Tuesday 15 December 2020

Santa is Buried in the Canadian Woods

Mountie Elmer Fudd is chasing Bugs Bunny under the Canadian snow in Fresh Hare, a 1942 cartoon written by Mike Maltese for the Friz Freleng unit at Warners.



Ah, the old “Split before going around the tree gag.” Bugs does it. Elmer, well, you know what’ll happen.



Now an unexpected sight gag. The tree shakes off all its snow to reveal it’s a decorated Christmas tree. Elmer pops up from the snow and he’s wearing a Santa hat. Now Bugs pops up and exclaims “Merry Christmas, Santy” as Carl Stalling plays “Jingle Bells” on the soundtrack.



Manny Perez is given the animation credit and I suspect Lenard Kester is the background artist.

1 comment:

  1. That gag was apparently enough to get "Fresh Hare" labeled a Christmas cartoon by the local station that ran these shorts. Along with "A Gander at Mother Goose" and "Bedtime for Sniffles," "Fresh Hare" only ran during the Christmas season on the local "Bugs Bunny and Friends" series.

    Hadn't seen "Fresh Hare" in ages and didn't remember it being on any of the DVDs or Blu-rays (or HBO Max). Found it online and watched it. Forgot about the ending. THAT's why I haven't seen it.

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