JohnHowardReid CAST: Bugs Bunny, Marvin the Martian and his dog "reserve".Director: CHARLES M. JONES. Story: Michael Maltese. Animation: Ben Washam, Lloyd Vaughan, Ken Harris, Phil Monroe. Lay-outs: Robert Gribbroek. Backgrounds: Peter Alvarado. Effects animation: A. C. Gamer. Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Music director: Carl Stalling. Color by Technicolor. Producer: Edward Selzer. Copyright 20 December 1947 by The Vitaphone Corp. A Warner Bros "Looney Tunes" Bugs Bunny Special cartoon. U.S. release: 24 July 1948. 7 minutes.COMMENT: This clever Bugs Bunny entry marks the first of five appearances of the little Martian - a character far more memorable than his short filmography might suggest. Mel Blanc hasn't quite got the voice right, but otherwise this is a must-see debut for all connoisseurs of Warner Bros cartoon-land. Aside from a too-extended sequence in which Bugs seems to take forever to straighten himself out after a bumpy moon landing, the pace is fast, the effects often dazzling

utgard14 Classic Bugs Bunny cartoon from the team of Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. This one is the first appearance of Marvin the Martian. Bugs is launched into space and becomes the first rabbit on the moon. Quickly following his historic accomplishment, another spaceship lands on the moon. Out steps Marvin the Martian and his dog K-9. Marvin intends to blow up Earth with a "Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator" but Bugs has other ideas. It's a fresh and very funny short that gave us terrific characters in Marvin and K-9. Marvin's voice here is a little different as Mel Blanc hadn't perfected it yet. Aside from that minor distraction, this is a perfect cartoon. A real classic with great animation, writing, music, and voice work.

phantom_tollbooth Chuck Jones's 'Haredevil Hare' is a brilliant and fascinating cartoon for several reasons. The first thing you'll notice when watching it is its comparatively leisurely pace. Several minutes are taken up with Bugs being sent into space against his will and then succumbing to an alarming breakdown that manifests itself in a series of involuntary, jerky movements. The desolate, lonely atmosphere Jones creates is unforgettable and it is one of the reasons I found this cartoon so eerie when I was a child. The climax, which leaves Bugs in an extremely uncertain situation (and is not unlike the ending of another Jones' masterpiece, 'Duck Dodgers in the 24th ½ Century'), also left me reeling when I was a kid. It remains one of my favourite finales of a Warner cartoon.Of course, in examining all of these elements we've ignored the most significant feature of 'Haredevil Hare', namely the first appearance of Marvin the Martian. A comparatively underused but extremely popular character, Marvin is a wonderfully strange creation in his Roman helmet, skirt and sneakers. As is often the case with classic cartoon characters, Marvin is a little off in his first appearance. His eyes are a little bigger than normal and his beautifully bizarre voice has not yet been fully developed. Here he sounds more like Droopy with a cold! His intention to blow up the Earth, however, is firmly in place from the get-go. His appearance shatters the eerie sense of isolation that characterises the first half of the cartoon but the pace remains fairly slow as Bugs treats Marvin like nothing more than a naughty schoolboy. Also given his first outing (and also slightly off-model) is Marvin's green dog and his appearance triggers off the worst section of 'Haredevil Hare' in which Bugs lapses into some very standard heckling which sits at odds with the more unusual content. The Martian dog is also given a stereotypical idiot voice which weakens his character considerably. His later appearances as an austere silent creature were much more effective since he had a dignity of which to be robbed, unlike in this short. Thankfully, the battle between Bugs and the dog is short lived and gives way to the brilliant punchline.'Haredevil Hare' is a superb and highly unusual cartoon which spawned yet another star in Marvin the Martian. Beautifully downbeat and full of unexpected gags (the radio communication that lapses into an advertising jingle makes me laugh out loud every time), 'Haredevil Hare' is a must see oddity and yet another masterpiece in the Chuck Jones canon

bob the moo When the first mission to the moon is announced, Bugs Bunny volunteers to `man' the rocket and be the first to set foot there. When he arrives however, he is joined by a rocket from Mars that has also come to the moon for the first time. However the alien has come to use the moon as a base to attack the earth as opposed to exploration.I usually quite like the Mars based cartoons but occasionally they will be too simple - requiring too much set up before the jokes start. That is sort of the case here; the cartoon has to explain why Bugs is on the moon in the first place and so on. The short then sees Bugs trying to foil the alien attack on earth but this isn't very funny. The antics don't really have any imagination and nothing really happens of note.The characters are also quite weak. Bugs is OK, as he always tends to be however the alien is really poor. I don't know what's up with his voice, but he doesn't sound as sharp or as `good' as he usually does (awful use of words there, sorry!). The dog is just a clown rather than a character.Overall this is amusing but none more than that. It lacks imagination and wit; just going through the motions at times without really pushing it. It's a shame because the setting of space should open it up for all sorts of crazy antics but it doesn't work here.