Hold the Lion, Please is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon, first released on June 6, 1942, distributed by the Vitaphone Corporation and Warner Bros. This is the first Bugs Bunny cartoon where the title does not refer "hare", "bunny", or "rabbit", the character's tenth appearance overall, and Chuck Jones' 39th Warner Bros. cartoon. Tedd Pierce handled writing duties, while Carl W. Stalling composed the music.
The title is a play on the expression used by switchboard operators of the day, asking the caller to "hold the line." The Three Stooges made a short with a similar title, Hold That Lion, which also featured a renegade lion.
Cast:
Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny, Monkey, Giraffe, and Mrs. Bugs Bunny.
Tedd Pierce as Leo the Lion.
Tex Avery as the Hippo, having recorded his lines before he left the studio.
Caricatures:
Tony Galento - "I'll moider da bum!"
Notes:
Mrs. Bugs Bunny's higher-pitched voice is similar to Bugs'.
Bugs became shorter in this cartoon; Chuck Jones would continue to use this version of Bugs until "A Feather in His Hare", where he used the modern Bugs perfected by Bob Clampett and Robert McKimson.
Although "Elmer's Pet Rabbit", directed by Jones a year prior, marked the first on-screen appearance of the character's name, this is the first true Bugs Bunny short directed by Chuck Jones. Bugs' appearance in this cartoon is more akin to "A Wild Hare," with buck teeth, white gloves and his famous Brooklyn accent.
Unlike most other Bugs Bunny cartoons released from 1941 to 1944, the intro did not feature Bugs lying on top the WB shield, instead it had the generic WB shield used in other non-Bugs Bunny cartoons of the period.
This is one of a handful of Bugs Bunny shorts that do not feature the words Bugs, Bunny, Rabbit/Wabbit, or Hare in the title.
Tex Avery voices the Hippo, having recorded his lines before he left the studio.
Leo the Lion would make three more appearances after this cartoon; "The Lion's Busy" (1950), The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode "Hold the Lyin' King, Please" (1998), and in Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000).
The Cartoon Festivals print is a damaged duplicated a.a.p. print where the a.a.p. logo plays first, then the 1947-49 Blue Ribbon Color Rings from "Inki and the Lion" open, also notice the light blue borders. The 1939-40 version of "Merrily We Roll Along" plays instead of the 1941-45 version. The print then changes to another print that says "Hold the Lion, Please". This is a MGM/UA print and probably was hacked off by United Artists in the 1980s. This print had aired on TBS, TNT and later Cartoon Network before 1995.
According to one of Cartoon Network's 2001 June Bugs marathon bumpers, animation director Chuck Jones explicitly established a rule in subsequent Bugs Bunny cartoons that Bugs Bunny must always be provoked in order to give the rabbit a valid reason to torment his enemies. This is first Bugs Bunny cartoon produced after Jones himself established that rule.
This is the first cartoon where Bugs and his antagonist both lose in the end. This would happen again in some later cartoons such as "Hare Conditioned" (along with the Stacy's store manager), "A Feather in his Hare" (along with the Native American hunter), "Captain Hareblower" (along with Yosemite Sam), "Half-Fare Hare" (along with Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton hobos), "The Unmentionables" (along with Rocky and Mugsy) and "Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare" (along with Taz).
