Forward March Hare (1953)

Truly Dreadful Film

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

A different kind of Bugs Bunny short from the great team of Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Bugs accidentally gets someone's draft notice and thinks it was meant for him. He shows up for Army training and causes all kinds of mischief. The reason why I said this is a different kind of Bugs short is that here we have Bugs being a bit of an oaf. Instead of being the witty character who gets the best of everyone, he's basically a moron for the sake of the plot he had no business being involved with in the first place. I don't know the backstory to this cartoon but I wouldn't be surprised if this was originally meant for another character and Bugs was substituted at the last minute. It just doesn't feel like a Bugs short and the Jones/Maltese combo certainly knew Bugs by this time. Now, all of that being said, it's not a bad cartoon. The animation is crisp and colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds. Carl Stalling's music is lively as ever. The voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc is flawless. There are laughs to be had, including the "Sergeant Porky Pig" bit, but most of the gags are corny slapstick. Worth a look for Bugs fans but don't expect a classic.

This episode reminded me of a "Sergeant Bilko" television classic in which a chimp was inducted into the army, carelessly being passed along an assembly- type line, getting through the physical and passing his way into the army. It's all way more than just a bit of a stretch, but so is this cartoon, especially since Bugs usually is a little smarter than he appears in this adventure. Of course, none of the humans are too observant, either. I mean, you can't tell the difference between a human face and that of a buck-toothed rabbit?! It takes several days before sometimes notices the "Private" has long ears and a tail and might be a bunny?In this cartoon, Bugs mistakenly gets a letter addressed to a neighbor, "B. Bonny,": and thinks it's for him, so it opens it. (A gust of wind had blown the letter out of the mailbox into Bugs' hole)The letter flying into this rabbit hole, and Bugs not being careful with what he's reading both turn out to to be his misfortune because the letter it's a "draft notice." The rest of the cartoon detail a couple of Bugs' days in the Army. Like his final scene, most of the gags were "duds."Once again, we get superlative graphics and colors with these Warner Brothers "Collection" DVDs. The opening silhouette shot was great as were the golden hues in many of the military scenes, such as the one in which they were climbing a hill. It's just beautiful artwork.

Knowing that Bugs Bunny is usually the cleverest character in the cartoons, it's quite jarring to see him engage in the buffoonery portrayed in "Forward March Hare". True, he makes a living being irreverent, but his actions here border on the sorts of things that one would expect to see on "Gilligan's Island". But if we try to call him stupid, as a previous reviewer did, that gets countered by his super-vision.So why didn't he realize that the letter bore a slightly different name? Well, that was an honest mistake. But it does seem that he should have suspected something strange about suddenly getting a letter announcing that he's been drafted. Still, it's really funny to see him walk around with a deadpan expression, befuddling the X-ray man and getting the general angry at the sergeant.So, it's a funny cartoon, but kind of strange.

This is a very funny short which plays on a series of coincidences and misunderstandings to put Bugs Bunny in position to be inducted into the United States Army. Because I want to discuss some details, this is a spoiler warning: The short opens with an induction notice being delivered to one "B. Bonny", only the notice winds up in Bugs Bunny's hole in the ground and he mistakenly assumes it's for him. Thus, we now go off to the physical.The physical is hilarious, with reactions ranging from the nonchalant "So they're inducting rabbits" through nervous laughter to incredulous shock, as when Bugs takes the eye exam and reads the whole chart, fine print included. Bugs obviously passes the physical, because we next see him in boot camp for basic training.His Sargeant looks and sounds like the construction worker Bugs did battle with in a couple of other shorts and he fares about as well here as he did there. Bugs first causes headaches in general for the Sargeant and then gets him into hot water with a Colonel who clearly didn't care much for the Sargeant even before all the problems with Bugs develop. Bugs bowls the colonel over during drill, bathes in the colonels helmet, dresses chickens for the Officer's mess (he dresses them in tuxedos) and hammers a nail into the wall using a live shell! With each passing incident, the Sargeant loses a little more rank, until he's a private.It's at this point that the former Sargeant realizes that Bugs is a rabbit, as it slowly dawns on him that Bugs really isn't "just like all the other guys". Watching the fog start to lift on the erstwhile Sargeant's comprehension is great! A compromise of sorts gives Bugs a job at a munitions plant, with a finale that I won't spoil here. This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and is well worth seeing. Recommended.