We use the word “formal” here because the release dates published in trade papers of the time were, more or less, suggested. If a short film was available at an exchange before then, then an exhibitor could book it.
To the right, you see an ad from the Pittsburgh Press of Friday, July 26, 1940 for the cartoon with the words “Now Showing.” The same paper published an ad the day before reading “Starts Tomorrow.”
But who am I to spoil a birthday celebration with facts?
How popular was the cartoon?
In September 1940, it was “re-booked because of many requests” by a theatre in San Bernadino. “The funniest of All Merrie Melody Color Cartoons Returns for Your Enjoyment,” crowed a newspaper ad.
The Los Angeles Daily News of October 17, 1940 reported, with a reference to an earlier rabbit film:
FROM all indications a new star is born at Leon Schlesinger’s cartoon factory. He’s not much for looks, being buck toothed and insolent eyed. He’s also a smart aleck who doles out sarcasms in a voice that is more Dead End Kid than Basil Rathbone. But you've got to admit when you see him that Bugs Bunny has what it takes to win fans. His antics as the shrewd, carrot munching rabbit outwitting the lisping hunter in “A Wild Hare” brought batches of mail from all over the country.[sic] "Elmer’s Pet Rabbit" and "Tortoise Beats Hare" find their release. Tex Avery, producer of Bugs’ movies, and Arthur Q. Bryant [sic], the voice of the hunter, have been working overtime turning these out to meet public demand. Bugs, let it be added, began his career modestly when Schlesinger included him in a small part in a Merry Melodie subject, "Harum Scarum." He can dictate his own terms today. Mel who?
So now Schlesinger announces plans to feature Bugs in five more cartoons, three of which are already completed and a fourth on its way. It won't be long before "Hiawatha’s Rabbit,"
One theatre which (according to newspaper ads) showed A Wild Hare on July 27, 1940 was the Worth in Fort Worth, Texas. Devon Baxter has provided us with a pertinent box ad from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of the day before. The paper insisted on calling it “Wild Hare Hunt” (adding “The” in later ads). They loved Bugs so much in the city that the following year, a mini Bugs Bunny film festival was booked.
The Star-Telegram’s film critic, Katherine Howard, wrote in the issue of April 8, 1941:
BELLIGERENT BUGS
Donald Duck would raise an awful squawk if he knew that Bugs Bunny has superseded him as the No. 1 comic of the cartoons. Bugs is the talk of the movie-goers now.
No fluffy pink and white creature, Bugs Bunny is about as cuddlesome as a horned toad.
He is everything an Easter bunny shouldn't be but just the same the Parkway Theater is going to put on a pre-Easter show of Bugs Bunny cartoons Friday and Saturday. He will be seen in "Elmer's Candid Camera," "A Wild Hare" and "Elmer's Pet Rabbit."
"Don't give me none a dem candy eggs. I like de hardboiled kind. Get me guy?" croaks Bugs.
South Side merchants will sponsor two free shows at the Parkway Friday—at 10 a.m. and 12 noon—preceding an Easter egg hunt in Forest Park at 2 p.m. Feature will be "Laddie" with Tim Holt and Virginia Gillmore.
Anyway, best wishes to Bugs on his (sort-of) birthday.
Oh, by the way, he was never named Happy Rabbit by Mel Blanc or anyone else. Mel made up the story, much like the “allergic to carrots” tale he finally admitted was not quite accurate.
Happy Birthday,m Bugs..(best way to celebrate..not by watching any of them rewivals like Sopace Jam 2, now in cinemas, but to watch any of his original one reelers.Which ever you like. Which ever director suits you best,doc!)
ReplyDeleteRight on, Pokey! The new "Space Jam" indeed does Bugs a disservice. He's no longer master of the situation, but instead jittery, insecure, and neurotic--as un-Bugs as you can get (more like the unpleasant, latter-day Daffy). In CGI he's over-plushed, like a cheap stuffed animal; Tweety looks like a plastic bath toy. Because the 2D animation was directed by Eric Goldberg, the cartoon LeBron James more than slightly resembles the Genie in "Aladdin." The most interesting feature of this feature is the galaxy of Warner-owned characters--including the Hanna-Barbera gang and the Wicked Witch of the West--who make up the captive audience for the basketball game. (It should have been an ideal opportunity to bring in Tiny Tunes and Animaniacs, but of course Spielberg owns them.) And what a waste of the Iron Giant! It must have cost the national debt, which they're going to have trouble making back.
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