Bugs Bunny and Hitler

If you've never seen "Herr Meets Hare," you really need to take 6 minutes today and watch this. It, er, heils from a time when the Warner Brothers' lunacy knew no bounds. During World War II, they created racy cartoons solely for American soldiers stationed in Europe that were full of expletives, X-rated images, scatological humor and other lunacy that would never pass military muster today. For instance, in "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips," Bugs sells ice cream bars stuffed with hand grenades to Japanese soldiers he affectionately calls "Slant Eyes." Not exactly politically correct by modern standards.

In the 1945 "Herr Meets Hare," which was released a few months before the fall of the Third Reich, we get Bugs playing Der Führer (about 3 minutes in if you're pressed for time) and, later, Hitler himself makes an appearance. This brilliant mockery also marks the first time Bugs says the famous line: "I KNEW I 'shoulda' made that left 'toin' in 'Albakoikie." Also noteworthy: You might recognize the scene where Bugs is dancing with Siegfried after he enters to the "Pilgrims' Chorus" from Wagner's Tannhäuser. That's because it was later re-used in the classic "What's Opera, Doc?"

Final piece of trivia for you: The final quote in the cartoon, "Does your tobacco taste different lately?" - is poking fun at an old Raleigh cigarette ad that you might recall seeing in another classic episode of Bugs from 1946 called "Baseball Bugs."