Hare Trigger (1945)

PLAYERS: "Bugs Bunny", "Yosemite Sam".Director: I. FRELENG. Story: Michael Maltese. Animation: Manuel Perez, Virgil Ross, Ken Champin, Gerry Chiniquy. Lay-outs: Hawley Pratt. Backgrounds: Paul Julian. Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Music director: Carl Stalling. Technicolor. Producer: Edward Selzer. Copyright 29 May 1945 by the Vitaphone Corp. Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. (Bugs Bunny Specials) Merrie Melodies. U.S. release: 5 May 1945. 1 reel. 7 minutes.COMMENT: Everyone likes this one. Not only does it mark the first appearance of our favorite Bugs antagonist, Yosemite Sam, but it's a very funny film in its own right. The stage is set right from the start when a train runs right over the diminutive Sam who is then forced to wheel in a set of aeroplane steps to mount his horse. He introduces himself to Bugs (who mistakes him for Jesse James) with these immortal words: "Yosemite Sam, the meanest, roughest, rip-roaringest, Edward Everett Hortonest hombre what ever packed a six-shooter!" There follows a delightful lampoon of typical western clichés, both aural and visual, ending with a neat piece of cliff-hanging fantasy. I also love Bugs' introductory gibberish version of "A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mudder".

. . . in Yosemite Sam's Looney Tunes debut, HARE TRIGGER. Sam and Bugs Bunny appear to be the ONLY passengers on the Multi-car "Super Chief" Amtrak Western Excursion Train, particularly during their early drawn-out dueling scene. However, when Bugs opens the door to the "Club Car," Live Action Dance Hall Gals appear on a distant stage, separated from the wily hare by a large Real Life audience. Clearly, the Looney Tuners are anticipating Science's upcoming discoveries in Quantum Physics, especially String Theory, with this glimpse of Another Dimension. A few minutes later, Bugs opens the Club Car door again for another peak, which reveals an on-going Live Action bar room brawl. America's favorite hare gives Sam the bum's rush into this action (while remaining aloof from it himself). Sam soon emerges, worse for wear, prompting Bugs to try to trick him off the train by using Black Voice. Sam sees through Bug's Racist Ploy, leaving HARE TRIGGER to close in that Cartoon Limboland beyond the so-called Fourth Wall.

It's hard to rely on someone else's advice to choose a comedy to watch. Every joke may not be funny for everybody, for everyone has different sense of humour. Although, there are some jokes made up of pure intellect; and especially those jokes have a hidden kernel which always keeps its freshness. They just don't get staled by time. That's what, when Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam came together for the first time, they have created.There are more than a couple of cross-referencing sequences from Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short's western-comedy epic "Three Amigos(1986)" to this little episode of Bugs Bunny. The most memorable one for me is when someone lies dead in a scene, his pal suddenly comes right in front of our eyes playing a Mexican guitar, singing a Mexican Indian song, wearing a traditional Mexican hat and says: "It's only a red ink bleeding from the top of your head. This is just a comedy. In comedies, people don't die." even before Yosemite Sam wonders: "Why did you pour ink on my head?". From start till the end, Hare Trigger shines at all levels. A simple story has made very gripping with less script and more action. It's very rare to come across that much of a short script before the modern Sylvester&Tweety chapters. The best jokes and the loudest laughters come through the direction of the animation. It's also a pioneer on adding a wasted 35mm. footage of real life filmmakers and their films, appearing as a surprise segment. Freleng and his animation crew has created a truly epic. At this level, the character intros have been done very wisely. So it became easier than thought to create this intimate friend for Bugs: Yosemite Sam... Quick-tempered, vengeful, selfish, the midget cowboy who always seeks trouble.Among all of his pals, Yosemite Sam is the best one who gets very closer to overcome Bugs Bunny every time. In this first episode of their endless quarrel, Yosemite Sam actually overcomes Bugs Bunny. He does for a short time. When we left Bugs Bunny tied up and hanging upside down from the top of the train going over a bridge, we fearfully thought "there must be something wrong with this" ; this time Bugs Bunny overcame the screenwriter, Michael Maltese. Bugs changes the screenplay before it occurs to his life's end. He still bears his title; he's still the one and the only unbeatable(even though there is sometimes no clear explanation "How?" at all).

"Why, ev'rybody knows ME! I'm Yosemite Sam: the meanest, toughest, rip-rawlin'est, Edward Everett Horton-est hombre what ever packed a six-shoota!" That's one of my most favorite quotes. Another one is where Sam says really calmly..."Why did you pour ink on my head?" This legendary cartoon series had some damn good writers, something that tons of toons these days miss terribly. Hopefully, these kind of cartoons will be revived soon 'cause they was some kinda magic. Michael Maltese was probably my favorite Warner Bros. cartoon writer. His stuff was just so funny it'd make a guy cry! Mel Blanc is hilarious; he can do hundreds and thousands of voices and still remember his real one!