Was there something else about "Heckling Hare" Leon didn't like?

[J Lee]

Since the cartoon was on this morning and is, of course, famous as the one that helped force out Tex Avery at Warner Bros., I was wondering -- aside from the problem Schlesinger (and reportedly Jack Warner) had with Avery's original "Here we go again" cliff-plunge ending, did Leon have some other sort of problem with the opening titles?

It features a Bugs on top of the WB shield for the first time -- and it's a Bugs who is clearly pissed off at the audience for interrupting his carrot chewing, and who then pulls the Merrie Melodies title card down. Warners kept the opening Bugs-on-the-shield titles for the next two years, but from then on the opening image faded into the Merrie Melodie titles when Bugs began giving the audience a dirty look, eliminating the rest of the segment. The "annoyed" Bugs yanking down the MM titles didn't return until 1945, after Schlesinger had sold the studio and Bugs' stardom and personality were well established.

Maybe if Leon couldn't deal with Avery's original ending of having his new starring character (and Willougby) falling to their deaths, he also had a problem with is new starring character giving the audience a "go to hell" look five seconds into the cartoon. Just try to imagine Disney -- or anyone else but Avery -- allowing that with their potentially biggest money-making star.

I've never seen anything about this mentioned, but it's always struck me as strange that they would use Avery's opening gag for one cartoon, the abandon it for the next four years.

Just a thought.

[Jack]

I never really thought of it that way, I always wondered why he sometimes pulled down the titles, and sometimes didn't. That was always my favorite Bugs opening too, mainly because of that look he gives us (he is a smart alec, after all). Well, maybe that's why they eventually went to the giant (gleeful) Bugs Head.




Jack:D

[Sogturtle]

Ya know John, your point on "Heckling Hare"'s opening titles was a good one. My own sneaking hunch regarding it might be that the angry, ticked-off look from Bugs was aimed even more at Leon himself than at the audience... Think about it... Although Schlesinger was the best boss Tex would ever have, by the time this cartoon was made they were already having a very major dispute. Leon's refusal to let Avery make his "Speaking Of Animals" shorts and attempting to get it fobbed off on the official WB shorts dept. didn't set well with Tex one little bit!! The dates of release of the first three of that series (which Tex claimed clearly as his) tell us that Avery had been hard at work on those while still employed officially by Leon (a clear infraction of his contract as I understand it). Of course once Schlesinger saw the closing gag of "Heckling Hare" matters were escalated to, and way beyond the breaking point. But I would think that the opening of the "angry Bugs" was recognized by Leon as being much like the "f-word" incident from Hugh Harman's "Bosko's Picture Show"... Meant as a personal stab at Leon and to mildly irk the audience....

Whaddya think???

[lislebartman]

From what I have read throughout the years, I heard that the last 40-50 feet were cut from "The Heckling Hare" because it had to do with some then-current dirty joke floating about. Your comments regarding the "sneering Bugs" atop the WB shield are food for thought however. I'll have to keep that in mind next time I watch an older Bugs cartoon.

[J Lee]

It's possible that Bugs' snear was meant for Leon -- Reading Joe Adamson's book on Bugs' 50th birthday, it's clear that Avery wasn't at all happy about even the name "Bugs Bunny," cherished as it is nowadays. Tex thought the alliteration was too cute and derivitve of such kid-friendly Disney characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck (and as Adamson points out, of Porky Pig and Daffy Duck as well, even if Avery did create the latter).

Mike Barrier says the name Bugs Bunny was used by Warners in some publicity stuff (though apparently not for the lobby cards) in "Hare Um' Scare Um," based on Charlie Thorsen's model sheet, while Adamson said that after "A Wild Hare" was such a success, Schlesinger's publicist Rose Horsely was the one who convinced Leon to go with the "Bugs" name. In his interview with Adamson, Tex said his reaction to the name was, "That's sissy, mine's a rabbit! A tall, lanky, mean rabbit. He isn't a fuzzy little bunny."

Given that, the idea of the "tall, lanky, <i>mean</i> rabbit" riding out on top of the WB shield and giving the audience a "go eff youselves" look serves both the purpose to telling the audience "He isn't a fuzzy little bunny," while on a more personal note -- due to the name selection -- telling both Leon and Ms. Horsely to "go eff yourselves."

The smiley-face Bugs McKimson came up with ended up being used on more of his cartoons than any other opening, but it has no chacater insight -- if Bugs Bunny had been drawn at Disney, that's the kind of opening smiley face they would have used, the same way they used them for the mouse, the duck, Pluto, Goofy, etc. Avery's opening told the audience that the rules had changed, and this wasn't any happy-go-lucky 1930s cartoon character you were about to spend seven minutes with.

But since no one had ever done that before in an animated cartoon, Leon probably had some concerns about seeing all the licensing agreements he was no dobut dreaming of go up in smoke if the audience reacted the wrong way to that opening snear, which is why it may have vanished until after Leon sold the studio (and on a side note, it's interesting to note that "Heckling Hare" and the next cartoon to use the snear, "Hare Trigger" were both written by Michael Maltese, which may be a clue about who helped create it and whose idea it was to revive the Avery opening in 1945)

[Sogturtle]

