Hare Tonic (1945) User Reviews

A brilliant cartoon!! :-)

[Mightyzebra · 9/10 · 10 January 2010]

I immensely enjoyed this cartoon, even though there were many Looney Tunes "cliches" involved and there was a predictable storyline, there were many clever verbal jokes, fast-paced and amusing slapstick jokes (there was not much slapstick, but what there was, was good) and the involvement with the audience (even for nowadays, as Bugs Bunny references to cinemas) works very well. I felt quite sorry for Elmer Fudd in this cartoon, but it made me like the cartoon more as often I do not feel particularly sympathetic for him, great character that he is.

The episode begins when Elmer is walking to his home with a basket full of carrots and a rabbit for his rabbit stew. Bugs Bunny does the traditional "what's in the basket?" joke, going out of the basket and making Elmer look inside it, then wondering where the rabbit has gone etc. Eventually, Elmer manages to take Bugs Bunny to his house and starts preparing the stew. Bugs Bunny pulls a fast one by faking a telephone ring with a bell within reach. While Elmer repeatedly says "hewo?" into the telephone, Bugs Bunny escapes, but then decides he wants to go back and earn revenge on Elmer...

I highly recommend this cartoon to any Bugs Bunny fan and to people who enjoy Looney Tunes in general. If you prefer slapsticky Looney Tunes episodes I do not recommend this so highly. Enjoy "Hare Tonic"! :-)

A deliciously sick, lesser known semi-classic

[phantom_tollbooth · 9/10 · 3 November 2008]

Chuck Jones's 'Hare Tonic' is a brilliant but little known cartoon. Deliciously sick, 'Hare Tonic' involves Bugs Bunny convincing the hapless Elmer Fudd that he has caught the dreaded Rabbititus! Taking place almost entirely in Elmer's suburban home, 'Hare Tonic's' success is entirely down to Bugs's inspired heckling. He is never in any real danger (he forfeits an easy escape early on in the cartoon in order to have some fun torturing Elmer) and is therefore free to carry his devilish bluff to the extreme, convincing Elmer that he is trapped quarantined with an infectious rabbit. In contrast with cartoons in which Bugs heckles his opponent in a variety of different ways, 'Hare Tonic' simply extends one routine across the whole seven minutes and it works fantastically, right up to the great fourth-wall breaking climax. While it doesn't quite weigh in with Jones's all time classics (and bear in mind the level of quality that involves), 'Hare Tonic' is still a lesser known piece of sheer brilliance that I would recommend to anyone.

Hewwo...Hewwo??...Hewwo?..HewWO!!

[movieman_kev · 9/10 · 3 November 2005]

Elmer Fudd returning home after getting Bugs Bunny from the grocery store, with every intention of making him into rabbit stew. But Bugs soon has Elmer thinking that he will catch Rabbititus from being around rabbits. This cartoon is hilarious and is among the funniest pairings of Bugs and Elmer out there. I enjoyed the playing with the audience aspect of the short as well, making me wish I had been alive way back when to see this one in the theaters as it was originally intended for. This animated short can be found on Disk 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 set.

My Grade: A

Chuck Jones directs a remarkably strong picture, considering his frequent stumbling early in his career; Elmer Fudd has never been stupider

[J. Spurlin · 11 March 2007]

Elmer Fudd buys Bugs Bunny from a meat market as he anticipates a nice rabbit stew. Bugs climbs out of his basket to tell him he's been robbed: the rabbit's gone! Incredibly, Elmer believes him. The dope eventually catches on when Bugs shoves him into the basket and then carries it himself. Somehow Elmer manages to get Bugs home, but the wily rabbit easily escapes. But wait! Why waste a great opportunity? Bugs returns to "heckle that character." He fools Elmer, through a faked radio program, into believing that there's an epidemic of something called "rabbititus" going about. Through Bugs's trickery he sees spots, a coat on Bugs's tongue and his own rabbity image reflected at him in a "mirror" that's really just Bugs after the glass has been removed. Dr. Killpatient arrives to help, but he has a suspiciously fuzzy tail. But it's we in the audience who may prove Bugs's ultimate dupes.

This is a very good short, remarkably so from Chuck Jones, who had not yet hit his stride in 1945 and was frequently bringing out interesting failures or tepid successes. Elmer Fudd has never been stupider; the hilarious business on the telephone is reason enough to see this.

