From Hare to Eternity

1997 brought about the final Chuck Jones Looney Tunes cartoon, and I couldn’t think of a better star than Bugs Bunny for that honor. Jones created many of Bugs Bunny’s greatest moments, from the reveal that he’s the artist torturing Daffy in “Duck Amuck” to the greatest animated short of all time, “What’s Opera, Doc?” Even sweeter is how the whole thing is dedicated to Friz Freleng, one of the greats of Termite Terrace and the creator of Yosemite Sam, the foil for Bugs here.

“From Hare to Eternity” does several things that Jones excels in: combines a piece of high art (here H.M.S. Pinafore is the building blocks of the story’s satire), a hotheaded villain for Bugs to play cool prankster against, machine-gun quick gags, a couple quick cameos (listen for Michigan J. Frog), and propulsive energy. Would it shock anyone if I proclaimed this the best of the four 90s shorts? Doubtful, as everything that makes a solid Jones Looney Tunes short is present here.

If “From Hare to Eternity” fails to live up to the loftiest of heights, it’s at least a solid goodnight to a career that began all the way in 1938 with “The Night Watchman.” Many artists just stopped producing, hanging it up and descending into distinguished elder statesmen, and one has to admire that Jones refused that. He kept creating right up until the end, his imagination still furtive and active, his humor still sly and impish, and his ability to create solid cartoons enviable. He was a master doing solid legacy work here.