Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare
Encyclopedia
Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare is a Warner Bros.
, Merrie Melodies
theatrical cartoon short released on March 28, 1964, starring Bugs Bunny
and the Tasmanian Devil
. It was directed by Robert McKimson
. It was produced by David H. DePatie. The cartoon was animated by Ted Bonnicksen, Warren Batchelder
, and George Grandpré. The cartoon was written by John Dunn
, and is the only one where Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil both lose in the end.
approaches the Jungle. A woodpecker
taps a warning on a tree, which we see as a subtitle on the bottom on the screen. "Warning! Tasmanian Devil approaching at 9 o'clock!" Two giraffe
s end up running. Some beaver
s use their tails to beat out the message "Take Cover! Devil is Coming! Take Cover! Repeat - Take Cover!". A bear
and a moose
fighting hear this and end up running. As a stampede of animals leave the jungle, Bugs is bathing in a nearby pond, unaware that Taz has spotted him.
Disliking the taste of Bugs' soap, Taz washes the soap off with a bucket of water, and then adds some ketchup. Bugs thinks that the ketchup is blood and freaks out, telling Taz to find a doctor. Taz runs to a medical hut and yells the situation, only to find Bugs (dressed as a doctor) instead. "Right on time for your annual checkup, I see," Bugs says to Taz. Bugs paints Taz’s tongue green and puts spotted glasses on him. He asks Taz if he sees spots on his eyes. Taz says "Duh, yeah, little itty-bitty spots." Then Bugs gives him nitroglycerine and Bugs tells Taz that the medicine works best if you shake after you swallow. He puts an electric belly firmer vibrating belt on Taz and Taz explodes.
Now Bugs is dressed as Sigmund Freud
. He makes Taz lay on a couch and talk about his childhood. Taz talks about how he was a bad little boy. Bugs asks him to slow down because he has got to write down all the good stuff. He looks at his watch and says its time to go, folds Taz and the couch into a suitcase, puts it in a mailbox, gets picked up by a mail truck. It comes back by a mail truck covered with stickers from all the countries he's been to. Taz runs after Bugs and then end up in a hospital zone. Bugs rolls himself by on a gurney. Inside the hospital Bugs is a nurse and he tells Taz "Congratulations, it’s a boy!" Bugs gives Taz something and calls it a bouncing baby boy, and he bounces it just to show him. Taz gives Bugs a cigar and unwraps the baby, which is actually a bomb. As Bugs walks away, the cigar that Taz gave him turns out to be an exploding cigar
("I just wonder if he's as dumb as he looks?" Bugs wonders.)
As the exploded Taz spins in, Bugs then dresses as a surgeon and calls Taz as his assistant. Bugs leaves the room and Taz looks at the patient. It ends up being the robotic Frankenstein's monster
and he beats up Taz, then, in a backfiring moment, heads for Bugs as the monster goes out of control. It ends with Bugs being beaten up by the monster off stage and both the dazed Bugs and Taz staggering back onscreen, bruised and wrapped in bandages while Bugs groans, "Is there a doctor in the house? Huh, is there?"
Blu-ray box-set. However, it's only fully screened and uncut on the Blu-ray disc.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
theatrical cartoon short released on March 28, 1964, starring Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
and the Tasmanian Devil
Tasmanian Devil (Looney Tunes)
The Tasmanian Devil, often referred to as Taz, is an animated cartoon character featured in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The character appeared in only five shorts before Warner Bros...
. It was directed by Robert McKimson
Robert McKimson
Robert "Bob" Porter McKimson, Sr. was an American animator, illustrator, and director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros., and later DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
. It was produced by David H. DePatie. The cartoon was animated by Ted Bonnicksen, Warren Batchelder
Warren Batchelder
Warren Batchelder was an animator on many Warner Bros. and DePatie-Freleng cartoons. He also worked as animation director on the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon show.-Career:Batchelder began his animation career in 1936...
, and George Grandpré. The cartoon was written by John Dunn
John W. Dunn
John W. Dunn was a Scottish writer and animator for animated cartoons from 1955 to 1983.Dunn began his career at the Walt Disney cartoon studio, where his first story credit—Man in Space—received an Oscar nomination...