This cartoon is available on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three," Disc 1.

Very enjoyable

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 28 May 2010]

Yes I agree that the story is predictable, but Hare Tonic is still thoroughly enjoyable regardless. It starts off wonderfully with classic witty banter between Bugs and Elmer, and everything else is fast-paced slapstick jokes including Bugs dressing up a doctor and tricking Elmer into thinking he has "rabbititus" and one at the end involving the audience. And you know what, all of them jokes. The animation is colourful and lively, and the music is very strong. And the dialogue ranges from good to hilarious. As for the characters, here you have Bugs at his most sadistic and arrogant and Elmer at his stupidest and you have a perfect pair. Both characters are on top form, and are superbly voiced by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan. Overall, very enjoyable, maybe not quite a classic but great all the same. 9/10 Bethany Cox

exceptionally funny

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 14 June 2006]

This is a very funny Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd cartoon. Elmer catches Bugs and brings him home in order to eat him. However, Bugs, as usual, has other plans! He convinces Elmer that there is a disease called "Rabbititis" and that rabbits are the carriers. Then, he slowly convinces Elmer that he, too, has the disease--by appealing to how suggestible Elmer was and by painting spots all over his glasses when he's asleep! Elmer puts on the glasses and panics, at which point Bugs enters dressed as a doctor and continues to mess with poor Elmer's mind! It's extremely funny and ultimately, the film ends with one of he funnier endings in Loony Toons history, as Bugs looks out at the audience and tries to convince everyone that they, too, have Rabititis!

we as a society are TOO worried about diseases

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 2 April 2007]

Clearly nothing was sacred to the Termite Terrace Crowd. In "Hare Tonic", Bugs Bunny tricks Elmer Fudd into thinking that the latter has a rampaging, deadly disease called "rabbit-itus", going so far as to paint dots all over the room to convince Elmer. How fun it would be to try that! Of course, Elmer - the sap that he is - believes just about anything, so maybe it wouldn't be so easy in real life.

I have to say that beyond being just a wacky cartoon, this one brings up the issue - if inadvertently - about how our society is too afraid of diseases, and we focus on the wrong things. People do things like put toilet paper on the toilet seat; it turns out that there are more germs on a computer keyboard than on a toilet seat. And anyway, we should focus on fighting terrorism while protecting civil liberties.

But I digress. It's a really funny cartoon.

As a survivor of the Great Onion Scare . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 29 October 2016]

. . . a few years back, when patrons of a restaurant chain rhyming with "Baco Tell" began dropping like flies and the American Fast Food Foister first blamed onion greens and PERMANENTLY banned them from its already scanty stock of food ingredients WITHOUT DUE PROCESS (and NEVER reinstating them, even after admitting that the onion greens were perfectly nutritious, wholesome, healthy, tasty and edible all along--it was the cheap, lowest-bidder lettuce plucked from fields without Port-a-Johns by Unvetted alien saboteurs which doomed so many; lettuce, of course, stayed in Baco Tell's stew of offerings, since it costs a few cents less per pound than onion greens), Warner Bros. uses HARE TONIC to warn U.S. consumers of Baco Tell's upcoming shenanigans. A careful viewer of HARE TONIC will notice how its plot serves perfectly to provide a blow-by-blow report about Baco Tell's perfidy in besmirching the good name of onion greens. Bugs Bunny labels the symptoms of Baco Tell Lettuce Poisoning as "Rabbititus" in HARE TONIC, but all aspects of Baco Tell Lettuce Disease will be familiar to anyone who suffered and survived it back in the day. As Bugs says, first you see spots before your eyes. Next, the spots start whirling around. This is followed by tics, spasms, convulsions, headaches, nausea, diarrhea, fainting, and--in fatal cases--death with government-mandated cremation as "Toxic Medical Waste." I wish that I had seen HARE TONIC before I began eating at Baco Tell!

Elmer Should Take Up Another Quarry

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 1 January 2019]

In this cartoon, Bugs faces off against his old friend, Elmer Fudd. There are efforts along the way to get him, but her routinely escapes. The best part is when Elmer calls a doctor to treat Bugs. Of course, Bugs has already escaped and now is paying Doctor Killpatient. Elmer is made to see spots because he may have "rabbititus." There are some nice little sight gags with the erstwhile hunter getting it from all sides.

