Sahara Hare

Sahara Hare
Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny) series
"When I say whoa, I mean WHOA!"
Directed by	I. Freleng
Produced by	Edward Selzer
Story by	Warren Foster
Voices by	Mel Blanc
Music by	Milt Franklyn
Animation by	Gerry Chiniquy Ted Bonnicksen Arthur Davis
Layouts by	Hawley Pratt
Backgrounds by	Irv Wyner
Studio	Warner Bros. Cartoons
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date(s)	March 26, 1955 (USA)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 minutes
Language	English

Sahara Hare is a 1955 Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short created in 1954 and directed by Friz Freleng.

Plot

This is another classic battle between Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam (Riff Raff Sam). Bugs pops up out from underground, thinking he has reached Miami Beach, when in reality he is in the Sahara Desert, presumably from "not making that left toin at Albukoike". He comes prepared with a beach chair, sunscreen, sunglasses and even a bucket of carrots. Bugs thinks he has found a nice park when he stumbles upon a water hole and a palm tree. (Much of this scene reuses animation from Frigid Hare.)

Meanwhile, Sam, riding on a camel, suddenly comes upon Bugs' tracks and exclaims: "Great horny toads! A trespasser, gettin' footy-prints all over my desert!" Sam orders the camel to move after the foot-prints and then orders it to slow down ("Whoa, camel, whoa!! Whoa!! WHOA!!!! Oh come on, whoa! When I say 'whoa!' I mean 'WHOA!'") before whacking it on the head with his rifle and knocking it out. As Sam scolds the camel for not slowing down, Bugs grabs Sam's keffiyeh and uses it to dry himself. Bugs then asks Sam his catchphrase "Eeehhh...what's up doc?" Sam angrily retorts "I'm no doc ya fleabitten varmint! I am Riff-Raff Sam the riffiest riff that ever riffed a raff!"

Bugs flees and Sam orders his camel to follow Bugs, but it does not run until Sam yells "When I say 'giddy-up' I mean 'GIDDY-UP!' and whacks it in the posterior. Sam runs after the camel and orders it to slow down, repeating his "Whoa" phrase before hitting it in the head with the rifle once again ("When I say 'whoa' I mean WHOA!"). Bugs flees into a deserted French army base.

Sam orders Bugs to surrender and open the door but Bugs throws open the door when Sam is in its way. The door crushes Sam and when Sam screams for Bugs to close it, it closes to reveal a flattened raging Sam. Sam then tries various methods to getting in the fort that all fail:

• Sam tries to pole-vault into the fort but he ends up hitting a castle tower which shatters out its opposite side leaving an imprint in the shape of Sam's body.
• Sam tries to saw out a brick in the gate to get entrance into the fort but Bugs puts a cannon in the hole, much to Sam's shock. Bugs fires, launching Sam across the desert. He smashes through a tree and leaves a scar on some sandy hills from where Sam was shoved through.
• Sam uses an elephant to try to force his way into the fort but Bugs sets a toy mouse and lets it through the door. When the elephant sees the mouse it gets scared and uses Sam to swat it before it flees, leaving an injured and dizzy Sam behind.
• Sam tries to sling-shot himself into the fort but first he hits a tree and slides off it. Sam then chops down the tree with a fire-ax and tries again but hits another tree next to the dead tree before sliding off again.
• Sam puts a long board of wood on the fort gate's side and tries to climb it. Bugs, waiting at the top, uses a fire-ax to chop the wood in two bits; when the wood falls in two bits, Sam is revealed to have magically been chopped in two as well.

Eventually Bugs sets up a trap where in an entrance to the fort, Sam must open several doors to get into the fort; Bugs sets the final door with bombs so that if Sam tries to open it the explosives will detonate. As Sam continues to open all doors Bugs walks off. He then stops, turns around and waits ("I wonder if he's stubborn enough to open all those doors.") until a large explosion occurs ("Yep. He's stubborn enough."). Bugs continues walking away.

A hole then opens up on the ground. Similar to Bugs' arrival a beach chair, an umbrella and a bucket of ice come flying out of the hole. Daffy Duck then jumps out of the hole. Like Bugs in the beginning Daffy thinks he has arrived at Miami Beach and enthusiastically runs toward the non-existent ocean. Bugs tries to tell Daffy that he is not at Miami Beach, but Daffy ignores him. Bugs gives up and says, "Eh, let him find out for himself.".

Availability

Sahara Hare can be found on VHS in Yosemite Sam: The Good, the Bad, and the Ornery, and on DVD in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4.

See also

• List of American films of 1955
• List of Bugs Bunny cartoons
• List of Yosemite Sam cartoons
• Rif, a mainly mountainous region of northern Morocco

External links

• Sahara Hare at the Internet Movie Database