Hare Ribbin'

Hare Ribbin' is a 1944 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert Clampett.
== Title ==
The title is a double pun on "hair ribbon", with "hare" referring to Bugs and "ribbin'" meaning "teasing".
== Plot ==
A dog with a Russian accent is hunting for a rabbit by sniffing a trail. He happens upon Bugs, who begins to torment the canine. This prompts a chase, which leads to a nearby lake.
While underwater, Bugs disguised himself as a mermaid and plays tag with the Russian dog until he takes off his costume. He sets up a plate with a fork and knife for the dog, and then goes "hunting for a wabbit" with a hunter hat and a shotgun (acting like Elmer Fudd in that fashion). The Russian dog breaks the fourth wall that Bugs is "hunting for a wabbit" until he realized that he was tricked again angering him to the point of chasing him.
Eventually, the dog corners Bugs and demands he give him a rabbit sandwich. Bugs obliges, and the rabbit places himself between two giant slices of loaf bread, with his legs curled next to his body. The dog takes a bite, and Bugs screams and fakes his death. The dog becomes instantly grief-stricken and sobs, declaring that he should be the one to die. With this statement, Bugs springs back to life asking, "Ehhhh...do you mean it?", and obliges the dog's death wish (see "Censorship" below for information about the short's alternate scene). The dog falls to the ground, Bugs plants a flower on his chest and dances away into the distance. As the cartoon is about to "iris out" the dog sits up, holds the iris before it closes, and declares "This shouldn't even happen to a dog!" He then lets the iris go, but it closes on his snout, making him yelp in pain.
== Caricatures ==
* Bert Gordon
* Mae West
== Availability ==
Cartoon Moviestars 1.jpg|(1988) VHS Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs! (a.a.p print)
LT Laserdisc 1.jpg|(1988) LaserDisc Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs! and Elmer! (a.a.p print)
Bugs Bunny Collection VHS 4.jpg|(1990) VHS Bugs Bunny Collection: Bugs Bunny's Festival of Fun
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|(1991) VHS The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 7: Bugs Bunny By Each Director
Golden-Age-of-Looney-Tunes-5-F.jpg|(1997) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 5, Side 8 (director's cut)
LTCE VOL 10 CANINE CORPS.jpg|(2000) VHS Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 10: Canine Corps (1995 Turner dubbed version)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5.jpg|(2007) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc Three (original cut restored; director's cut unrestored)
Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection.jpg|(2020) Blu-ray Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection, Disc 1 (original cut restored HD; director's cut unrestored SD)
== Censorship ==
* This cartoon short holds the distinction of having two endings; the theatrical version aired on television, and the original, prototypical version that was rejected by the Hays Code Office and thus reworked into the final version:
**Theatrical (general release) ending - where the Russian Dog, distraught over Bugs' "death", wishes he were dead too, and Bugs obliges by giving the dog a gun so he can shoot himself in the head—once played in theaters to a general audience, is now commonly cut from television versions on network TV and cable TV. The edited version made it seem like the dog dropped dead immediately after Bugs says, "Eh, do you mean it?", making it obvious that something was cut. This cut was not done on an episode of Cartoon Network's The Bob Clampett Show, two appearances on Cartoon Network's New Year's Day Looney Tunes marathons in 2009 and 2010, and on MeTV.
** Director's cut (original) ending- where the Russian Dog, distraught over Bugs' "death", wishes he were dead too, and Bugs obliges by pulling out a gun and shooting the dog through the mouth — was rejected by the Hays Office for being too violent. An episode of Cartoon Network's The Bob Clampett Show that aired "Hare Ribbin" with its general release ending mentioned that "Hare Ribbin'" had an alternate ending that was never shown to the public. This original version of "Hare Ribbin'" with the "director's cut" ending was previously discovered on the fifth volume of the The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 5 LaserDisc set and is now on the fifth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set as a special feature. However, this version was never released in a restored state.
* The general release version also added in a scene between Bugs using a triangle and saying "Come and get it!" to the dog relating to the "rabbit sandwich" and the dog about to bite down on the sandwich; Bugs Bunny looks at the camera and winks to the audience as he lifts up part of the sandwich and curls up to just beyond the dog's reach. This was presumably added in to assure audiences that Bugs was never in any real danger of being eaten alive, while the director's cut left it ambiguous.
* Another change to the director's cut is that the tag scene, the panting scene, which reuses animation from "The Hep Cat", and the scene where the dog is sniffing Bugs Bunny are longer. Due to those scenes being shortened, the dog-sniffing scene in the general release version has an abrupt cut right before it.
