Hare Conditioned (1945)

People are voting emotionally.

Nice effects though.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Hare Conditioned (1945) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Looney Tunes short has Bugs Bunny working in a department store as part of an outdoor display. His mean boss then wants to use him in a taxidermy display, which Bugs isn't too fond of. This has never been one of my favorites even though I know it has a rather large following amongst other animation fans. For me I've never been too thrilled with any of the action because it simply doesn't make me laugh. I think Bugs is up to his usual good standards and I think the yellow-skinned owner is also quite good. The two work well together but that didn't really matter because it still didn't make me laugh. Heck, even the animation is good but this one just isn't for me.

Not being familiar with the subject of this parody - "The Great Gildersleeve," from the hit radio program "Fibber McGee and Molly," I guess I couldn't appreciate the humor in here. This guy - the store manager - wasn't funny to me.Bugs is working in a department store and things are going fine until he's transferred to the taxidermy room where he's going to be the next animal stuffed. To no surprise, Bugs is not thrilled with that prospect and does what he can to outwit "Gildersleeve."When the two start chasing each other all around the huge department store is when this cartoon gets funny....and very clever with the changing-clothes bits. That made up for slow first half.

In another one of Bugs Bunny's hare-raisingly wacky shorts, the famous leporid* works in a department store display case, when owner Gildersleeve decides to stuff him. Of course, this proves nearly impossible, as Bugs apparently knows the store better than Gildersleeve (and knows when to cross-dress). As always, they keep everything coming at top speed, and so you have to wonder how hilarious this cartoon must have seemed when it first debuted! Among other things, "Hare Conditioned" is a fine example of how the Looney Tunes looked in the '40s before the Termite Terrace crowd polished them. But don't get me wrong, the cartoons were still really good after the refined forms arrived.Anyway, this is a great one.*Leporids are rabbits and hares.

A great Bugs Bunny cartoon from the earlier years has Bugs as a performer in an window display at a local department store. After he's done for the day the manager comes in to tell him that he'll be transferring soon. Bugs is happy to oblige into he figures out that the new job is in taxidermy...and that taxidermy has to do with stuffing animals. Animals like say, a certain rabbit. This causes a battle of wits between the rascally rabbit and his now former employer. I found this short to be delightful and definitely one of the better ones of the early 1940's. It still remains as funny nearly 60+ years later. This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.My Grade: A-