Bushy Hare
Encyclopedia
Bushy Hare is an animated Bugs Bunny Cartoon made in 1949, released in 1950, by Robert McKimson. Bugs winds up switched with a baby kangaroo
and has to deal with 'Nature Boy', an aborigine who is hunting Bugs. The title is a play on "bushy hair" along with aborigines stereotypically being from "the bush" country. It is the only cartoon where Hippety Hopper (who makes a cameo at the end) speaks (with one line); like Bugs, Hippety is voiced by Mel Blanc.
and encounters a man whom he initially thinks is a 'bad guy', but who asks Bugs to hold on to his balloons while he ties his shoelaces. Bugs complies, but soon finds himself drifting off into the ocean. After commenting that "something's gotta happen pretty soon", that 'something' is a stork delivering a baby joey to a kangaroo
. The joey bears a strong resemblance to Hippity Hopper, a McKimson character. After a mixup in a cloud, where Bugs is switched with the joey, Bugs finds himself in Australia
dropped into a kangaroo's pouch.
Bugs at first tries walking away from the kangaroo, but feels guilty after the kangaroo starts crying and agrees to be its 'baby' (a gag used before by McKimson in Gorilla My Dreams
). After a wild ride inside the kangaroo's pouch, Bugs tries walking, but is soon felled by a boomerang
thrown by an aborigine
, whom Bugs later calls "Nature Boy". Bugs tries throwing the boomerang away (commenting, "that thing can give you a conclusion of the brain"), but is hit again and is soon chased by 'Nature Boy'. The aborigine thinks he's stabbing Bugs in a rabbit hole, but Bugs winds up kicking him in the hole instead. An attempt to shoot Bugs with a dart similarly backfires. Eventually, Bugs is chased by 'Nature Boy', first in a canoe, Where Nature Boy sits and rows in the rear, on the Billabong, (A large pond,or lake), through the Tunnel of Love {"Gosh, Nature, I didn't know you cared"}, and then goes up a cliff, where he and 'Nature Boy' fight in the kangaroo's pouch, before the aborigine is kicked out and knocked off the cliff. The joey is then seen floating down and into the kangaroo's pouch.
The kangaroo and her son agree to give Bugs a lift back to the United States, with a speedboat motor attached to the kangaroo's tail. The cartoon ends with Bugs telling the joey to "batten down the hatches!" When the joey replies, "I did batten them down!" Bugs replies, quoting Lou Costello
, "Well, batten them down again! We'll teach those hatches!"
Hippety Hopper
Hippety Hopper is a young kangaroo cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. Robert McKimson introduced Hippety Hopper in Hop, Look and Listen , which established the pattern for future Hippety Hopper cartoons....
and has to deal with 'Nature Boy', an aborigine who is hunting Bugs. The title is a play on "bushy hair" along with aborigines stereotypically being from "the bush" country. It is the only cartoon where Hippety Hopper (who makes a cameo at the end) speaks (with one line); like Bugs, Hippety is voiced by Mel Blanc.
Plot
Bugs pops out in Golden Gate ParkGolden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
and encounters a man whom he initially thinks is a 'bad guy', but who asks Bugs to hold on to his balloons while he ties his shoelaces. Bugs complies, but soon finds himself drifting off into the ocean. After commenting that "something's gotta happen pretty soon", that 'something' is a stork delivering a baby joey to a kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
. The joey bears a strong resemblance to Hippity Hopper, a McKimson character. After a mixup in a cloud, where Bugs is switched with the joey, Bugs finds himself in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
dropped into a kangaroo's pouch.
Bugs at first tries walking away from the kangaroo, but feels guilty after the kangaroo starts crying and agrees to be its 'baby' (a gag used before by McKimson in Gorilla My Dreams
Gorilla My Dreams
Gorilla My Dreams is a 1947 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical animated short, released in 1948, starring Bugs Bunny. The story is a parody of the many 'jungle' movies that were prominent in the 1930s and 40s, including the Tarzan movies. The title is a play on the expression "Girl o' My...
). After a wild ride inside the kangaroo's pouch, Bugs tries walking, but is soon felled by a boomerang
Boomerang
A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
thrown by an aborigine
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
, whom Bugs later calls "Nature Boy". Bugs tries throwing the boomerang away (commenting, "that thing can give you a conclusion of the brain"), but is hit again and is soon chased by 'Nature Boy'. The aborigine thinks he's stabbing Bugs in a rabbit hole, but Bugs winds up kicking him in the hole instead. An attempt to shoot Bugs with a dart similarly backfires. Eventually, Bugs is chased by 'Nature Boy', first in a canoe, Where Nature Boy sits and rows in the rear, on the Billabong, (A large pond,or lake), through the Tunnel of Love {"Gosh, Nature, I didn't know you cared"}, and then goes up a cliff, where he and 'Nature Boy' fight in the kangaroo's pouch, before the aborigine is kicked out and knocked off the cliff. The joey is then seen floating down and into the kangaroo's pouch.
The kangaroo and her son agree to give Bugs a lift back to the United States, with a speedboat motor attached to the kangaroo's tail. The cartoon ends with Bugs telling the joey to "batten down the hatches!" When the joey replies, "I did batten them down!" Bugs replies, quoting Lou Costello
Lou Costello
Louis Francis "Lou" Costello was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott...
, "Well, batten them down again! We'll teach those hatches!"
Censorship
- When this cartoon aired on Nickelodeon, the part where Nature Boy (the Aboriginie hunter) jabs his spear in a hole while Bugs (standing behind him) dramatizes all kinds of death shrieks was cut to remove Nature Boy jabbing the spear into the hole with evil delight after Bugs moans, "Just go away and leave me to die in peace!" and Bugs, disgusted that Nature Boy would stab him repeatedly while he's "dying", growls "Why you little..." The Nickelodeon version goes from the part where Bugs moans "Just go away and leave me to die in peace" to Bugs kicking Nature Boy in the hole and tickling his feet.
- This cartoon was one of 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons that was scheduled to be on June Bugs' 2001 line-up on Cartoon Network, but was cut at the last minute, presumably because of the Aboriginal hunter.