Hair-Raising Hare

Hair-Raising Hare is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, released on May 25, 1946. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce. It stars Bugs Bunny and features the first appearance of Chuck Jones' orange monster character "Gossamer".

One dark night, Bugs Bunny pokes up out of his rabbit hole, dressed in a nightshirt and holding a candle, and asks the audience, "Did you ever have the feeling you were being watched?" In fact, he is being watched by a mad scientist (a caricature of Peter Lorre) who is planning to catch a rabbit to provide dinner for his large, hairy, orange, sneaker-wearing monster (Gossamer).

The mad scientist lures Bugs to his castle via a shapely robotic female rabbit, with a large wind-up key in the back, and accompanied by "Oh, You Beautiful Doll". Once Bugs gets to the castle and begins kissing the mechanical rabbit on the hand, the robot malfunctions and breaks into pieces. Bugs faces the audience and says "That's the trouble with some dames... kiss 'em and they fly apart!"

Bugs heads for the door, but the mad scientist persuades him to stay and meet another "little friend". When it becomes clear that this "friend" is a ferocious beast, Bugs vigorously shakes the scientist's hand "Goodbye!" and launches into a schtick where he packs luggage for a vacation trip, accompanied by a very brassy rendition of "California, Here I Come". Just before bolting for the door, he tells the mad scientist, "And don't think this hasn't been a little slice of heaven...'cause it hasn't!" He then bolts for the door. The mad scientist releases Gossamer who chases Bugs.

Bugs hides behind a door that Gossamer is trying to break through, and he cries out, "Is there a doctor in the house?" A silhouette, seemingly from the theater audience, stands up and offers, "I'm a doctor." Bugs suddenly relaxes, starts munching a carrot, and asks, "What's up, Doc?", just before Gossamer breaks through and the chase resumes.

Bugs Bunny and Gossamer pass by a mirror; Gossamer looks at the mirror, then his reflection runs away screaming; Gossamer looks at the audience and shrugs. Bugs acts as a lamp; he dances to "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and taunts Gossamer by calling "Hey, Frankenstein!". Bugs and Gossamer keep running until a door on the floor opens and a rock falls into the empty space. While Bugs is tip-toe-ing backwards and praying, he bumps into Gossamer. He comes up with an idea and gives him a manicure. He puts the monster's fingers into the water to have his fingernails cut, but it contains two mousetraps. The monster yelps in pain, and then sobs.

Bugs twice thinks he has escaped. The first time, the monster is hiding behind a picture frame and Bugs apparently was not aware until he poked Gossamer in the eye.

The second time, Gossamer is following Bugs behind a wall until Bugs marks where he previously was and smashes the mark with a giant mallet when Gossamer appears behind it. The wall crumbles and a barely-conscious Gossamer quickly follows.