Edgar Allan Pooh
. . . to the Men and Culture of the American South. Warner Bros. was never in ideological lock-step with studios such as MGM (which released the infamously revisionist and harmful public nuisance labeled GONE WITH THE WIND). HILLBILLY HARE opens with the "Martin Brothers" demonstrating to Bugs Bunny that guys in such Southern regions as the Arkansas Ozarks have never heard tell of razors. It goes on to show that such dudes feel naked without an over-sized gun in their fists to compensate for whatever phallic inadequacies or short-comings they may feel at the moment. When Bugs is able to tie up the barrel of Curt Martin's shot gun into a pretzel, it's a clue that Warner's animators want their audience to know that a Southerner's gun is not simply cold, hard blue steel, but also a warm, pliable tube more likely to spit out on themselves than anyone else as they manipulate it. Next, Bugs demonstrates that Southern gentleman are prone to be taken in by transvestites. Bugs throws on some Daisy Dukes, and the Martins begin drooling all over themselves. Finally, Bugs demonstrates how Sons of the South are dumber than posts--so dense, in fact, that all it takes is a malicious square dance caller's perverse rhymes to make them clobber each other with fence posts! It's hard for anyone who's seen Will Smith's CONCUSSION to believe that the NFL still will be in business five years from now. But as HILLBILLY HARE indicates, as long as there are Southern boys, we'll always have football!
John T. Ryan
IF IT WEREN'T for one particular extended gag, this could very well have been indistinguishable from so many of the Bugs Bunny pictures of its day. That's not to say that it wasn't an enjoyable and worthwhile 8 minutes well spent, for it would have been Any BB Cartoon of this period is pigeon holed in this manner.UP TO THE point of which we speak, it was typically a "aren't we smarter than those hicks, hayseeds and ridge-runners. It's the same premise that spawned and sustained THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES for so many seasons, a one joke comedy extended to the nth degree.THIS ONE GAG that we're raving about is when Bugs becomes the Square Dance Caller. It lasts for a good 2 1/2 minutes or so and is really a Tour de Force for Voice actor, Mel Blanc.THIS ROUTINE ALONE should put Mel into Animators Heaven as swell as their Hall of Fame (if there is one!).
Petri Pelkonen
The hillbilly brothers Curt and Punkinhead Martin haven't had luck in the rabbit hunt.Now they have determined to get Bugs Bunny.Probably not the easiest target.Hillbilly Hare is a Merrie Melodies cartoon from 1950.Its director is Robert McKimson and it's produced and released through Warner Bros. Pictures.Bugs is voiced by Mel Blanc, who else.He also does the voice of Curt Martin.Stan Freberg is the voice of Punkinhead Martin.Then there's also John T. Smith.This short represents slapstick comedy at its best.Bugs Bunny's long square dance number with the song is a riot.We also see Bugs wearing women's clothes.That makes the boys whistle.This is seven minutes pure Bugs Bunny fun.
TheOtherFool
Banned cartoon this time takes a swing at those southern red-neck hill- billies, who talk funny and aren't too clever.Bugs is being chased by two of these hill-billies, who happen to be brothers and are looking for some animals to kill.The first part of this short film is nothing special, but in the second part things all burst out into a song, sung in part by Bugs and it involves a great dance by the three characters. When Bugs takes over the song he makes the hill-billies do these crazy things like dancing with pigs and stuff like that. Very good song, check it out!Great fun, in particular in it's second part: 7/10.
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