Bugs is being hunted by a dog named Willoughby, but the dog falls for every trap Bugs sets for him until they both fall off a cliff.
== Availability ==
Cartoon Moviestars 3.jpg|(1989) VHS Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs Bunny Classics: Special Collector's Edition
LT Laserdisc 3.jpg|(1989) LaserDisc Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs Bunny Classics: Special Collector's Edition
Bugs Bunny Collection VHS 8.jpg|(1990) VHS Bugs Bunny Collection: The Very Best of Bugs
Golden Age LT Vol 1.jpg|(1991) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 1, Side 7: Bugs Bunny By Each Director
The golden age of looney tunes vhs 7.jpg|(1992) VHS The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 7: Bugs Bunny By Each Director
LTCE VOL 8 TEX-BOOK LOONEY.jpg|(2000) VHS Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Vol. 8: Tex-Book Looney (1995 Turner dubbed version)
Golden Collection box 2.jpg|(2004) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2, Disc One (with optional audio by Greg Ford and archive audio by Tex Avery)
lt cbobb2.jpg|(2005) DVD Looney Tunes Collection Best of Bugs Bunny Volume 2
Golden Collection box 3.jpg|(2005) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc 2 (part of What's Up Doc: A Salute to Bugs Bunny)
LooneyTunesSpotlightVol8-210x300.jpg|(2014) DVD Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume 8 Disc 1
=== Streaming ===
lt hbo max.jpg|HBO Max (2020 - 2023)
lt max.jpg|Max (2023 - 2024)
== Censorship ==
* According to biographer Joe Adamson, the original ending scene had Bugs and Willoughby fall off three cliffs. After the second tumble, Bugs then told the audience, "Hold on to your hats, folks. Here we go again!" during the third trip down. The scene was cut, reportedly due to the "Hold on to your hats" line referring to a sexual euphemism (or punchline to a dirty joke) that was then in circulation,https://www.whataboutthad.com/2012/12/15/the-heckling-hare-problem/ although there is no mention of it on the transcript and a similar line had been allowed in "Daffy Duck & Egghead". According to Martha Sigall, Leon Schlesinger objected to how repetitive and overly long the second fall was. He instructed Tex Avery to cut it. Avery insisted that it should remain, but, as the boss, Schlesinger insisted it be removed. On 2 July 1941, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Avery got suspended for four weeks for a dispute with his boss. However, contrary to what stated in the article, the disagreement was about Avery wanting to do a series about live-action animals with animated mouths (which Schlesinger disapproved of) rather than the ending of the short. During his suspension, Avery was hired by Paramount, where he worked on the first three Speaking of Animals shorts, and later by MGM, where he would find great success.
* Most televised versions of this cartoon, specifically the versions shown on the Ted Turner-owned cable networks such as TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang, cut out Willoughby saying "Yeah!" as the cartoon ends to cover up the fact that the cartoon has a missing ending (see "Lost Ending" for a detailed explanation). The version released on most home media versions (VHS, LaserDisc, the Golden Collection DVD set, and on the HBO Max streaming service) does not restore the lost ending, but does leave in Willoughby saying, "Yeah!" just as the short abruptly ends.https://web.archive.org/web/20240224055638/https://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-h.aspx
* In Super RTL (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) airings of this short, the Bugs and Willoughby falling gag is shortened.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_EEB8wZTKs
== Notes ==
* The Merrie Melodies opening sequence also featured the first usage of the Warner Bros. shield logo zooming in with a carrot-munching Bugs Bunny lying on top of it. Here, after the zoom-in and a couple of bites of his carrot, Bugs pulls down the Merrie Melodies title screen like it is a shade.
** Starting with this cartoon, the words "WARNER BROS." and "Present" are already on the screen, and would be for all future Bugs Bunny cartoons, excluding "Hold the Lion, Please" and "A Corny Concerto", until "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips". However, beginning with "All This and Rabbit Stew", Bugs does not pull down the Merrie Melodies title screen like a shade as in this cartoon; instead the WB shield title then fades to the Merrie Melodies title screen. After "Nips the Nips", the Bugs Bunny head would appear after the WB shield zooms in starting with "Hare Ribbin'".
** From 1941 to 1944, in this Warner Bros. shield logo zooming in with a carrot-munching Bugs Bunny lying on top of it, Bugs Bunny always bites on his carrot twice. The only exception of such is the 1944 Blue Ribbon reissue of "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt", where Bugs bites the carrot only once, and munches on it for a much longer time.
** 1945 saw a revamped version of the Warner Bros. shield logo zooming in with a carrot-munching Bugs Bunny lying on top of it, beginning with "Hare Trigger" and ending with "High Diving Hare". This version uses the modern Bugs Bunny design by Robert McKimson, and once again Bugs pulls down the Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes title screen like a shade as in this one (though this time, another noticeable difference in the animation is that Bugs bites on his carrot only once and munches on the carrot for a much shorter time). Bugs' head would appear again replacing the WB shield in every Bugs cartoon from "Bowery Bugs" until the Termite Terrace studio closed.
* The European 1995 Turner print has the 1947-1948 Merrie Melodies dubbed ending card and keeps also the 1941-1955 ending music rendition of "Merrily We Roll Along". It has also Willoughby's line before the ending credits intact. The American 1995 Turner print has the 1937-38 Merrie Melodies dubbed card and replaces the 1941-1955 ending music rendition of "Merrily We Roll Along" to the rendition that was shown on the 1938-1941 Merrie Melodies cartoons.
== Gallery ==
333-Credits.png
The Heckling Hare (1941) - Reaching.jpg
HecklingFILMPRINT.jpg
The Heckling Hare (1941) - Digging.jpg
The Heckling Hare (1941) - Falling.jpg
File:Heckling hare juice.jpg|Animation drawing
File:Hare and dog.jpg|Animation drawing
File:Hare bugs.jpg|Animation drawing
HecklingLAYOUT.jpg|Animation drawing
HecklingHare001.jpg|The original script
HecklingLobby.jpg|Lobby card #1
File:Lobby card 22222.jpg|Lobby Card #2
== References ==
fr:Une vie de lapin
Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons
Category:Cartoons directed by Tex Avery
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Shorts
Category:1941
Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons animated by Charles McKimson
Category:Cartoons animated by Sid Sutherland
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package
Category:Cartoons with camera by John W. Burton
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Kent Rogers
Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by John Didrik Johnsen