Falling Hare (1943)

Instant Favorite.

Expected more

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

. . . reveals that these yellow creatures have blue foreheads, red noses, and wear red gloves. "Diabolical saboteurs" in times of War, gremlins are as likely as not to undertake suicide attacks. They are capable of launching pilot-less aircraft, and steering these military drones toward civilian skyscrapers. In Real Life, gremlins apparently succeeded in ramming a WWII-era bomber through an upper floor of New York City's Empire State Building a few years after FALLING HARE's warning came out. To keep up morale, such acts are often blamed upon mechanical failure or the weather, as was the case here. In other episodes, pilots themselves have been deemed to suffer from Gremlin Possession, with the ocean-diving Egypt Air pilot and the more recent German Alps "suicide" jockey just two of many examples. Statistically, air travel is said to remain the second safest form of transportation, after elevators. But if you were on "the lift" in the World Trade Center the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, it wasn't so safe, as up to 500 folks "going up" never made it. Sounds a lot like the work of "diabolical saboteurs," doesn't it?

Mr. Freeling, Producer of the Bugs cartoons in their most classic era, believed there were two basic dramatic types: Identification Characters (Porky, Elmer Fudd ) and Aspiration Characters ( Bugs, and...Yosemite Sam? Hmmm...). Bugs as we know is a supernatural Being, with powers ordinary rabbits or humans do not have. In this movie he encounters another such Being, the Gremlin. But the Gremlin is even more Elemental than Bugs---he's a sort of Primordial Force of Destruction.Its not that he hates anybody; its his job, and he does it well, like James Bond. Right at the outset of the Bug/Gremlin collaboration the little guy says that you have to hit Blockbusters just right; Bugs, with his typical streetwise sangfroid says, "Yeah?" but instead of the usual blowing off of the other character, the Gremlin even more authoritatively replies "YEAH!" and makes it stick. From then on, the Gremlin is in charge.For another Bugs-Tables-Turned storyline, see the one with the Lion ( married to Hortense ): "I gotta go Mr. Bunny; sorry I can't stay and Kill you."But for me the most important and intriguing detail of the cartoon is during the sequence with the Blockbuster Bomb, when the music distinctly plays the phrase "I'll Take Manhattan." This was 1943, remember, and the Manhattan Project was top secret.

This is a true time capsule of a cartoon in that it gives wonderful insight into what life was like for Americans back in 1943. There are so many wonderful references to gremlins, Wendell Wilkie and gasoline ration cards that the cartoon could be used as a tool to teach kids about WWII. Fortunately, while it is jam-packed full of such interesting tidbits, it also is pretty funny and well worth watching over 60 years later! The film does seem a bit strange, though, as for once, Bugs Bunny is NOT the wise-cracking or annoying jerk he was in most films made of him during the war. Instead, he is the unlikely voice of reason that tries to thwart the evil but mischievous intentions of the gremlin! The short abounds with cute jokes, sight gags and a very original script (the only similar cartoon I can think about is GREMLINS FROM THE KREMLIN--another Looney Toons cartoon, but one where a huge swarm of gremlins are working for the allies to destroy the Nazi menace).

Falling Hare is my favorite cartoon short ever. What I like the most about it is that Bugs Bunny "gets it good"! It seems like Bugs gets his way in every one of his cartoons (except for when he races with Cecil the Turtle)! Watching Falling Hare, however, is way better than watching Bugs lose to Cecil in the races. In Falling Hare the Gremlin really (and I mean really) lets Bugs have it. Another reason why I think this animated short is so cool is because it is "fast paced!" Almost all of it takes place in an Airplane! I could watch this over and over and never get bored of it. If you are tired of watching Bugs win all of his battles (which I am) I highly recommend that you record Falling Hare.