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38-399: Hare Trigger is a 1945 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng . The cartoon was released on May 5, 1945, and features Bugs Bunny . The short featured the first appearance of Yosemite Sam , as well as the first short to credit (almost) the whole animation staff who worked on the short (previously, shorts credited the director, one animator, writer, musical director and sometimes

76-404: A Warner Bros. song. Warner Bros. requested that these songs be performed by name bands whenever possible, but this lasted only through the first few shorts. The policy annoyed the animators of Merrie Melodies , since the songs often interrupted the cartoons' momentum and pacing (the 1938 Merrie Melodie A Feud There Was , for example, sarcastically uses the obligatory musical number as a shift in

114-463: A bar of " Kingdom Coming " plays on the track at iris-out . Merrie Melodies Merrie Melodies is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures . It was part of the Looney Tunes franchise and featured many of the same characters. It originally ran from August 2, 1931, to September 20, 1969, during the golden age of American animation , though it

152-456: A few Merrie Melodies prior to mid-1942) appeared mainly in Looney Tunes that year. It was not until 1945 that the two series appeared completely indistinguishable, and that Bugs appeared in more Looney Tunes than Merrie Melodies . By 1937, the theme music for Looney Tunes was " The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down " by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin , and the theme music for Merrie Melodies

190-432: A new program that they called Merrie Melodies "Blue Ribbon" classics. For the reissue, the original front-and-end title sequences were altered. The revised main title card began with the zooming WB logo, followed by the title logo set against a background featuring a "blue ribbon" (hence the re-release program's title) and a Grand Shorts Award trophy, followed by the name of the cartoon. This revised title sequence eliminated

228-525: A person could be committed to another party to conserve and administer them for the duration of their madness. Their criminal culpability was also limited except in cases of high treason . This contrasted with "natural fools" who were mad from birth and whose property interests passed to the crown, and habitual drunkards, who could claim no defense of madness. Non compos mentis and felo de se (the Latin word for "self-murder") presented two different verdicts in

266-482: A restoration program in the early 2000s as part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD releases. TVLine lists the theme song from the series among the best animated series themes of all time. Non compos mentis The status of non compos mentis applied to those who were not mad from birth, but became so later in life through no fault of their own. The property and interests of such

304-426: A rolling step-stair to mount. He catches up and boards the train and begins to rob it while the mail clerk wraps himself in a package marked DON'T OPEN 'TIL XMAS . The bandit accidentally throws Bugs Bunny in his sack. Bugs assumes that he is Jesse James . The bandit scoffs and tells him (and the audience), "I'm Yosemite Sam, the meanest, toughest, rip-roarin'-est, Edward Everett Horton -est hombre that ever packed

342-560: A silver coin as a tip, and Bugs says, "Thank you, suh!" As Sam steps off the moving train, the mail-drop hook grabs him and temporarily whisks him off the train. Bugs thinks he has vanquished Sam, and yells, "So long, screwy, see ya in Saint Louie !" a line that will be echoed in Wild and Woolly Hare and A Feather in His Hare . But Sam gets back on board somehow. Bugs and Sam start a fight on top of

380-487: A six-shooter!" (This pattern of Sam introducing himself to Bugs and the audience continued in other cartoons.) Bugs tells Sam that there is another tough guy in the train packing a "seven-shooter", and Sam goes looking for him – and it turns out to be Bugs in disguise. Various fights ensue, as each character temporarily gets the upper hand for a while. In one scene, Bugs dumps red ink on Sam, causing him to think he has been shot; he collapses (while Bugs sings "O Bury Me Not on

418-531: A soundtrack, animating a piece of music made it easier to devise plot elements and even characters. The origins of the Merrie Melodies series begin with the failure of a live action series of musical shorts called Spooney Melodies , which featured popular songs of the day. These shorts included segments with a popular artist singing along with appropriate background sequences. Warner Bros. wanted to promote this music because they had recently acquired (in 1930)

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456-508: A utility pole, and voices are heard repeating " Bread and Butter " with the engine blowing its whistle to the tune " Yankee Doodle ". Bugs is riding in the mail car of a train, singing a nonsense song called "Go Get the Axe", when a pint-sized bandit attempts to rob the train (with the underscore playing the Erlkönig ), only to have it pass clear over his head. He then calls for his horse, which he needs

494-815: The High Middle Ages . The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas extended Augustine 's arguments against suicide and added the new interpretation of "violation of natural law " to it. Most western European governments began to promulgate laws to confiscate some of a suicide's property. However, attitudes to suicide changed profoundly after 1660, following the English Revolution . After the civil war, political and social changes, judicial and ecclesiastical severity gave way to official leniency for most people who died by suicide. Non compos mentis verdicts increased greatly, and felo de se verdicts became as rare as non compos mentis had been two centuries earlier. However,

