Good concept, poorly executed.

As Good As It Gets

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

In this short film which came out briefly after World War II, Bugs goes against an evil scientist (where did he go in the end) and his giant, furry, sneaker-wearing monster. The director is Chuck Jones as always and the voice acting is Mel Blanc of course. Writer isn't Michael Maltese this time, it's Tedd Pierce. Jokes in here include manicure, a rabbit hiding in a lamp, a mechanical female rabbit, a painting and a Peter Lorre reference I would not have recognized if I hadn't read it in the credits. All in all, I enjoyed this short film and like the two antagonists. Quite a shame they do not appear in more of these 7-minute cartoons. Still, I wouldn't say it is one of the best Warner Bros. cartoons. Nonetheless, recommended.

Hair-Raising Hare (1946)*** (out of 4)Fun Merrie Melodies short has Bugs Bunny being lured into a creepy castle where a mad scientist wants to feed him to a large, red-headed monster. This film was semi remade six years later as WATER, WATER EVERY HARE and I enjoyed that one more. That doesn't mean this one isn't any good but it is a case where I prefer the remake. With that said, this one here spoofs the horror genre fairly well with the mention of Dracula and Frankenstein. The best thing is the mad scientist, which is a carbon copy of the great Peter Lorre. Another plus is good ol' Bugs who is full of great one-liners and some fun action.

"Peter Lorre" playing an "evil scientist" (that's what it says in neon lights on his hilltop castle!) who has invented a mechanical "rabbit lure" sets out the diabolical hare on Bugs Bunny. The mechanical lure - a beautiful female - quickly lures Bugs to the castle. Bugs grabs her, kisses her madly on the hand and arm, and the machine literally starts spinning and falls apart."That's the trouble with some dames," says Bugs. "Kiss them and they fly apart."Bugs attempts to leave but the scientist won't let him and wants to introduce him to his other "friend." Bugs tries to escape but can't, and then this big furry monster comes out and chases our hero all over the castle. They stop here and there as Bugs pretends to be a lampshade, pretends to be a manicurist (and does the monster's nails with a hilarious impression of a manicurist), pretends to be a painting on the wall and assorted other bizarre things....all making it a very entertaining cartoon.The ending of this was really clever with Bugs talking to the audience in the movie theater!

Bugs Bunny is enticed out of his home by a mechanical girl robot, which he then follows into the castle of a mad scientist. Trapped in the castle, the scientist lets his monster out to feed, leading to a chase around the castle.Just before I watched this short I had the pleasure of seeing `Birth of A Notion'. Both cartoons have a character based on actor Peter Lorre. `Birth' has great animation whereas here that character is awful and the voice work is poor too. This is one example of it, but the animation here is quite poor – Bugs looks basic and the monster itself is about as easy to draw a creation as you could imagine! Happily this doesn't feed through the whole cartoon in a bad way. The material is better than the animation and it is actually quite funny.Bugs may look average but he does his usual stuff well here. The scientist character is poor and is happily not used very well, but the monster needed to be good and, sadly, isn't at all. It's just like having a ginger haystack in the movie – and it's never given more personality than that either!Overall this cartoon lacks imagination and spark. It's lack of real quality can be best seen in the animation but happily it doesn't ruin the whole thing. It may only be average but it is still Bugs Bunny and it is still pretty amusing.