Hare Brush pokes fun at Freudian psychoanalysis, psychiatric medication, hypnosis, and the cliches of other Bugs Bunny shorts. Along with What's Opera, Doc? and Rabbit Rampage, it is one of the few cartoons where Elmer gets the upper hand on Bugs. It is also the first short in the Merrie Melodies series to open with Milt Franklyn's re-arranged version of "Merrily We Roll Along"; the new fanfare would stay in use until 1964.
Plot
At the Elmer J. Fudd Corporation's boardroom, the mental health of their CEO, Elmer Fudd, is discussed; he thinks he is a rabbit, and the board decides to commit him to the Fruitcake Sanitarium. In a rabbit costume, Elmer encounters Bugs Bunny and, using a carrot as bait, lures him into the sanitarium. Meanwhile, psychiatrist Dr. Oro Myicin arrives to treat Elmer, but mistakenly diagnoses Bugs—with "rabbitschenia". He gives Bugs a pill that makes him highly suggestible. Through repeated suggestion, Bugs comes to believe he is Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire owner of a mansion and yacht.
Declared cured, Bugs is released from the sanitarium dressed as Elmer. He hunts and ends up pursuing Elmer himself, who manages to escape. Ultimately, Bugs' charade is exposed when an IRS agent arrests him for tax evasion. Elmer happily hops away.
Music
Milt Franklyn's music is characteristically less through-composed than that of Carl Stalling, and consists largely of rising and falling arpeggios, stings, and short motifs. Nevertheless, it also follows the usual pattern of Warner's shorts in quoting snippets of popular music to reflect the development of the plot. Starting as usual with "Merrily We Roll Along," the cartoon sets the scene for the corporate meeting by quoting "42nd Street." To introduce the sanitarium, Franklyn uses the old rhyme "Nuts in May." The hypnotic phrase "I am Elmer J. Fudd," etc., is associated with a driving motif in the bass. "A-Hunting We Will Go" marks the chauffeur's announcement that it is Wednesday, the day on which Fudd customarily goes hunting, and the start of the hunt itself. As noticed above, the final scene of the action ends with Ray Anthony's Bunny Hop, and the short concludes, as usual, with "Merrily We Roll Along" over the "That's All, Folks!" caption.
^Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 273. ISBN0-8050-0894-2.