Bugs A Sadist; Elmer, A Dope

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 21 May 2007]

If nothing else, this cartoon points out two basic facts: Bugs Bunny is very sadistic, and Elmer Fudd is extremely dumb. Immediately, to prove the latter, Fudd buys a rabbit to make rabbit stew but doesn't know a rabbit when Bugs pops out of the basket. Finally, after some gags, he says, "Oh, you twicked me; you're the wabbit."

At least Bugs acknowledges the little man's ignorance with the statement, "He don't know me very well, do he?" (Have you ever noticed how bad the grammar is in many of these cartoons?)

Bugs' sadistic side comes into play when he decides to torment the idiot, standing behind Elmer's big radio and pretending to be an announcer, saying the Health Department is warning people against bringing any rabbits into their house. He then describes the horrible symptoms one would get if infected with this contagious "rabbititus" disease.

The gag of the cartoon is mainly BB trying to convince Elmer he's caught the disease. Funny scenes included Bugs smelling himself and saying, "Oh, goodness; don't tell me I offend;" walking around with the kettle attached to his butt; his "coated" tongue and the '40s expression, "Come on, Jackson, cut yourself a slice of rug! (which means, let's dance).

Not being one who particularly laughs at sadism on display, I thought this cartoon was just "fair."

A great cartoon about paranoia....

[boris-26 · 27 November 2001]

HARE TONIC is one of the best Bugs Bunny vs. Elmer Fudd shorts out there. Bugs convinces Elmer Fudd that "rabbititus", an epidemic of doomsday proportions is sweeping through the nation. He creates this illusion in Mr. Fudd's eyes by painting the walls a sickly color and dressing up as the bearded, and very dangerous Dr. Killpatient. Viva Bugs!

Underrated and fantastic

[langchris-10947 · 10/10 · 2 September 2018]

This cartoon really should get more attention as one of the best Bugs Bunny cartoon, if not THE best. It is an extremely creative practical joke on Elmer Fudd. The best moments are when Elmer Fudd continues to stay on the phone asking "Huwwo?", Bugs throwing a fit, and when he breaks the fourth wall at the very end. An underrated classic.

A Long-Time Favorite

[Loren-3 · 8/10 · 7 September 2017]

Yet another crazy encounter with Bugs and Elmer Fudd, with that waskily wabbit using the pretense of being infected with "rabbititis" to flummox poor Elmer yet again. This is one I grew up with, back when televisions were more black & white than color, and one which I get a kick out of to this day.

One particular element worth noting is the title music Carl Stalling uses after the Merry Melodies intro. The potent swing / jazz theme Carl lays down here is at least as infectious as Bugs supposedly was, perhaps more so! I never heard Stalling rock out like this very often, which makes that rollicking music all the more memorable.

Elmer is good, the rest isn't

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 31 August 2017]

"Hare Tonic" is an 8-minute cartoon from 1945, so this one is already over 70 years old. And as this is another collaboration between Chuck Jones, Tedd Pierce and Mel Blanc for Warner Bros., you will certainly know already that it is another Bugs Bunny short. There are basically two stories in here, the first pretty generic one being about Elmer wanting to make rabbit stew and the second about Bugs tricking Elmer into thinking his house is contaminated with a rare illness named "rabbititus". But Titus kinda fits because Bugs is a real Satan's brew in here and you could almost feel sorry at times for Elmer. So yeah this one is all about cooking and contamination, even if both is of course not part itself of the story. It's more about the attempt for one and the phenomenon of the other. Elmer is pretty great in here (or I should say Blanc with his amazing voice acting once again) and he'd have deserved a better rating as it's one of the best I have seen him in. But sadly the two key stories are so forgettable and it's been a while since I watched a Bugs Bunny cartoon where I found him so forgettable. The breaking of the 4th wall does not make the dots plot any better, actually more repetitive only. The mirror reflection scene was fine, the coated tongue joke was a nice little play on words. But that's really all the positive here. Even the title is bad. Don't watch, this one gets a thumbs-down.

A great Bugs cartoon.

