What a beautiful movie!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

With footage taken from CAVEMAN INKI, it is basically the same old Bugs Bunny versus Elmer Fudd story, only this time it is set in prehistoric times. While Elmer Fudd has hair and a unibrow, Bugs Bunny has a long buck tooth. Here is a fact, there is such thing as a prehistoric rabbit. It is called a Palaeolagus, which looks like a rabbit, but smaller on the years. It is pretty fun to watch and it is directed by Robert McKimson. In one scene there is a narrator that sounds like Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, Captain Caveman. All in all, give it a watch, it is highly enjoyable. Not rated, but a G-rating will work.

. . . with "inspiring" the later plagiarized rip-off by a rival film studio, THE FLINTSTONES. About two minutes into PRE-HYSTERICAL HARE, the narrator introduces viewers to a character named "Elmer Fuddstone." The remainder of PRE-HYSTERICAL HARE documents the fact that Mr. Fuddstone's I.Q. is in the 80s range, which would be exactly where "Fred Flintstone" later tested when he was reassessed during his application process to get his old job back at the gravel pit (Episode #129). Though the copycats may have added a few lame frills to the basic outline of PRE-HYSTERICAL HARE (such as spouses, kids, pets, and foot-powered cars), this "padding" was more the result of Umpteen Hours of Boob Tube screen time to fill than any true sparks of genius. When push came to shove, it's a crying shame that the SCOTUS copyright case of FUDDSTONE vs. FLINTSTONE came down more to which corporation had the best lawyers rather than "For which side are Our Better Angels pulling?" However, the Truth will always out, so some year a Day of Reckoning is coming in regard to PRE-HYSTERICAL HARE being shafted.

ACJIEVING AN OUTSTANDINGLT successful series such as Warner Brothers BUGS NUNNY is a difficult enough job. But maintaining a high level is even more so. In a sense, a character and series become a sort of victim of its own success and the expectations generated in the mind of the unsuspecting public.BY Putting YOUR surrealistic protagonist in a variety of situations and occupations you attempt to keep things fresh and original; at least as it can be expected to be. WHEN THE SERIES has enjoyed a long and successful run, it must by its very nature, begin to repeat, rework and turn to sequels. The next step is to look at previous episodes and look to do the opposite in terms of settings, circumstance and pursuit by the "enemy"/antagonists. (In this case, it would be either Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam.WE SUSPECT THAT this "through the looking glass" approach was the gateway that led to today's reviewee, PRE-HYSTERICAL HARE.DIRECTED BY VETERAN Robert McKimson, Bugs were certainly not in the hand of a neophyte or "hack". Mr. McKimson had certainly done many Bugs pictures before; along with colleagues like Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Fritz Freleng and Chuck Jones.BUT THERE MAY have been other forces coming into play here. Was the competition from television cutting into budgets? Were the production members suffering a sort of malady akin to "Writer's Cramp?" Was there in inordinate desire to move on to new territory and push the envelope?OUR GUESS IS hat there was a certain amount of each of these negative factors. Coupling with the notion of the 'opposite setting', which probably was at the heart of this "throwback" setting.THERE HAVE BEEN other prehistoric themed cartoons in our memory. We recall one LOONEY TUNES/MERRIE MELODIES entry from circa 1940 that featured a Caveman who was a caricature of Jack Benny. Of course the Hannah-Barbera television series production, THE FLINTSTONES came along a year later. There was no similarity in any of the three; other than having Stone Age settings.AS YOU HAVE no doubt gathered by now, this is not a favourite with us. Although no Warner Brothers cartoon is without some share of chuckles and otherwise positives, this is not very memorable.TWO ** STARS.

As other reviewers have noted, this is one the of the few duds in the classic Looney Tunes era. It starts with Bugs being chased by Elmer, then falling into an underground cave. In the cave he finds an ancient film reel, which he takes home and watches. The film is a documentary from 10,000 BC and features a caveman version of Elmer hunting a sabre-toothed rabbit version of Bugs. Very corny. Mel Blanc's voice work is fine but Elmer sounds like he has a cold, due to his being voiced by Dave Barry instead of Arthur Q. Bryan. The stock music is generic and doesn't fit the action of the cartoon well. The animation is not the best, either. The backgrounds are flat and the colors are dull and kind of gritty. The worst offense of the short is that it's just not funny. Every gag and line falls flat. It's hard to believe this is from the 1950s. It's pretty much '60s TV quality. Avoid unless you're a Bugs completist.