532-701: The National Film Registry of the Library of Congress . In 2013, TV Guide ranked the Warner Bros. Cartoons (ranked as Looney Tunes ) the third Greatest Cartoon of All Time (out of 60), one of only six film series to make the list (the other five being the Pink Panther series, Popeye the Sailor , Mighty Mouse , Woody Woodpecker and Tom and Jerry ). Producer Leon Schlesinger had already produced

570-470: The Living Duck (1988) and (Blooper) Bunny (1991). The Night of the Living Duck got a theatrical release through the compilation film Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988), while (Blooper) Bunny was shelved from its intended 1991 release until it premiered on Cartoon Network on June 13, 1997. Beginning in late 1943, WB, in a cost-conserving effort, began to reissue its backlog of color cartoons under

608-489: The Lone Prairie ") but eventually realizes the red liquid is only ink. Sam pushes his face furiously into Bugs', then pulls back and with a quiet, offended tone asks, "Why did you pour ink on mah haid?" After another skirmish, Bugs tricks Sam into dashing into a lounge car in which a horrific fight is occurring. (Stock film footage of a stereotypical western saloon fight, taken from the Warner Bros. Western film Dodge City ,

646-619: The action, with the lead characters singing the number into a KFWB microphone and ceding the mike to an announcer who reads a commercial). By 1940, the animators had been released from this obligation, and the Merrie Melodies shorts came to resemble more closely the black-and-white Looney Tunes series. In addition, several new characters were created to (initially) appear exclusively in the Merrie Melodies series, such as Egghead , Elmer Fudd , Inki , Sniffles , and even Warner Bros.' most popular cartoon star, Bugs Bunny . In 1943, Schlesinger began producing Looney Tunes in color as well, and

684-421: The ancient world and evolved gradually into their early modern form; similar laws and customs existed in many parts of Europe. Born of domestic beliefs, the ritual of punishing suicide, which is usually concerned with the suicidal corpse, embodies the notion that suicide is polluting, and that the suicide should be ostracized by the community of the living and the dead. The theological and legal severity increased in

722-413: The cartoons began to end with the slogan "That's all Folks!" which had previously only been used on the Looney Tunes series. The old slogan "So Long, Folks!" was completely abandoned at this time. The same year, Merrie Melodies began using the bulls-eye opening and closing title sequences (in 1942, Looney Tunes would use the same titles, usually in thicker rings). Also by 1936, Disney's exclusivity on

760-502: The case of a suicide . In the finding of a jury , the deceased who was stigmatized felo de se would be excluded from burial in consecrated ground and would forfeit their estate to the Crown, while these penalties would not apply to the deceased affirmed non compos mentis . Suicide was a severe crime in Tudor and early Stuart England and was considered a form of murder ; a sin not only in

798-521: The end of the cartoons. In 1934, Schlesinger produced his first color Merrie Melodies shorts, Honeymoon Hotel and Beauty and the Beast , which were produced in two-strip Cinecolor ( Disney then had exclusive animation rights to the richer three-strip Technicolor process). Their success convinced Schlesinger to produce all future Merrie Melodies shorts in color, using two-strip Technicolor. Looney Tunes continued in black and white until 1943. In 1936,

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836-505: The eyes of the Church but also defined by criminal law. The state of mind of self-killers at the time they committed their fatal deed was crucial. To be judged guilty of "self-murder", one had to be sane. Men and women who killed themselves when they were mad or otherwise mentally incompetent were considered innocent. The verdict would be made by a jury. The penalty for suicide in England originated in

874-548: The golden age era. When the series was revived in 1979, DePatie–Freleng produced new shorts briefly, but they were replaced by Chuck Jones Productions the following year. During its final years, the series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation . The films Tweetie Pie , Speedy Gonzales and Birds Anonymous each won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and another three ( Duck Amuck , One Froggy Evening , and What's Opera, Doc? ) have been inducted into

912-455: The jagged rocks below?". Then Bugs walks across the screen, dressed in top hat and tails, carrying a bag full of gold (reward money), and dragging the now tied-up Sam behind him, mocking the on-screen words ("Is he to be doomed to utter destruction? Will he be rendered non compos mentis ?"). Bugs closes by turning to the audience and repeating a popular radio catchphrase from Red Skelton 's "Mean Widdle Kid": "He don't know me vewy well, do he?" as

950-503: The music-based Looney Tunes series, and its success prompted him to try to sell a sister series to Warner Bros. His selling point was that the new cartoons would feature music from the soundtracks of Warner Bros. films and would thus serve as advertisements for Warner Bros. recordings and sheet music. The studio agreed, and Schlesinger dubbed the series Merrie Melodies . Walt Disney Productions had already scored with their Silly Symphonies . Since cartoon production usually began with

