From my favorite movies..

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

" . . . it's rabbit Baby gets." So ends this Merrie Melodies cartoon, after nearly 7 minutes and 44 seconds of mayhem in the kitchen of a restaurant seemingly populated only by celebrities. "Baby" refers to Lauren Bacall, who is dining out with her fried rabbit craving husband Humphrey Bogart. Other Mel Blanc impersonations here include Jack Carson, Sydney Greenstreet, Chico and Harpo Marx, Frank McHugh, Ray Milland, Carmen Miranda, Gregory Peck, Zachary Scott, Alexis Smith, Barbara Stanwyck, Leopold Stokowski, and Clifton Webb--many of whom have been dead so long and are regarded as being of such little importance in the current century that their surnames come up as typos on this site's spell checker. The ageless Bugs Bunny himself, despite his possible double entendre at the close, is imperiled throughout this brief animation by his nemesis, Elmer Fudd (the eatery's cook\waiter here). Though director Fritz Freleng feels compelled to resort to a cream pie barrage by the end of the film, a root canal certainly would be a more painful experience than watching this colorful artifact from the 1900s.

Humphrey Bogart is in the Mocrumbo restaurant (a spoof of the legendary Mucombo in LA), where Elmer Fudd is working as a chef. Bogart wants fried rabbit, so Elmer chases Bugs around in hopes of making him dinner. Half the fun is the chase and all the shenanigans that entails. The other half is spotting all the personality parodies. There's Bogert, Grocho Marx, and Lauren Bacall, of course. But there's also Leopold Stokowski, Gregory Peck, Ray Milland, Frank Sinatra, Sydney Greenstreet, and Carmen Miranda. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional commentary by Micheal Barrier.My Grade: A-

Directed by Friz Freleng, "Slick Hare" is an excellent Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon. Freleng didn't like to use Elmer Fudd in these cartoons, but his handling of Elmer is well done here; Elmer doesn't seem as big of an idiot as he usually does.The main thrust of the plot involves Humphrey Bogart (in a fine caricature, I might add) demanding Elmer, a waiter at the Mocrumbo, to bring him an order of fried rabbit or else! And as Elmer tries to catch Bugs Bunny, the gags are plentiful! Bugs' Groucho Marx disguise (as well as his walk, cigar, and one-liner joke) is simply hilarious. He also engages in quite a lively conga dance. At the opening of this short, Leopold Stokowski (another excellent caricature) conducts a jukebox playing an ultra-quick rendition of "We're in the Money" while all the patrons briefly crowd the dance floor, applaud, and dash back to their tables. Bugs disguises himself as a waiter and orders a few pies from Elmer, who gets them splatted in his face; Elmer catches on to Bugs' tricks and throws the next pie, missing Bugs and hitting the perturbed Bogart, who calmly asks Elmer, "Why did you hit me in the face with a coconut custard pie with whipped cream?" "Slick Hare" is a winning cartoon with plenty of laughs. Also, watch for a few cameo caricatures of Sydney Greenstreet, Frank Sinatra, and Lauren Bacall!

In a slick New York club for the rich and famous, Mr Humphrey Bogart orders rabbit. Waiter Elmer Fudd is at a loss where he'll get fresh rabbit at that time of night until he finds Bugs Bunny feasting on carrots. With running out, Fudd tries to get Bugs into the pot.Starting out with a range of topical cameos from entertainers and film stars of the period, this film risks being hit and miss in the today but happily many of them will still be recognisable to modern audiences. After these jokes we move into what is the usual Bugs/Elmer fare of chases and trickery. Most of this is pretty funny and it all moves quite slickly, some of it is a little lesser than it should be but none of it really misses.Bugs is a god character, even if it feels like he isn't the star here. Elmer does good work as a waiter but Bogart's voice work lets him down and doesn't totally sound realistic or natural. The celebrities were pretty well caricatured and quite funny (or at least those I recognised).Overall this was an enjoyable short apart from the unavoidable failing that I wasn't totally sure who all the celebrities were at the start.