, and is the only one where Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil both lose in the end.
Plot
The Tasmanian DevilTasmanian Devil (Looney Tunes)
The Tasmanian Devil, often referred to as Taz, is an animated cartoon character featured in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The character appeared in only five shorts before Warner Bros...
approaches the Jungle. A woodpecker
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
taps a warning on a tree, which we see as a subtitle on the bottom on the screen. "Warning! Tasmanian Devil approaching at 9 o'clock!" Two giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s end up running. Some beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
s use their tails to beat out the message "Take Cover! Devil is Coming! Take Cover! Repeat - Take Cover!". A bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
and a moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
fighting hear this and end up running. As a stampede of animals leave the jungle, Bugs is bathing in a nearby pond, unaware that Taz has spotted him.
Disliking the taste of Bugs' soap, Taz washes the soap off with a bucket of water, and then adds some ketchup. Bugs thinks that the ketchup is blood and freaks out, telling Taz to find a doctor. Taz runs to a medical hut and yells the situation, only to find Bugs (dressed as a doctor) instead. "Right on time for your annual checkup, I see," Bugs says to Taz. Bugs paints Taz’s tongue green and puts spotted glasses on him. He asks Taz if he sees spots on his eyes. Taz says "Duh, yeah, little itty-bitty spots." Then Bugs gives him nitroglycerine and Bugs tells Taz that the medicine works best if you shake after you swallow. He puts an electric belly firmer vibrating belt on Taz and Taz explodes.
Now Bugs is dressed as Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
. He makes Taz lay on a couch and talk about his childhood. Taz talks about how he was a bad little boy. Bugs asks him to slow down because he has got to write down all the good stuff. He looks at his watch and says its time to go, folds Taz and the couch into a suitcase, puts it in a mailbox, gets picked up by a mail truck. It comes back by a mail truck covered with stickers from all the countries he's been to. Taz runs after Bugs and then end up in a hospital zone. Bugs rolls himself by on a gurney. Inside the hospital Bugs is a nurse and he tells Taz "Congratulations, it’s a boy!" Bugs gives Taz something and calls it a bouncing baby boy, and he bounces it just to show him. Taz gives Bugs a cigar and unwraps the baby, which is actually a bomb. As Bugs walks away, the cigar that Taz gave him turns out to be an exploding cigar
Exploding cigar
An exploding cigar is a variety of cigar that explodes shortly after being lit. Such cigars are normally packed with a minute chemical explosive charge near the lighting end or with a non-chemical device that ruptures the cigar when exposed to heat...
("I just wonder if he's as dumb as he looks?" Bugs wonders.)
As the exploded Taz spins in, Bugs then dresses as a surgeon and calls Taz as his assistant. Bugs leaves the room and Taz looks at the patient. It ends up being the robotic Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
and he beats up Taz, then, in a backfiring moment, heads for Bugs as the monster goes out of control. It ends with Bugs being beaten up by the monster off stage and both the dazed Bugs and Taz staggering back onscreen, bruised and wrapped in bandages while Bugs groans, "Is there a doctor in the house? Huh, is there?"
Availability
"Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare" is available, uncensored and uncut, on the Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinare DVD. However, it was cropped to widescreen. It is also being shown uncensored, fully screened and uncut, on the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 is a Blu-ray box set announced by Warner Home Video. It was released on November 15, 2011. It contains 50 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements.-Disc 1:-Behind the Tunes:...
Blu-ray box-set. However, it's only fully screened and uncut on the Blu-ray disc.
Censorship
- On ABC, the part where the cigar blows up in Bugs' face is cut. The part where the Tasmanian Devil gives Bugs the cigar though remains intact.
- On CBS, in addition to the ABC cut, the part where Bugs spoonfeeds Taz some nitroglycerin and straps an exercise belt, causing the nitroglycerin to explode inside him was cut, along with a later scene where Bugs (disguised as a nurse) gives Taz a round black bomb disguised as a baby (which explodes offscreen).
Note
- This was the last theatrical appearance of TazTasmanian Devil (Looney Tunes)The Tasmanian Devil, often referred to as Taz, is an animated cartoon character featured in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The character appeared in only five shorts before Warner Bros...
.