Rabbits

I enjoy watching the rabbits in our urban back yard. They seem to require a column about their tribe. Well, why not? Turns out the problem is picking the best, not lack of subjects. Of course Mr. Movie can do that so here goes.

I’ll start with my personal favorite, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). In a world where cartoon characters (toons) and real people exist side by side, Roger Rabbit is accused of murder. Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) reluctantly agrees to defend Roger. The terrible Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) is out to see that Roger is convicted. The toons cannot be killed by the usual means, they have to be destroyed by a caustic chemical combination .It’s complicated, but things work out. The film also has the sexiest rabbit ever, Jessica Rabbit (voiced without credit by Kathleen Turner and Amy Irving).

Up high on everyone’s list of classics is the endearing Harvey (1950) with James Stewart as the charming but wacky Elwood Dowd, who is dear friends with a puka (legendary Celtic rabbit) named Harvey. However, no one but Elwood can see Harvey, including the two female relatives with whom he lives. Several attempts are made to have Elwood committed but he keeps escaping and finding his way to his favorite bars with his favorite friend. Elwood gives us Harvey’s best quote: “Harvey not only understands time and space, but any objection”.

Zootopia (2016) is a fun animated film that features a wily rabbit, Judy Hopps, as the local police officer. She is conned, but then befriended by an even wilier fox, Nick Wilde. They become quite a good team and eventually ZPD (Zoo Police Department) colleagues. The movie provides the funniest sloth in the world: Flash Slothmore, the fastest clerk at the Zoo DMV. He is worth the trip!

Song of the South (1948) is, okay, unabashedly racist, so much so that for many years it was banned everywhere and you couldn’t see it. I say get beyond that pigeon hole and enjoy the story of a lonely little boy enchanted by the stories of Uncle Remus, a kind elderly black man. One of his favorite characters is the sharp-witted Brer Rabbit, who enjoys taunting and escaping from the clutches of the dense and slow Brer Bear. 

Any version of Lewis Carroll’s delightful Alice in Wonderland features the frantic White Rabbit, who is scurrying because he is always late. Alice follows him “down the rabbit hole” and has many wonderful (pun intended) adventures. For my money, the 1950 animated version is superior to the one from 2010 with live characters. 

And any version of Winnie The Pooh brings us another frantic Rabbit, who talks too fast and overruns his plans. The 2011 version is good enough, though none of the films come close to the magic of the books. Anyway, Rabbit leaves a note for Pooh:”I am scerching for owl a new house. So had you. Rabbit”. And of course Rabbit is trying to help the professorial Owl, who could spell his own name: Wol. 

There’s even a movie featuring killer rabbits- Night of the Lepus (1972). The killer bunnies gather at an abandoned gas station. Good grief!