People are voting emotionally.

An action-packed slog

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Directed by Tex Avery, "The Heckling Hare" is a wildly funny Bugs Bunny cartoon featuring some terrific animation. The term "wascawwy wabbit" doesn't even begin to describe Bugs as he takes advantage of a dopey canine who tries to track him down.My favorite moments from "The Heckling Hare" include the following (DON'T read any further if you have not yet seen this cartoon). The best and most memorable sequence in this film is the lengthy, hilarious fall off the cliff (which, by the way, was the cause of some seriously bad blood between producer Leon Schlesinger and Tex Avery, who decided to part ways with Warner Bros. and move on to the cartoon studio at MGM). Bugs does his nonchalant "Strollin' Thru the Park One Day" walk with a carrot jutting from his mouth, after which he and the dog exchange a myriad of funny faces, ending with Bugs applying a baseball bat to the dog's head. And when the dog chases Bugs underwater, Bugs' ears incongruously circle around a tree stump! "The Heckling Hare" is one of those Bugs Bunny cartoons you just gotta see! Catch it on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 Disc 1.

Bugs Bunny sure was a mischievous rascal, particularly in his early years. A smug, conceited and pitiless little fiend, Bugs often appeared to take a near-sadistic pleasure in tormenting his enemies. Of course, that he is the "prey" works considerably in his favour, and audiences will always continue to cheer him on, as nobody likes to see a cute little wabbit become a hunter's next meal. But the most interesting aspect of these cartoons is how the writers cunningly invert the usual scenario, with Bugs, in effect, becoming the hunter of the story, though we instinctively continue to celebrate his successes. Willoughby the hunting dog may be an exceedingly dim-witted canine, perhaps even bordering on mental retardation, but the audience considers him fair game for Bugs' farcical style of bullying. Just why is Bugs the hero in this cartoon, and, indeed, in most of his cartoons? A worthwhile counterpoint to this trend is in Tex Avery's 1941 short 'Hare Beats Rabbit,' starring Bugs and Cecil B. Turtle, in which the bigheaded rabbit is decisively beaten in a foot-race by the quietly-deceitful reptile.These tantalising questions aside, Tex Avery's 'The Heckling Hare (1941)' provides some solid entertainment, which is the real reason why we're watching it. After Willoughby (voiced by Avery) catches Bugs' scent at the entrance of a rabbit-hole, he goes into digging-overdrive, and is so focused on the task at hand that he fails to notice the rabbit (Mel Blanc, as always) idling above him with a carrot between his teeth. Numerous outrageous chase sequences ensue, one ending in the depths of a river and another in a thousands-of-metres plummet from a ridiculously-high cliff. There is some very convincing personality animation in the sequence where Willoughby believes himself to have crushed Bugs to death with his own hands, and he touchingly collapses into tears as he lays a bouquet of flowers at the entrance to the rabbit-hole. Bugs, displaying that uniquely-compassionless streak of his, thinks nothing of this emotion and merely exploits it for some further humiliation.'The Heckling Hare' moves at a brisk pace for seven minutes, and continues at this pace until the closing seconds, when it forgets to add an ending. In actual fact, the cartoon's conclusion was severely truncated by producer Leon Schlesinger, who allegedly felt that the final punchline ("Hold on to your hats, folks. Here we go again!" as the pair fall off another cliff) would somehow be perceived by audiences as having undesirable connotations. This lack of resolution blemishes the film to an extent; I liked the idea of the unusually-protracted freefall, but I was waiting for another good idea to bookend the gag, and it never came (perhaps the instantaneous brakes were a spoof of traditional cartoon physics, abused so frequently for comedic effect). In any case, Avery was aghast at the changes made to his cartoon, and he stormed out of the studio. He eventually wound up with the fortunate folks at MGM, with whom he worked until 1953.

This short led directly to the exit of Tex Avery from Warner Brothers. Some sources say he was fired, others that he quit, but Leon Schlesinger's mistake was Avery's, animation's and MGM's gain. Avery did some fantastic work at MGM, animation gained from his influence on another studio and MGM gained by having the competition between Avery and Hanna and Barbera, which improved both teams. Avery's influence can be seen on the Tom and Jerry series in the mid to late 1940s and it's open to question whether Droopy or Screwball Squirrel would have developed at a crowded Warner Brothers. Who knows what would have developed (or not developed) at Warner Brothers had Avery NOT gone to MGM. Excellent short. Most highly recommended.

Tex Avery finally follows up 1940's "A Wild Hare" with a worthy sequel, in which a hunting dog is sniffing for some rabbit and comes upon a certain wabbit hole.After seeing him in four previous films, the audience has become more familiar with Bugs, so Bugs naturally starts to confide in them with glances and asides ("What can I do t'dis guy next?"). It works better than when Cecil Turtle did the same kind of thing in the previous "Tortoise Beats Hare." We don't know this little green lizard...why should we trust him? Bugs, on the other hand, we know by now is all right...and we can definitely trust him.Not to say that Bugs isn't sugar and spice, of course. He still has a cocky streak to him, and at the end of the picture even sasses the audience. Could Bugs be the first animated hero that shows contempt for the people rooting for him?Mike Maltese introduces some great gags in this story, and it's only a shame that he didn't work on any more Bugs cartoons with Avery, as they could have come up with masterpieces.