The Windblown Hare
Encyclopedia
The Windblown Hare is a one-reel Warner Bros.
Looney Tunes
animated short directed by Robert McKimson
. It was originally released on August 27, 1949. The title, another pun on "hair", refers to Bugs being subjected to the Wolf's "blowing the house[s] in."
, the Big Bad Wolf
, and The Three Pigs
. The Pigs, reading their own story in a book of fairy tales, decide to circumvent the story by selling both the straw house and the wooden house before the Wolf can blow them down.
Bugs is easily conned into buying the straw house for ten bucks. Along comes the Wolf, reading the book, too. As per the plot, he blows down the straw house just as homeowner Bugs starts to greet him with his catchphrase.
Bugs then buys the wooden house from the second pig, and the three then hole up in the brick house - knowing from the book that the Wolf can't blow it down. Along comes the Wolf again, book in hand, and blows down the wooden house over Bugs' objections. This prompts the Bunny to deliver payback to the Wolf.
To get revenge on the Wolf, Bugs dresses up as Little Red Riding Hood and skips down the roadway. He meets the Wolf sitting under a tree, reading the end of the story. The Wolf asks the "girl" (Bugs) where she is going and Bugs flips the Wolf's book a few pages. The Wolf then speed-reads "Little Red Riding Hood" until he realises he's behind schedule.
The Wolf races over to Grandma's house and claiming he has no time to eat her, kicks her out of the house with barely time to get her nightclothes on. The Rabbit in Red arrives shortly thereafter. When Bugs Bunny says what big eyes, ears, teeth, and feet the wolf has when he's in grandma's clothing, he pokes both the wolf's eyes, pulls his ears up and down, and pull out his teeth and back in his mouth. The Wolf retaliates by pulling on Bugs's ears, but Bugs counters that by stepping on the Wolf's foot. After both of them strip each others disguises they argue.
Bugs then refuses to give the Wolf the "present" he brought him. After the Wolf begs Bugs to give him his present, Bugs relents and puts the present (a cake) right into the Wolf's face. Pursued down the basement steps of Grandma’s house, Bugs turns off the light switch downstairs, making the Wolf to go back to the upstairs switch to restore the light rather than risk Bugs's counterattack. After this procedure is repeated, Bugs tricks the Wolf by saying “click” instead of actually turning off the light, prompting the Wolf to automatically turn the upstairs light off and continue down the stairs, allowing Bugs to hit him with a baseball bat.
Bugs tries to escape on a bicycle, but it turns out to be a tandem with the Wolf in the second seat. He steers into a clothesline, yanking the Wolf out of the seat. When Bugs chides the Wolf for blowing his houses down, the Wolf explains those are the Pigs' houses and Bugs then sees it all.
Arriving at the brick house, Bugs overhears the pigs gloating about cheating him into buying their houses. He directs the Wolf to blow down the house. The Wolf says he can't because he can't in the book. Bugs retorts, "Book, shmook! Blow da house down!", and the wolf unsuccessfully tries to blow the house down, but right after, the house blows up. The Wolf and the Pigs think that the Wolf did it, but Bugs is shown with a TNT plunger, saying to the audience, "We did it".
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,...
Looney Tunes
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...
animated short 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 originally released on August 27, 1949. The title, another pun on "hair", refers to Bugs being subjected to the Wolf's "blowing the house[s] in."
Plot
This cartoon features Bugs BunnyBugs 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...
, the Big Bad Wolf
Big Bad Wolf
The Big Bad Wolf is a term used to describe a fictional wolf who appears in several precautionary folkloric stories, including some of Aesop's Fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales.-Interpretations:...
, and The Three Pigs
The Three Pigs
The Three Pigs is a children's picture book written and illustrated by David Wiesner. Published in 2001, the book is based on the traditional tale of the Three Little Pigs, though in this story they step out of their own tale and wander into others, depicted in different illustration styles...
. The Pigs, reading their own story in a book of fairy tales, decide to circumvent the story by selling both the straw house and the wooden house before the Wolf can blow them down.
Bugs is easily conned into buying the straw house for ten bucks. Along comes the Wolf, reading the book, too. As per the plot, he blows down the straw house just as homeowner Bugs starts to greet him with his catchphrase.
Bugs then buys the wooden house from the second pig, and the three then hole up in the brick house - knowing from the book that the Wolf can't blow it down. Along comes the Wolf again, book in hand, and blows down the wooden house over Bugs' objections. This prompts the Bunny to deliver payback to the Wolf.
To get revenge on the Wolf, Bugs dresses up as Little Red Riding Hood and skips down the roadway. He meets the Wolf sitting under a tree, reading the end of the story. The Wolf asks the "girl" (Bugs) where she is going and Bugs flips the Wolf's book a few pages. The Wolf then speed-reads "Little Red Riding Hood" until he realises he's behind schedule.
The Wolf races over to Grandma's house and claiming he has no time to eat her, kicks her out of the house with barely time to get her nightclothes on. The Rabbit in Red arrives shortly thereafter. When Bugs Bunny says what big eyes, ears, teeth, and feet the wolf has when he's in grandma's clothing, he pokes both the wolf's eyes, pulls his ears up and down, and pull out his teeth and back in his mouth. The Wolf retaliates by pulling on Bugs's ears, but Bugs counters that by stepping on the Wolf's foot. After both of them strip each others disguises they argue.
Bugs then refuses to give the Wolf the "present" he brought him. After the Wolf begs Bugs to give him his present, Bugs relents and puts the present (a cake) right into the Wolf's face. Pursued down the basement steps of Grandma’s house, Bugs turns off the light switch downstairs, making the Wolf to go back to the upstairs switch to restore the light rather than risk Bugs's counterattack. After this procedure is repeated, Bugs tricks the Wolf by saying “click” instead of actually turning off the light, prompting the Wolf to automatically turn the upstairs light off and continue down the stairs, allowing Bugs to hit him with a baseball bat.
Bugs tries to escape on a bicycle, but it turns out to be a tandem with the Wolf in the second seat. He steers into a clothesline, yanking the Wolf out of the seat. When Bugs chides the Wolf for blowing his houses down, the Wolf explains those are the Pigs' houses and Bugs then sees it all.
Arriving at the brick house, Bugs overhears the pigs gloating about cheating him into buying their houses. He directs the Wolf to blow down the house. The Wolf says he can't because he can't in the book. Bugs retorts, "Book, shmook! Blow da house down!", and the wolf unsuccessfully tries to blow the house down, but right after, the house blows up. The Wolf and the Pigs think that the Wolf did it, but Bugs is shown with a TNT plunger, saying to the audience, "We did it".
Trivia
- The Three Pigs would appear again in another McKimson short "The Turn Tale Wolf", seeking revenge against a different wolf who made his debut appearance there.
Censorship
- On CBS, the part where Bugs pokes the Wolf's eyes as Bugs does the, "My, what big eyes you have!" routine was cut.
Availability
- The Windblown Hare is available, uncut and restored, on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 is a DVD box set from Warner Home Video that was released on October 25, 2005. It contains 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical short subject cartoons, 9 documentaries, 32 commentary tracks from animators and historians, 11 "vintage treasures from...
.