Long-Haired Hare is a 1949 American animated short film directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It was produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures as part of the Looney Tunes series, and was the 60th short to feature Bugs Bunny. In addition to including the homophones "hair" and "hare", the title is also a pun on "longhairs", a characterization of classical music lovers. Nicolai Shutorov provides the singing voice of Giovanni Jones.
Plot
On a hillside, Bugs is singing "A Rainy Night in Rio" as he plays a banjo. His singing distracts opera singer Giovanni Jones, who is trying to rehearse "Largo al Factotum" in a nearby Frank Lloyd Wright-style house. Jones absent-mindedly starts singing along with Bugs, then angrily walks over to his rabbit hole and destroys the banjo. On two later occasions Bugs again distracts Jones and sends him into a rage—first when he sings "My Gal is a High-Born Lady" with a harp, which results in Jones trapping Bugs' neck by closing both sides of the harp like a vise, and then by performing "When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba" on a sousaphone, after which Jones bumps Bugs' head repeatedly against a tree branch was definitely the last straw Bugs vows revenge.
On the night of Jones's concert, Bugs disrupts his performance with a series of pranks: vibrating the concert stage, then fell into the tuba and Bugs told the audience there will be unavoidable interruptions in the program and then got Jones out of the tuba and told the conductor to break till we get back as the music plays and Bugs cleans him up then spraying alum in his throat to make him pucker, and posing as a bobby soxer to hand him a stick of dynamite disguised as an autograph pen. As Jones begins his final set, Bugs commandeers the orchestra disguised as Leopold Stokowski. He administers a series of vocal tests, which Jones passes. After brief applause from the audience, Bugs scowls at Jones, then directs him to sing a prolonged high G note. Jones complies, singing until he writhes in pain, he strips his clothes and his face turns several different colors, eventually causing the stage shell to collapse in on him. Satisfied, Bugs stops conducting long enough for Jones to stagger to his feet and take a bow. As Bugs looks up, he notices a boulder that's on a beam directly above Jones. Bugs then directs him to resume the high note until the concrete falls. He then triumphantly strums "Good Evening, Friends" on a banjo.
Voice cast
Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny, Giovanni Jones (speaking), Maestro, Musicians, and Delivery Boy Nicolai Shutorov as Giovanni Jones (singing, uncredited)
Music
The film's musical score includes original music by Carl Stalling, but a significant proportion of the score is pre-existing music, including several operatic pieces. The soundtrack includes "Largo al factotum" from Act I of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville; Arthur Schwartz's "A Rainy Night in Rio"; Barney Fagan's "My Gal is a High-Born Lady"; Herman Hupfeld's song "When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba" – played by Bugs on a sousaphone; the sextet "Chi mi frena in tal momento" from Act II of Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor; the 2nd theme from the Prelude to Act III of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin; the overture from Franz von Suppé's operetta Die schöne Galathee (The Beautiful Galatea); and the melody to "It's Magic." This last piece is also used in the cartoon Transylvania 6-5000. "My Gal is a High-Born Lady" is given alternate lyrics, as Barney Fagan's original 1896 song had a racially stereotyped subject and lyrics. The author of the re-written lyrics used in the cartoon is most likely Stalling or Michael Maltese. The Donizetti piece, originally a sextet that comprises part of the opera's Act II finale, seems to have been a favorite of Stalling, and is also used in Book Revue and Back Alley Oproar.
Giovanni Jones' singing voice remained uncredited and unknown for many years, but the DVD commentary identifies him as baritone Nicolai G. Shutorov (1914-1948). Long-Haired Hare was the only known film role for Shutorov, who had otherwise worked in Hollywood as a choral singer.