Water, Water Every Hare
Encyclopedia
Water, Water Every Hare is a 1950-produced Looney Tunes
cartoon
released in 1952 featuring Bugs Bunny
and Gossamer
. The title is a pun on the line "Water, water, everywhere / Nor any drop to drink" from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
. The cartoon is available on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1
, Bugs (after being flooded out of his rabbit hole while sleeping during a heavy rain) finds himself trapped in the castle
of an "evil scientist" (the neon sign outside his castle says so, punctuated with a second flashing line, "BOO"), who this time is a caricature
of Boris Karloff
and needs the rabbit's brain
to complete an experiment. When Bugs makes a run for it (after encountering the scientist-"Eh, eh, eh, w-w-what's up, doc?", a sarcophagus-"What's going on around here?" and the robot experiment-"Where am I anyway?"), a big red monster wearing a pair of sneakers (Gossamer, here called "Rudolph"
) is sent out to retrieve him, with the promise of being rewarded with a spider goulash.
Bugs keeps running while he is frightened until (in a scene very similar to one in Hair-Raising Hare
) a door on the floor opens and a rock falls into a water pit where there are crocodiles swimming around. While he is walking backwards and praying to jump over the crocodiles, he bumps into Rudolph. Bugs comes up with an idea ("Uh oh. Think fast, rabbit!") and makes as a gabby hairdresser, giving the hairy monster a new hairdo ("My stars! Where did you ever get that awful hairdo? It doesn't become you at all. Here, for goodness' sake, let me fix it up. Look how stringy and messy it is. What a shame! Such an interesting monster, too. My stars, if an interesting monster can't have an interesting hairdo, then I don't know what things are coming to. In my business, you meet so many interesting people. Bobby pins, please. But the most interesting ones are the monsters. Oh, dear, that'll never stay. We'll just have to have a permanent.") He gets some dynamite
sticks and places them in the monster's hair, which give the appearance of curlers ("Now, I've got to give an interesting old lady a manicure; but I'll be back before you're done."). He lights them and runs off just before the explosion.
Rudolph gets furious and goes after Bugs. In the chemical room, Bugs sees vanishing fluid and he pours it all over himself ("Mmm, not bad!"). Bugs gets a trash can and dumps it on Rudolph. Then he gets a mallet and hits the trash can causing it to shake, and pulls out the rug Rudolph is standing on from underneath his feet, causing him to fall on his bottom. For the coup de grâce
, Bugs takes a bottle of reducing oil and pours the entire contents over Rudolph, who lets out a roar and shrinks. Putting on his suit coat and hat and grabbing two suitcases, Rudolph enters a mouse hole, kicks its resident out and slams the door which bears a sign saying "I QUIT!" The mouse says "I quit too!", holding up a bottle of whiskey ("xxx"), then dashing away.
Bugs eats a carrot in satisfaction of getting rid of the monster ("Well, that's that."). Suddenly, the mad scientist restores him with "hare restorer" ("Never send a monster to do the work of an evil scientist."), insisting the rabbit hand over his brain ("Now be a cooperartive little bunny, and let me have your brain!"), throwing an axe straight towards Bugs (who doesn't want the scientist to have his brain, stating "Uh, sorry doc, but I need what little I've got"), who ducks. The axe breaks open a large bottle of ether
which drugs Bugs and the scientist. The groggy scientist {"Come...back...here...you...rab-.....bit"} chases after an equally groggy Bugs in slow motion (Carl Stalling
cleverly punctuates the chase by playing a slow but "drowsy" version of the William Tell Overture
). Bugs trips the scientist, who falls asleep.
Bugs runs slowly out of the castle and over the horizon, tripping over a rock and falling asleep, landing in a stream which leads Bugs straight back into his flooded hole. He suddenly wakes up and declares that it must have been a nightmare. The miniature Rudolph passes by on a rowboat and tells him in a high-pitched voice, "Oh yeah!? That's what you think!", leaving Bugs with a confused look on his face.
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
released in 1952 featuring 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 Gossamer
Gossamer (Looney Tunes)
Gossamer is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The character is a hairy, red monster. His rectangular body is perched on two giant tennis shoes, and his heart-shaped face is composed of only two oval eyes and a wide mouth, with...
. The title is a pun on the line "Water, water, everywhere / Nor any drop to drink" from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and was published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. Modern editions use a later revised version printed in 1817 that featured a gloss...
. The cartoon is available on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1
Plot
Much like in Hair-Raising HareHair-Raising Hare
Hair-Raising Hare is a 1946 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, released in 1946. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce...
