Hare-Abian Nights
Encyclopedia
Hare-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
. Hare-Abian Nights is a pun on Arabian Nights.
Hare-Abian Nights is the only short in the Golden Age of American animation starring Yosemite Sam
not directed by Friz Freleng
or a member of Freleng's unit, although sequences from a Freleng cartoon are used in this short.
), the short opens with a band Timbuk Two Plus 3 playing Sweet Georgia Brown
trying to entertain the sultan, with the performance ending with the floor being dropped out from under them, sending the band into a crocodile pit below. Next, a musician scared by the fate of Timbuk Two performs a send-up of Hound Dog
, Hound Camel, before meeting the same fate as Timbuk Two. Following that, Bugs, intending to travel to Perth Amboy
but having missed a left turn at Des Moines
, ends up in front of other prospective performers and is ordered to entertain the sultan.
Assigned the role of "Teller of Tales", Bugs proceeds to tell his tale of how he ended up in the palace. Flashing back to 1953's Bully for Bugs
, Bugs recounts his problems with the bull he met there while trying to find the Coachella Valley
, and Bugs' outsmarting the bull with a hidden anvil. The sultan is prepared to press the button to send Bugs into the pit, but then Bugs recounts his experiences with Rudolph the monster
in 1952's Water, Water Every Hare
, where Bugs impersonates a hairdresser to outsmart Rudolph. Bugs also recounts his encounter with Yosemite Sam
in the Sahara Desert in 1955's Sahara Hare
, referring to Sam as "the stupidest character of them all", while recounting Sam's unsuccessful attempts to enter a desert fort.
At this point, while Bugs is chuckling at Yosemite Sam's misfortunes in Sahara Hare, the sultan, who turns out to be none other than Yosemite Sam himself, tries to press the button to drop Bugs, only to find that Bugs has shut off the master switch, frustrating Sam. When Yosemite Sam tries to find out what is wrong, Bugs resets the master switch, dropping Sam into the crocodile pit, from which he escapes, but not before one of the crocodiles also escapes, sending Sam running off. Bugs, now dressed with turbans covering each ear, describes Sam's act as a "don't call us, we'll call you" act, along with some other remarks as the camera irises out.
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,...
cartoon 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 Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...
. The cartoon, directed by Ken Harris
Ken Harris
Ken Harris was an American animator who worked for several film studios. He is widely considered as one of the master animators of his time....
of Chuck Jones'
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
unit at Warner Bros. Cartoons, was animated by Harris and Ben Washam
Ben Washam
Benjamin Alfred Washam was an American animator who is best known for working under director Chuck Jones for nearly 30 years. Washam worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons from 1941 until 1962, mainly under the direction of Chuck Jones. He also worked on made-for-television cartoons in the early 1960s...
and recycles footage from Bully for Bugs
Bully For Bugs
Bully for Bugs is a 1952 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in August 1953. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese.- Synopsis :...
, Water, Water Every Hare
Water, Water Every Hare
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...
, and Sahara Hare
Sahara Hare
Sahara Hare is a 1954 Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1955 and directed by Friz Freleng.-Plot:This is another classic battle between Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam . Bugs pops up out from underground, thinking he has reached Miami Beach, when in reality he is in the Sahara Desert,...
. Hare-Abian Nights is a pun on Arabian Nights.
Hare-Abian Nights is the only short in the Golden Age of American animation starring Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...
not directed by Friz Freleng
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
or a member of Freleng's unit, although sequences from a Freleng cartoon are used in this short.
Plot
In a send-up of the "gong show" set in an Arabian palace (similar to the gong show in I Love to SingaI Love to Singa
I Love to Singa is a Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Tex Avery, produced by Leon Schlesinger, and released to theatres on July 18, 1936 by Warner Bros. and Vitaphone. I Love to Singa depicts the story of a young owlet who wants to sing jazz, instead of the classical music that his...
), the short opens with a band Timbuk Two Plus 3 playing Sweet Georgia Brown
Sweet Georgia Brown
"Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard and pop tune written in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard and Kenneth Casey .The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925 by bandleader Ben Bernie, resulting in a five-week No. 1 for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra...
trying to entertain the sultan, with the performance ending with the floor being dropped out from under them, sending the band into a crocodile pit below. Next, a musician scared by the fate of Timbuk Two performs a send-up of Hound Dog
Hound Dog (song)
"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known...
, Hound Camel, before meeting the same fate as Timbuk Two. Following that, Bugs, intending to travel to Perth Amboy
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The City of Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 50,814. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to Raritan Bay.-Name:The Lenape...
but having missed a left turn at Des Moines
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
, ends up in front of other prospective performers and is ordered to entertain the sultan.
Assigned the role of "Teller of Tales", Bugs proceeds to tell his tale of how he ended up in the palace. Flashing back to 1953's Bully for Bugs
Bully For Bugs
Bully for Bugs is a 1952 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in August 1953. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese.- Synopsis :...
, Bugs recounts his problems with the bull he met there while trying to find the Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley is a large valley landform in Southern California. The valley extends for approximately 45 miles in Riverside County southeast from the San Bernardino Mountains to the saltwater Salton Sea, the largest lake in California...
, and Bugs' outsmarting the bull with a hidden anvil. The sultan is prepared to press the button to send Bugs into the pit, but then Bugs recounts his experiences with Rudolph the monster
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...
in 1952's Water, Water Every Hare
Water, Water Every Hare
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...
, where Bugs impersonates a hairdresser to outsmart Rudolph. Bugs also recounts his encounter with Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...
in the Sahara Desert in 1955's Sahara Hare
Sahara Hare
Sahara Hare is a 1954 Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1955 and directed by Friz Freleng.-Plot:This is another classic battle between Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam . Bugs pops up out from underground, thinking he has reached Miami Beach, when in reality he is in the Sahara Desert,...
, referring to Sam as "the stupidest character of them all", while recounting Sam's unsuccessful attempts to enter a desert fort.
At this point, while Bugs is chuckling at Yosemite Sam's misfortunes in Sahara Hare, the sultan, who turns out to be none other than Yosemite Sam himself, tries to press the button to drop Bugs, only to find that Bugs has shut off the master switch, frustrating Sam. When Yosemite Sam tries to find out what is wrong, Bugs resets the master switch, dropping Sam into the crocodile pit, from which he escapes, but not before one of the crocodiles also escapes, sending Sam running off. Bugs, now dressed with turbans covering each ear, describes Sam's act as a "don't call us, we'll call you" act, along with some other remarks as the camera irises out.
Censorship
- When this cartoon aired on ABC, the entire sequence from Water, Water Every HareWater, Water Every HareWater, 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...
where Bugs gives Gossamer a perm with dynamite sticks was cut.