Good start, but then it gets ruined

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

With a likable animation style that happens to crop up in a few good Looney Tunes cartoons, Hyde and Hare is, for myself, one of the better episodes. What I like about the cartoon is that it combines the traditional wild, slapstick WB themes and the rarer Disney-type themes that can run in Looney Tunes. Based on Jekyll and Hyde, Bugs Bunny lives contentedly in a park, every day looking forward to meet the man who feeds him. One day, when Bugs goes up to retrieve a carrot from the man, he decides that he would like to just live with him and be done with it. The man seems to be very gentle, kind and quite delicate and takes to the (talking) rabbit, bringing him to his house. We later find out that the man is a doctor and has an evil potion that can temperamentally turn him into a monster. Cartoon confusions commence...Expect a traditional Looney Tunes ending, as the first half is the Disney-type stuff. It is not all sweet and fluffy, but it is no big issue.I recommend this episode to people who like "turning worms" Looney Tunes episodes, to people who like Bugs Bunny (he is very good in this episode) and to people who have a vague idea (or a big idea!) of the Jekyll and Hyde story. Enjoy "Hyde and Hare"! :-)

Friz Freleng's 'Hyde and Hare' is a tedious and ugly cartoon which I've disliked from the first time I saw it. Adopted by Dr. Jekyll, Bugs Bunny encounters the psychotic Mr. Hyde. Attempting to save himself and Jekyll, he gets into a confusing chase in which he can't understand how Hyde keeps breaking down his defences and where Jekyll keeps disappearing to. It's a one joke cartoon executed with no real pizazz and so it just becomes extremely repetitive. The character designs and backgrounds are awkward, angular and garish. Mr. Hyde is particularly disappointing as he represents a missed opportunity for a really creative and frightening design. Instead, he is just a slightly ugly green man with long, dragging hands. Freleng directed a better take on the Jekyll and Hyde story five years later with the Tweety and Sylvester short 'Hyde and Go Tweet', which worked better thanks to the two way chase between the characters. With no real motivation to do anything but escape, Bugs has very little to do here but panic and hide, panic and hide, again and again. The result is a cartoon that never even threatens to come alive right up until its predictable, half-hearted climax.

Bugs Bunny loves his daily feeding of carrots by Dr. Jekyll so much that he wants to live with him. The good Doctor is happy to oblige. But little to Bugs knowledge Jekyll has a small addiction of drinking a potion to change into the homicidal Mr. Hyde who wants to kill the rabbit. This cartoon is alright but really is a one joke premise that wears thin before long (Jekyll turns into Hyde, scares Bugs who runs away, Hyde changes back into Jekyll, bugs is happy to see him, he changes again, Bugs runs away...etcetera over and over again). This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional music only track.My Grade: B-

Bugs Bunny here presents himself as a normal, everyday bunny rabbit who is adopted and taken home by the mild-mannered Dr Jekyll.Once in the house (playing the Minute Waltz by Chopin, no less) Bugs is startled to find himself chased by a green faced monster wielding an axe - Mr Hyde, after Dr Jekyll's transformation. During the chase the monster changes back to the good doctor several times and then back again (usually once the doctor and Bugs are in a locked room, or a cupboard, etc.).Finally Bugs makes a run for it, but being the rabbit we know and love, and not that normal little bunny, he's taken something he shouldn't ...'Hyde and Hare' is another hilarious and clever Bugs Bunny cartoon, as we have come to expect. It sends up the Stevenson novella and has echoes of the film versions in the transformation from Jekyll to Hyde. It can be found on the double-feature Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde DVD, alongside the feature films from 1932 and 1941.