, Bugs (after being flooded out of his rabbit hole while sleeping during a heavy rain) finds himself trapped in the castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
of an "evil scientist" (the neon sign outside his castle says so, punctuated with a second flashing line, "BOO"), who this time is a caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
of Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
and needs the rabbit's brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
to complete an experiment. When Bugs makes a run for it (after encountering the scientist-"Eh, eh, eh, w-w-what's up, doc?", a sarcophagus-"What's going on around here?" and the robot experiment-"Where am I anyway?"), a big red monster wearing a pair of sneakers (Gossamer, here called "Rudolph"
Gossamer (Looney Tunes)
Gossamer is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The character is a hairy, red monster. His rectangular body is perched on two giant tennis shoes, and his heart-shaped face is composed of only two oval eyes and a wide mouth, with...
) is sent out to retrieve him, with the promise of being rewarded with a spider goulash.
Bugs keeps running while he is frightened until (in a scene very similar to one in Hair-Raising Hare
Hair-Raising Hare
Hair-Raising Hare is a 1946 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, released in 1946. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce...
) a door on the floor opens and a rock falls into a water pit where there are crocodiles swimming around. While he is walking backwards and praying to jump over the crocodiles, he bumps into Rudolph. Bugs comes up with an idea ("Uh oh. Think fast, rabbit!") and makes as a gabby hairdresser, giving the hairy monster a new hairdo ("My stars! Where did you ever get that awful hairdo? It doesn't become you at all. Here, for goodness' sake, let me fix it up. Look how stringy and messy it is. What a shame! Such an interesting monster, too. My stars, if an interesting monster can't have an interesting hairdo, then I don't know what things are coming to. In my business, you meet so many interesting people. Bobby pins, please. But the most interesting ones are the monsters. Oh, dear, that'll never stay. We'll just have to have a permanent.") He gets some dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
sticks and places them in the monster's hair, which give the appearance of curlers ("Now, I've got to give an interesting old lady a manicure; but I'll be back before you're done."). He lights them and runs off just before the explosion.
Rudolph gets furious and goes after Bugs. In the chemical room, Bugs sees vanishing fluid and he pours it all over himself ("Mmm, not bad!"). Bugs gets a trash can and dumps it on Rudolph. Then he gets a mallet and hits the trash can causing it to shake, and pulls out the rug Rudolph is standing on from underneath his feet, causing him to fall on his bottom. For the coup de grâce
Coup de grâce
The expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to the killing of civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the consent of the sufferer...
, Bugs takes a bottle of reducing oil and pours the entire contents over Rudolph, who lets out a roar and shrinks. Putting on his suit coat and hat and grabbing two suitcases, Rudolph enters a mouse hole, kicks its resident out and slams the door which bears a sign saying "I QUIT!" The mouse says "I quit too!", holding up a bottle of whiskey ("xxx"), then dashing away.
Bugs eats a carrot in satisfaction of getting rid of the monster ("Well, that's that."). Suddenly, the mad scientist restores him with "hare restorer" ("Never send a monster to do the work of an evil scientist."), insisting the rabbit hand over his brain ("Now be a cooperartive little bunny, and let me have your brain!"), throwing an axe straight towards Bugs (who doesn't want the scientist to have his brain, stating "Uh, sorry doc, but I need what little I've got"), who ducks. The axe breaks open a large bottle of ether
Diethyl ether
Diethyl ether, also known as ethyl ether, simply ether, or ethoxyethane, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula . It is a colorless, highly volatile flammable liquid with a characteristic odor...
which drugs Bugs and the scientist. The groggy scientist {"Come...back...here...you...rab-.....bit"} chases after an equally groggy Bugs in slow motion (Carl Stalling
Carl Stalling
Carl W. Stalling was an American composer and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years.-Biography:Stalling was born to Ernest and...
cleverly punctuates the chase by playing a slow but "drowsy" version of the William Tell Overture
William Tell Overture
The William Tell Overture is the instrumental introduction to the opera Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini. William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal...
). Bugs trips the scientist, who falls asleep.
Bugs runs slowly out of the castle and over the horizon, tripping over a rock and falling asleep, landing in a stream which leads Bugs straight back into his flooded hole. He suddenly wakes up and declares that it must have been a nightmare. The miniature Rudolph passes by on a rowboat and tells him in a high-pitched voice, "Oh yeah!? That's what you think!", leaving Bugs with a confused look on his face.
Reuse and Censorship
- The sequence where Bugs impersonates a flamboyant hairdresser was re-used in Hare-Abian NightsHare-Abian NightsHare-Abian Nights is a 1959 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The cartoon, directed by Ken Harris of Chuck Jones' unit at Warner Bros. Cartoons, was animated by Harris and Ben Washam and recycles footage from Bully for Bugs, Water, Water Every Hare, and Sahara Hare...
in 1959. When that cartoon aired on ABC, the entire sequence was cut.
External links
- Water, Water Every Hare at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...