== Notes ==
*This is the debut of the Bugs Bunny mugshot that would be used until "Robot Rabbit" in 1953, before being updated for the smaller color rings in "Bugs and Thugs".
* Although this cartoon short is a typical Bugs Bunny chase plot, there are a number of things that stand out:
** Bugs is pursued by a dog with frizzy hair and a Russian accent. The accent is a play on The "Mad Russian" character originated by comedian Bert Gordon (with his catchphrase, "How DO you DO?") that was popular on radio at the time. The voice here is provided by Sammy Wolfe.
** When the dog sniffs Bugs' armpit, he says "B.O." in a foghorn-like voice. The line was inspired by radio commercials for Lifebuoy soap.
** Early in the short, Bugs is chased into a lake by the dog and the rest of the cartoon takes place at the bottom of the lake. This may be to set up a long gag in which Bugs disguises himself as a sexy mermaid. Bugs as the mermaid greets the dog in a high-pitched voice, saying 'hello, big boy', pretending that he fell in love with him. The dog also falls in love with the 'mermaid' and offers Bugs to play games with him. Bugs replies 'Okay, Don Juan,' and they play hide and seek together. The dog closes his eyes and Bugs knocks him with his mermaid tail, but that makes him even more happy and the dog and the 'mermaid' continue playing romantic games happily. The dog says to his love that it is her turn to chase him and Bugs knocks the dog with his mermaid tail, sending him into a rock. The action remains underwater for the rest of the film.
* In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, when Bruce Wayne's dog Ace is recovering from the Joker's attack, he is watching the part of this cartoon where the dog thinks he killed Bugs and says "I don't deserve to live! I wish I was dead!" Coincidentally, this scene also was censored in some airings of the film (specifically, having him repeat the words "I don't deserve to live" over and over instead of his original dialogue where he whines that he wished he were dead twice.).
* When Bugs Bunny tells the "chef" to get a bunny, audio of the chef talking was captured from "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips".
* Some of the animation was reused from previous Warner cartoons. This includes:
** "The Heckling Hare" - The beginning shot of Willoughby sniffing the ground for a rabbit, redrawn as the Russian Dog instead.
*** The scene of Bug and Willoughby jumping into the lake was also reused, but with Bugs putting on an inflatable life vest instead of a swim cap.
** "The Hep Cat" - A c.u shot of the cat panting towards a female cat was reused, but redrawn with the Russian Dog. This is only seen in the "Director's Cut" version of the short.
** "Booby Traps" - Snafu's skipping animation was reused, but redrawn with Bugs instead.
** "A Corny Concerto" - The animation when Bugs dances away at the end of the "Tales from the Vienna Woods" segment is partially reused.
* The ending, where the dog says "This shouldn't happen to a dog!" and the iris closes on his nose, was later referenced in Courage The Cowardly Dog's pilot episode.
* The European Turner dubbed version uses the 1938-41 rendition of "Merrily We Roll Along" instead of the 1941-55 rendition.
* The ending of this cartoon is later referenced in the Looney Tunes Cartoons episode "Bonehead" featuring Bugs Bunny and the Russian Dog, where Bugs once again tricks the Russian Dog into getting himself "killed", except that rather than Bugs influencing the dog to be killed via gun violence as mentioned above in "Censorship", Bugs instead tricks the Russian Dog into burying himself alive, which Bugs immediately places a tombstone on the Russian Dog's "grave" and dances away after his "death", and the Russian Dog's tombstone immediately says the line "This shouldn't even happen to a dog!" before it irises-out on the tombstone.
* This is the final cartoon to be released in Kent Rogers' lifetime.
==Gallery ==
HareRibbinCredits.png
Hare ribbin alterneate ending.jpg|The two alternate endings to Hare Ribbin', general release (left), "director's cut" (right). Each depicts the dog's death via gun violence, which is today considered too harsh for its target audience.
Hare ribbin alternate scene.jpg|This scene of Bugs telling the audience that he simply tucked himself in far from the position of the dog's mouth is absent in the "director's cut" version.
Hare ribbon.jpg|Lobby card
16387294 10208490710687727 1739038196127442968 n.jpg|Lobby card
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==References==
Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons
Category:1944
Category:Cartoons directed by Bob Clampett
Category:Shorts
Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts
Category:Cartoons written by Lou Lilly
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
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 in a.a.p. package
Category:Cartoons that reuse footage from earlier cartoons