Cartoon a Day: Hare Ribbin'
Hare Ribbin'
1944
Directed by Bob Clampett (as Robert Clampett)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 5
Well everyone, sorry that I completely blew off a week of "Cartoon a Day" posts. So much of last week was spent driving across the country that I didn't even try. So let's get back on track with a Bob Clampett directed Bugs Bunny short, "Hare Ribbin'."
This is a strange cartoon, and that's saying a lot when talking about Bob Clampett. Ultimately, only some of it works. In this one a dog, with strange hair and a voice that just doesn't fit, is after Bugs. Bugs gets in a few good jabs before being chased underwater, where he impersonates a mermaid with fun results, but then the short never leaves the underwater environment and we're left wondering why.
It's not that the gags aren't funny underwater, there are still some fun bits, but the underwater setting becomes distracting. There is an odd distortion effect put over the animation to make it look like we're looking through water. It just ends up being headache inducing and many gags, and great animation, is lost because we're trying to look past this goofy effect. All in all, the short is only mildly amusing. Guess you can't win 'em all.
1 comment:
The dog's voice was probably an attempt to impersonate Bert Gordon, known on radio as "The Mad Russian". His catchphrases were "How do you doooo?" and "Do you mean it?", both of which were quoted at the beginning and end of the cartoon, respectively. It was probably the reason for the hair too. Look up a picture of him and you'll find out why they gave the dog that hair.
Post a Comment