Your guide to 6 spooky Bugs Bunny toons

You'll need your lucky rabbit's foot to make it out in one piece!

LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI

Bugs Bunny is nearly unflappable. Nearly. It's rare that the bunny with the gift of gab is left tongue-tied. But, it does happen on occasion...

Every once in a while, there emerges a foe so formidable that even Bugs gets a little bit spooked. Whereas the likes of Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam rarely amount to more than pests, sometimes there's a bad guy that scares our heroic hare.

Let's take a look at some great examples in these six "scary" toons. We put "scary" in quotes because we're not really scared, OK? Stop asking us that. Why would anybody be afraid of a cartoon, even if that witch is honestly pretty scary—ALRIGHT FINE WE'RE SCARED OF WITCH HAZEL, JUST LEAVE US ALONE ABOUT IT.

Any who, enjoy the list, doc!

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1. "Broom-Stick Bunny"

 

LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI

Oh God, she's so green and creepy! This is a historical Looney Tune because it marks the first voice role for June Foray in a project for Warner Bros. You want to talk "scary?" June Foray was also the voice of Talky Tina on The Twilight Zone. AHHH! Director Chuck Jones was a big fan. "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc," he told Animation World Magazine. "Mel Blanc was the male June Foray."

2. "Water, Water Every Hare"

 

LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI

This '52 Chuck Jones short is a call-back of sorts to a cartoon from six years earlier. In 1946, Jones introduced Gossamer, that villainous... thing that's all fur, tennis shoes, and a bad attitude.  A great flood washes Bugs out of his rabbit hole and straight into the lair of the evil scientist. We can't help but feel like the mad doctor bears a passing resemblance to Boris Karloff!

3. "Falling Hare"

 

LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI

This guy's ruining the war, for all of us! M*A*S*H references aside, we'd like to pose this question: What do Bugs Bunny and William Shatner have in common (other than distinctive line deliveries)? They both spot a menace out on a plane. This war-time worry sees Bugs thwarting a Gremlin, in a toon that predates the theatrically released Gremlins by four decades!

4. "Transylvania 6-5000"

 

LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI

Have you ever taken a wrong turn back in Albuquerque and ended up in "Pittsburgh," Transylvania? Tell ya what doc, it's a pain in the neck! That's because that locale is home to one persistent vampire. Lucky for us, Bugs Bunny knows his way around an incantation or two. Let us know in the comments section if you can recall the Glenn Miller song this title parodies!

5. "Hyde and Hare"

 

LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI

Our first Friz Freleng-directed entry on the list is based on the Robert Louis Stevenson story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You can then, of course, predict the course of events when Bugs befriends the genial Jekyll. Spoiler alert: Dr. Jekyll isn't entirely who he seems. Because he's also Mr. Hyde. Obviously.

6. "Hair-Raising Hare"

 

LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are ™ of & © WBEI

Here it is, the original 1946 short that launched a million nightmares. Or is it just us? Gossamer debuts, and he's all there from the start—minimal design and everything. This time, though, it's a Peter Lorre-looking mad scientist who ensnares our heroic hare. All it takes to beguile Bugs is a lady bunny bot. Who knew?

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16 Comments

WordsmithWorks 8 months ago
That was a list of six of my top ten Bugs Bunny cartoons. I like comparing and contrasting "Hair-Raising Hare" and "Water, Water Every Hare." "People?!?! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
GaryGrafix 12 months ago
All classic Bugs at his Boo Best from 1943 to 1963.
timothys71 12 months ago
Although it doesn't feature Bugs Bunny, "Hyde and Go Tweet" is one of my favorite Looney Tunes cartoons.
Hofnerguy 12 months ago
It's been a while since I've seen "Water, Water Every Hare," but I believe the evil scientist resembled and sounded more like Vincent Price than Boris Karloff.
musicman37 Hofnerguy 12 months ago
I think you're right about that. Also, where did they get the name Gossamer from? The mad scientist in this cartoon CLEARLY calls him RUDOLF!
Stephen1144Susan 12 months ago
Another song parody, while not a Glenn Miller tune, was “It’s Magic,” which Bugs sang to himself while inadvertently turning the villain into a bat. (Occasionally, in other features, Bugs would sing it to the lyrics:”Oh, carrots are divine, you get a dozen for a dime, it’s magic!”)
drcrumpler 12 months ago
Jimmy Stewart in The Glen Miller Story, and the band played Pennsylvania 6-5000
BrittReid 12 months ago
Each cartoon is a classic in itself.
Snickers BrittReid 12 months ago
For some reason as a kid I always thought Gossamer was related to cousin It on the Addams Family
LoveMETV22 12 months ago
4. "Transylvania 6-5000"
" Let us know in the comments section if you can recall the Glenn Miller song this title parodies!
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The Glenn Miller song this title parodies is "Pennsylvania 6-5000."

Runeshaper 12 months ago
So many GREAT references in these cartoons! As for 1 of my favorites, you can't go wrong with Boris Karloff (-:
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