[rapt0r_claw-1 · 21 December 2003]

This is a funny cartoon, and one of the better early Bugs Bunny films. It's very good entertainment.

The plot is new and original, and a little bit deeper than the rest of the cartoons. This is not just any chase. Elmer thinks he has "rabbititus" and is scared to death of his prey and quarantined inside his own house.

The animation is good, though Bugs is basic, but the use of color and spots is excellent.

You can get a lot of laughs just by watching with the sound off. Bugs's "fits" are hilarious, and the classic mirror gag and dance are all there.

The script is great, what with the rabbititus report and the gags about Elmer's water bill. It's very memorable.

Bugs's tricks in this cartoon are great and original, which makes this cartoon stand out from the rest.

So, all in all, this is an excellent, funny cartoon, an original story with original gags and the old classics. Great entertainment.

Strong start but not as strong delivery

[bob the moo · 22 November 2003]

Elmer Fudd is merrily on his way home with a rabbit in hi basket for stewing. When he gets home, Bugs easily escapes but decides to stay and have some fun with Fudd. Pretending that he has a contagious rabbit disease, he makes Elmer scared to be in the same room as him.

This film starts out very well with some classic banter between Elmer and Bugs about what is in the basket (`there's no rabbit in here doc' says Bugs `you've been robbed') but once Bugs decides just to wind him up with the disease, it does go downhill a little.

The material over the rest of the short isn't as strong as the start and isn't as funny. Only occasionally does Bugs really come across as strong in his japes and tricks, the rest of the time it is pretty basic. The end of the film resorts to that old chestnut of involving the audience – it's OK, but it doesn't work as well on TV.

Overall this is still worth seeing because Bugs is Bugs and is still fun to watch, however the promise of the material in the opening scene isn't met by the rest of the film.

"Mama's little baby loves wabbit stew"

[Petey-10 · 25 October 2011]

Elmer Fudd is carrying Bugs Bunny in a basket.He has purchased Mr. Bunny from a grocery store, and is now taking him home to make some wabbit stew.Sounds delicious! But, the rabbit being Bugs Bunny, that wabbit stew is never happening.Gee, ain't that a spoiler! When at Elmer's home, Bugs comes up with a scheme.He effects a radio broadcast and warns of a disease called "rabbititus".Now Elmer and Bugs are quarantined inside, Elmer being scared for his life.Then arrives a certain Dr. Killpatient.Hare Tonic (1945) is directed by Charles M. "Chuck" Jones.The voice artists are the regular Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan.This Warner Bros. short contains a lot of fun stuff, like Bugs and Elmer doing the Russian dance.Bugs also does the mirror gag almost better than Groucho Marx did.In the end Bugs suggests we all have the rabbititus.I see 'em spots...And it's all going black.

"Oh my goodness! Don't tell me I offend."

[slymusic · 22 July 2009]

Directed by Charles M. "Chuck" Jones, "Hare Tonic" is a fine Warner Bros. cartoon that once again pits Bugs Bunny against his favorite nemesis: Elmer Fudd. Fudd brings Bugs home for a rabbit stew, and Bugs easily escapes. But get this: Bugs actually comes to his senses and realizes that if he leaves Elmer's house, there'd be no cartoon! So he rushes back and invents a gigantic whopper about a disease knows as "rabbititus", which scares Elmer out of his wits. Things get even screwier when Bugs poses as a bearded, bespectacled doctor.

Here are my favorite moments from "Hare Tonic". I always enjoy hearing cartoon characters singing, as Elmer does at the beginning of this film with his version of "Mamie's Wittle Baby Woves Wabbits" while he carries Bugs home in a basket. Bugs then childishly begs Elmer to let him take a peek at the rabbit, after which Bugs stuffs Elmer in the basket and takes over the singing! (Bugs can't seem to get the song out of his head, since he later sings it while sitting in Elmer's cooking pot slicing carrots.) And when "Dr. Gilpatient" (Bugs) tests Elmer's reflexes, Elmer goes into a familiar Russian kick dance, and Bugs decides to join him in a busby hat and boots; the subsequent "heys" are hilarious!

"Hare Tonic" is a fun cartoon in which Elmer Fudd has somewhat of a different look than usual, but who cares? Bugs Bunny realizes the need for his audience to be entertained, so he sticks around and makes the most of his "victimhood".