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Porky's Hare Hunt
Porky's Hare Hunt
	Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny (Prototype)
Directed by	Ben Hardaway
Story by	Howard Baldwin
Produced by	Leon Schlesinger
Music by	Carl W. Stalling
Animation by	Volney White
Color process	Black-and-white
Production; company	Leon Schlesinger Studios
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	April 30, 1938;
Running time	8:00
Language	English

Porky's Hare Hunt is a 1938 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short film directed by Ben "Bugs" Hardaway and an uncredited Cal Dalton,^[1] which stars Porky Pig as a hunter whose quarry is a little white rabbit.^[2] The short was released on April 30, 1938.^[3]

Plot

Several rabbits are causing havoc by eating carrots and destroying crops. One rabbit, warning them to flee, encounters Porky and his dog in the forest. A confrontation ensues, with Porky attempting to outsmart the rabbit, but ultimately failing. When Porky tries to shoot the rabbit, his gun malfunctions, leading to a humorous exchange about hunting licenses.

The resourceful rabbit outwits Porky by destroying his hunting license and escaping using his ears as helicopter blades. Despite Porky's attempts to stop him, including throwing a rock and dynamite, the rabbit emerges victorious. Eventually, Porky finds himself in the hospital, where the rabbit ironically brings him flowers before pulling a prank that ensures Porky's prolonged stay.

Production notes

Porky's Hare Hunt marked the first appearance of the rabbit that would evolve into Bugs Bunny, who is barely recognizable compared to his more familiar later form. Bugs' first official appearance would come two years later in A Wild Hare. According to the cartoon's copyright date in the opening title card, this cartoon begin production in 1937, but was released in theatres on April 30, 1938.

Hardaway, according to Martha Sigall, said he was going to put "a rabbit suit on that duck", referring to Porky's Duck Hunt, released a year earlier.^[4]

The rabbit's hyperactive personality and laugh provided by Mel Blanc predated the 1940 Walter Lantz/Universal Pictures release Knock Knock which starred Andy Panda and introduced cartoon audiences to Woody Woodpecker, who was created for the Lantz studio by Hardaway after his departure from the Leon Schlesinger/Warner Bros. studio.

Music

The incidental music heard throughout the piece are scored arrangements of "Bei Mir Bistu Shein", a popular song which was a hit for The Andrews Sisters around this time, and "Hooray for Hollywood," from the contemporary motion picture Hollywood Hotel.

Home media

Blu-ray: Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 2
DVD: Porky Pig 101, Disc 2

Rediscovered colorized version

The redrawn colorized version was long considered to be a lost cartoon, until the redrawn was found on a recorded tape and uploaded on the Internet Archive on April 30, 2021, exactly 83 years after the short premiered in theaters.^[5]

References

^ Jones, Chuck (1989). Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 195. ISBN 0-374-52620-6. The directorial team of Bugs Hardaway and Cal Dalton tried in this film to adopt the existing and unfinished character of Daffy Duck, including "Woo-hoos!" into a rabbit skin.
^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 70. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 124–126. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
^ Sigall 2005, p. 65.
^ Leon Schlesinger Productions, Color Systems Incorporated (1938-04-30), Porky's Hare Hunt (1938, Redrawn Colorized, Full Cartoon), retrieved 2021-05-04