Actually whether or not the name "Bugs Bunny" was used by the WB publicity department for "Hare-um Scare-um" (as Barrier reported) was ultimately irrelevant for Tex in 1940... Why do I say that? Because I own one (maybe the only one) of the original 1940 photo-model sheets photographed from the original drawn by Bob Givens (and Tex) for "A Wild Hare". Working directly under Avery, Givens has clearly labeled it NOT as "Bugs Bunny" but instead as "TEX'S RABBIT"!!! This gives really clear insight that although Avery liked (the departed) Ben "Bugs" Hardaway as a gag-man, he was completely, totally repudiating his mistreatment of the rabbit and even his design and name. And was opting for a vastly funnier and more intelligent RABBIT-critter than Hardaway & Dalton's disturbingly insane squatty bunny. Avery's remembrance of the episode to Adamson does jibe with this. Except the "Rabbit" that emerges for the first time from the hole in "A Wild Hare" is NOT mean per se but is angry and amused at moronic Elmer J. daring to think he can shoot him. ***[An interesting aside here, judging from the bunny presentation drawing by Charlie Thorsen (in Gene Walz's book "Cartoon Charlie") for Ben Hardaway, Thorsen's original version much more closely resembles the Disney rabbit Max Hare or even Paramount's "Moe Hare" than he does the bunny of the Hardaway & Dalton model sheet and cartoon. Why the Thorsen presentation drawing would look sooooo different from the Thorsen model sheet is something I'm still mulling... Unless Cal Dalton and Ben gave orders to "ugly him up" significantly for the model sheet and subsequent cartoon. Orrrr maybe the reverse was true, and they were going to beautify him somewhat later

As I said before Tex was quite unhappy with Schlesinger for shluffing-off his "Speaking Of Animals" idea (less than a year after Avery's brilliance of creating "THE RABBIT", how could Leon refuse??). Avery in a fit of ill-advised humor/anger may have decided to burn all his bridges at Schlesinger's. Think about it... It would have taken SOME TALKING to convince Leon to pony up the extra money to animate a new title sequence... right?? But featuring the new supreme cartoon star of all time (and directed by his creator) would have taken a lot less talking. And then when Schlesinger sits down puffing on his cigar and screens it (and the finished cartoon) he sees Bugs sneering/snarling at him at the opening and then plunging to grease-spot history at the end. Leon HAD to have viewed it (with eyes popping) as a sublimely-vicious Avery get-back for the whole Bunny name thing with Rose Horsely Joseph as well as the "Speaking..." issue. I'm surprised he didn't have Tex dismembered on the spot!!

It's true that Michael Maltese is the credited writer of "Heckling Hare", but Dave Monahan (and Tex) worked uncredited on it as well, and only Mike stayed. Soooo as far as the Bugs Bunny sneer being restored at Maltese's instigation for "Hare Trigger", well that's possible. But only Friz Freleng could have really gotten it restored, nobody else had that much clout. And I think it should be seen as Friz's way of marking the debut of Yosemite Sam, and possibly a salute of sorts to old friend Tex over there at MGM with Screwy Squirrel (this would have the effect of making Avery-created Bugs sneer at Avery-created Screwy!!).

John, your insights on the happy, smiley face Bugs are right on the money, he was utterly different from ANY 1930's animated star, being vastly funnier, faster, wittier and more subtle. While the sneering rabbit does show decided character. And speaking of money, Leon definitely had all those licensing agreements in mind, even back in the Thirties, judging from a Porky Pig book in 1938, Porky toys in '39 etc. In fact with Bugs on board, by 1941 he was probably contemplating a second yacht to be moored next to his "Merrie Melodies", this one likely would have been christened "The Bugs Bunny Special" :)

Buuuuuut I think in general we can agree that your thesis on this opening title sequence is correct, that Leon Schlesinger must have objected vociferously to it and had it snipped off and locked away in a tower till it escaped four years later...

[J Lee]

Tim:

I never knew that about Thorsen's model sheets for Hardaway and Dalton. They, Leon or Henry Bender, may have been worried about too close a resemblence to Wally's rabbit would bring on possible legal action, though since Hardaway seems to have plunged head-first into most of his stuff without a lot of reflection, I doubt he would have cared if his rabbit resembled Max Hare or not.

Tex's refrence to his "mean" rabbit may have been related to the (litteral) butt-kicking Bugs gave Elmer at the end of the cartoon. But you're right that it's not his "meaness" that was the focus of the cartoon; the Jones-like pacing allowed Avery to show a character who actually was thinking on screen the way normal adults would (and the opening scene is pretty remarkable -- before we ever even see his face or hear his voice for the first time, Bugs' personality is established by Avery just though the use of a rabbit hole, an arm, a gun and a carrot)

Freleng probably did play a role in getting the "waddayoulookinat?" Bugs back into the opening titles, though it may have been at the prompting of story man Maltese. Since in 1944 alone Friz already had had his Bugs throw an old lady out in the snow to freeze and stick a teenage girl over burning hot embers while carrying several tons of furniture, household appliances and gym equipment in her arms, he certainly wouldn't have had any problem with reviving the annoyed bunny on the shield opening. And since audiences in 1944 presumably loved those endings as much as they do today, Eddie Selzer probably didn't have any problem with the new opening (odds are he never knew there was an old opening), seeing that it was pretty tame in comparison with what Bugs had been doing in the body of the cartoons since Avery left in 1941.

[Brandon Pierce]

Hmmmmm.... I don't know. This is interesting. However, Bugs sneering at the audience stayed even after The Heckling Hare". All that's cut off in later cartoons, is Bugs pulling down the MM shade.

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by Brandon Pierce
Hmmmmm.... I don't know. This is interesting. However, Bugs sneering at the audience stayed even after The Heckling Hare". All that's cut off in later cartoons, is Bugs pulling down the MM shade.

Please don't dig up threads this old. It's annoying and confusing when people do this.


-Jon