Compressed Hare

It's true that the Looney Tunes had pretty much passed their prime by the time that "Compressed Hare" came out, but you gotta love what Bugs Bunny does to Wile E. Coyote, who's taking a little break from chasing Road Runner. To be certain, I knew that something neat was coming up when "Powerhouse" started playing. Bugs's and Wile E.'s puns are obviously pretty hokey, but the end scene is probably one of the funniest that ever appeared in the Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies series.

So, even if the series's heyday was over, the cartoons were still able to make us laugh. We definitely have, um, concrete evidence of that.

So yes, are you in, genius?

This is hardly Chuck Jones's finest hour, but I wouldn't go to say it was mediocre either. I liked it, even with its predictable story and uneven pacing. The animation is very good though, nice backgrounds and both Bugs and Coyote are drawn well. The music has enough energy to be enjoyed, while there are one or two lame puns the dialogue is nice and witty on the whole and the gags are competent with the final one being the most memorable. Bugs and Coyote work well together, and both characters are once again brilliantly voiced by Mel Blanc, who very rarely gives a bad vocal performance. Overall, not fantastic but actually it is worth watching. 7/10 Bethany Cox

One of the few shorts where Wile E. Coyote takes time off from chasing the Road Runner to chase Bugs Bunny. In these shorts Wile E. talks and provides an intelligent opponent for Bugs. It's a different vibe from Bugs dealing with Daffy or the morons with guns or big brawny wrestler types. The plot here is pretty much irrelevant. The coyote tricks Bugs into leaving his rabbit hole and captures him. Bugs, of course, gets the upper hand and escapes. This leads to a series of attempts by Wile E. to get Bugs out of his rabbit hole or destroy him in the process.

Some funny puns and gags but the real treat is the way these two play off each other. Arrogant Wile E. is a pretty good adversary for wisecracking Bugs. The animation is solid, particularly for the time in which it was made when the animation in Looney Tunes shorts was devolving. The music is fun and the voicework, from the immortal Mel Blanc, is flawless. It's a Chuck Jones cartoon and, while it's not one of his masterpieces, I would argue any Chuck Jones short is worth your time. Well, maybe not those Tom & Jerry ones. That was his low point.