Haredevil Hare

Haredevil Hare is a 1948 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. It stars Bugs Bunny and it is the debut for Marvin the Martian &mdash; although he is unnamed in this film &mdash; along with his Martian dog, K-9. All the voices are done by Mel Blanc. Marvin's nasal voice for this first film is different from the later one he is most known for, which was similar to one that Blanc used for the emcee in What's Cookin' Doc?, for just one line, where the emcee says, "Shall we give it to him, folks?"

The title is a play on "daredevil", although it has only a vague metaphorical connection to the plotline, as Bugs is a reluctant participant in the cartoon's acrobatics.

Production
The cartoon was directed by Chuck Jones and written by long-time accomplice Michael Maltese. It was animated by Ben Washam, Lloyd Vaughan, Ken Harris and Phil Monroe, with effects animation by A.C. Gamer. The music was scored by Carl Stalling and the backgrounds painted by Peter Alvarado, with layouts by Robert Gribbroek. This was also the latest-released WB cartoon to be purchased by Associated Artists Productions for distribution; marking the end of the so-called "pre-August 1948" era for Warner Bros. cartoons (it was also the only Marvin the Martian cartoon to be sold to a.a.p., all others were retained by WB). It is also the latest-produced a.a.p.-owned WB cartoon to have been originally released in Technicolor, a few that were produced later were released in Cinecolor.

In retrospect, Chuck Jones considered this one of his animated shorts which managed to "turn the corner" towards strange, new, and enchanting directions. In this case, because it was the first in the series to be set in outer space, the first appearance of Marvin the Martian, and the first appearance of his Illudium Q-36 Space Modulator.

Summary
Opening with the newspaper headlines "Scientists to Launch First Rocket to Moon" and "Heroic Rabbit Volunteers as First Passenger" the scene changes to Bugs literally being dragged to the launching pad as he protests in panic, but becomes cooperative when he sees the rocket being loaded with carrots. Shocked at the sudden acceleration, Bugs attempts to escape, but opening the hatch sees that the rocket has already left Earth. When he lands on the moon he panics, but regains his composure. He realizes that he is the first living creature to set foot on the moon, overlooking a large rock with the words "Kilroy was here" on it. Another rocket soon lands called the Mars to Moon Expeditionary from planet Mars, and from it emerges an unnamed martian (later known as Marvin the Martian) set to blow up planet Earth using a Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator, which resembles a mere stick of dynamite. Bugs is initially curious until he realizes that Marvin will kill lots of people on Earth if he blows it up. Bugs steals the Uranium PU-36 but soon has to deal with Marvin's Martian dog, named K-9, who retrieves it while Bugs is distracted attempting to send an SOS to Earth. In one of Bugs Bunny's classic word switcharoos, he successfully gets the Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator back.

This prompts an angry Marvin to berate and scold his dog. Bugs quickly arrives disguised as a Martian with a "special delivery from Mars" and hands Marvin the Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator now wired to a detonator. While Marvin is celebrating the return of the Uranium PU-36, Bugs activates the detonator, blowing up the moon in the process.

Having reduced the moon to a crescent to thwart the Martian, Bugs hangs precariously from the edge of the moon, with Marvin and the dog holding on to him. Earth contacts Bugs Bunny, asking for a statement to the press. Bugs yells out (in his typical Brooklyn accent), "GET ME OUTTA HERE!"

Availability
This cartoon is included on disc 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 DVD set and also included on disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 Blu-ray box set with the cartoon restored and in High Definition.