988-481: The opening technical credits. The ending title card was also revised, replacing the original versions. Also, sometimes the title of the short was slightly altered for the rerelease; the "Blue Ribbon" version of the Bugs Bunny short A Wild Hare was retitled The Wild Hare for reissue, for example. Many of these "Blue Ribbon" prints were the versions used for television broadcasts for many years until Warner Bros. began

1026-478: The ownership of Brunswick Records along with four music publishers for US $ 28 million. Because of the success of their Looney Tunes series, Warner Bros. decided to develop a new series of animated musical shorts called Merrie Melodies . Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising led the development. It was meant to be a series of musical cartoons that featured hit songs of the day, especially those then owned by Warner Bros. and featured in their musical films. In 1931, many of

1064-418: The passenger carriages. Finally, Sam has Bugs tied up, dangling from a rope, weighted down by an anvil, and fiendishly cutting through the rope, while the train is passing over a gorge. ("Now, ya lop-eared polecat, try and get out of this one!") The screen fills with the words the narrator ( Mel Blanc , in close to his natural voice) is saying, "Is this the end of Bugs Bunny? Will our hero be dashed to bits on

1102-430: The public. In 1932, a Merrie Melodies cartoon, entitled It's Got Me Again! , was nominated for the first Academy Award to be given for animation. When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros., in 1933, they took with them all rights to the characters they had created. Leon Schlesinger had to negotiate with them to keep the rights to the name Merrie Melodies, as well as for the right to use the slogan, So Long Folks, at

1140-454: The shorts featured the orchestra of Abe Lyman , one of the most famous band leaders of his day. The first cartoon of the new Merrie Melodies series was Lady, Play Your Mandolin! , released in 1931. Ising attempted to introduce several characters in his Merrie Melodies films, such as Piggy , Foxy , and Goopy Geer . Eventually however, the series continued without any recurring characters. The shorts proved to be enormously popular with

1178-449: The three-color Technicolor process was lifted, allowing Merrie Melodies a full color palette for the first time, hence the use of the blue concentric rings (as a technical test) for the rest of the 1935–36 season and the 1936–37 season. The Warner Bros. shield was later that year changed to cyan before definitely changing back to red in 1938. Contractually, Merrie Melodies cartoons were obligated to include at least one full chorus from

Hare Trigger - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-472: The two series became virtually indistinguishable except by their theme music and opening titles – in addition, characters once exclusive to one series began regularly appearing in the other as well. In 1944, the studio went to an all-color schedule; though for the first year of this, Bugs still appeared mainly in the Merrie Melodies series (not appearing in a Looney Tunes cartoon until the end of August), whereas Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (who each appeared in

1254-412: The two series, as evidenced in an interview quote from director Friz Freleng , "I never knew if a film I was making would be Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies , and what the hell difference would it make, anyway?". The last Merrie Melodies cartoon was Injun Trouble , released in 1969. The Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons didn't start up again until 1988 with only two cartoons made, The Night of

1292-430: The voice actor). This short is also the first to use the shortened version of "Merrily We Roll Along" that played from 1945 to 1955. The title is a play on "hair trigger", referring to any weapon or other device with a sensitive trigger. After opening credits underscored by a lively instrumental of " Cheyenne ", an old-fashioned 2-4-0 train is seen rolling along through the desert. It passes another train going around

1330-499: Was an adaptation of " Merrily We Roll Along " by Charles Tobias , Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor (the original theme was " Get Happy " by Harold Arlen, played at a faster tempo). This continued until 1964, when the WB cartoon logos were modernized, and "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" became the theme for the Merrie Melodies as well. When the studio went to full color, even the animators themselves did not make any creative distinction between

1368-433: Was originally produced by Harman–Ising Pictures from 1931 to 1933 and Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944, and the newly renamed Warner Bros. Cartoons continued production until 1963. It was outsourced to DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Format Productions from 1964 to 1967, and Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation resumed production for its final two years of

1406-472: Was revived in 1979, with new shorts sporadically released until June 13, 1997. Originally, Merrie Melodies placed emphasis on one-shot color films in comparison to the black-and-white Looney Tunes films. After Bugs Bunny became the breakout character of Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes transitioned to color production in the early 1940s, the two series gradually lost their distinctions and shorts were assigned to each series randomly. Merrie Melodies

1444-462: Was used here.) With the sounds of crashes and bangs in the background, Bugs calmly sings " Sweet Georgia Brown " to himself. Sam emerges tottering, banged and bruised, to a comical instrumental of " Rally 'Round the Flag ". Bugs, affecting the stereotyped voice of an African-American train porter, persuades the dazed Sam that he is supposed to disembark the train, piling him up with luggage; Sam even hands Bugs

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