Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt

{{Infobox film

|name = Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt

|image = HiawatharabbitTC.png

|caption =

|director = I. Freleng

|story = Michael Maltese

|animator = Gil Turner

|starring = Mel Blanc

|music = Carl W. Stalling

|producer = Leon Schlesinger

|studio = Leon Schlesinger Productions

|distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures

|released = {{Film date|1941|6|7}}

|color_process = Technicolor

|runtime = 7:30

|language = English

}}

Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt is a 1941 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |last2=Friedwald |first2=Will |title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons |date=1989 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co |isbn=0-8050-0894-2 |page=117}} Mel Blanc voiced all characters. This film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (cartoons), but lost to Walt Disney's Lend a Paw (a plot point which will figure into What's Cookin' Doc?). This was the first Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/60/mode/2up |pages=60–61}} The short makes several direct references to The Song of Hiawatha, an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Plot

Bugs is reading The Song of Hiawatha out loud to himself and the saga turns real as a pint-sized, Elmer Fudd-like Hiawatha (minus the speech impediment) turns up, paddling his canoe. Hiawatha is looking for a rabbit for his dinner. Hiawatha manages to trick Bugs into thinking he is preparing a hot bath for him. It is actually a cooking pot, which Bugs quickly vacates once Hiawatha casually mentions that he is having rabbit stew for supper.

Reception

The Film Daily called the short a "very funny cartoon", saying, "the result is a howl from start to finish. The serious-minded Indian's efforts to catch the screwball rabbit for stewing purposes makes a lively and comical race. Bugs Bunny gets better and funnier with every screen appearance."{{cite journal |title=Reviews of Short Subjects |journal=The Film Daily |date=June 19, 1941 |volume=79 |issue=119 |page=5 |url=https://archive.org/details/filmdail79wids/page/n543/mode/2up |access-date=13 June 2020}}

Home media

VHS - Bugs Bunny Cartoon Festival Featuring "Little Red Riding Rabbit" {{cite web |url=http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/DVDvideo/VHS/videocarfest.html |title=Looney Tunes DVD and Video Guide: VHS: Viddy-Oh! For Kids |access-date=2012-10-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719034725/http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/DVDvideo/VHS/videocarfest.html |archive-date=2012-07-19 }}
DVD - Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection
DVD - The Maltese Falcon 3-Disc Special Edition
Blu-ray - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3.
LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 2, Side 2

Notes

Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt was one of the 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons that were pulled out of Cartoon Network's June Bugs 2001 marathon by order of AOL Time Warner due to having a negative caricature of a Native American.{{Cite news |title=NETWORK PULLS BUGS BUNNY SHOWS |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-20010612-2001-06-12-0106111328-story.html |last=Watson |first=Pernell |date=2001-06-12 |access-date=2022-06-22 |work=Daily Press}}

References

External links

{{IMDb title|33715}}
[https://archive.org/download/ClassicRareAndCensoredCartoons/BugsBunny-HiawathasRabbitHunt-1941.mp4 Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt on the Internet Archive]

{{succession box

|before = Tortoise Beats Hare

|title = Bugs Bunny Cartoons

|years = 1941

|after = The Heckling Hare

}}

Category:1941 films

Category:Short films directed by Friz Freleng

Category:Merrie Melodies short films

Category:1941 comedy films

Category:Animated films about Native Americans

Category:Films about hunters