Watch Hold the Lion, Please For Free

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

. . . (aka, The Looney Tuners) knew that the BIG FIGHT this week was NOT Mayweather vs. McGregor Saturday, but Yankees vs. Tigers a couple days earlier in Detroit. Warner's always meticulous prognosticators start their warning to America (and the thousands of geezers at Comerica Park for "Grandparents' Day") by depicting the trio of obnoxious geriatric Yankee gear-clad Yanks fans sitting in Row 3 of Section 337 as an ape, hippo, and giraffe (spot-on caricatures, if you saw them!). As Miguel "Miggy" Cabrera pushes his walker to the plate for perhaps the final time, you can hear this Deplorable Fat Cat One Per Center Trio muttering the EXACT opening lines of HOLD THE LION, PLEASE: Oldster #1 "He ain't kidding anybody--he's all washed up!" Ancient Bozo #2: "He's been through for years!" Creaky Clown #3: "A has been--nothing but a has been!" Warner's animators also nail Miggy with another Big Cat representation in the wheezing lion of this cartoon. Soon Yankee Catcher Gary Sanchez arrives on the scene (fresh from hitting his fourth home run against the hapless home town team in three days) in the form of Bugs Bunny. Bugs constantly lips off this-lion-with one-foot-in-the-grave, caring not a whit whether or not Leo-as-Miggy is a future Hall of Famer. Bugs than preempts Sanchez by 75 years in delivering a Spanish curse word in Sotto Voice, and all Hell breaks loose. Warner accurately forecasts ALL four bench-clearing brawls and all eight ejections, as well as every twist and turn of the 4 hour, 13 minute (9-inning!) game. HOLD THE LION, PLEASE ends with the Tigers' ultimate triumph (when they inject some young blood into the mix, such as teenager Dixon Machado taking third strikes on Miggy's behalf), and even wrap up with an otherwise mystifying tiff between Mr. and Mrs. Lion (not to mention Mr. and Mrs. Bugs Bunny), Clairvoyantly Presaging the Tiger dugout battle between their superannuated designated double play ground-out man Victor Martinez and fading pitching ace Justin Verlander, when the latter says that he'd be defecting to the Yankees by the Aug. 31 post-season eligibility trade deadline because Super Model Kate Upton wears the pants in the Verlander Family.

Nah! I'm just kidding around! This is a funny and harmless cartoon, no bloodshed or anything like that in sight. The ending is a bit of a let-down, and the Lion while well voiced by Tedd Pierce, is not as well drawn as he could have been and is annoying at times. Complaints aside, Hold The Lion, Please is a very entertaining Bugs Bunny cartoon with excellent animation and music and Bugs himself is on top form. The dialogue and visual gags are a delight as are the one and only Mel Blanc's immortal characterisations that always help elevate even the most mediocre of cartoons(ie. the worst of Speedy Gonzales). Overall, not Bug's best, but an entertaining and very re-watchable cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is a really funny early Bugs cartoon. He's in the jungle now, which is a fresh (and funny) change. The lion is not quite the perfect foil for Bugs, and the beginning is slow. However, the jokes are great. I've never seen a lion hunt like that! The old door sequence is back, or it may be its debut. The beginning is weird, but the hippo (voiced by Tex Avery! Surprise!) is funny. I think the start is too stretched-out. The ending is kind of a let-down. A good cartoon, good to see in print.

Mocked by the other animals for being too timid to be the real King of the Jungle, the lion sets out to hunt and kill a rabbit as part of proving himself. However when he picks bugs Bunny as his prey of choice, he isn't prepared for what a tricky wabbit Bugs can be.Despite the fact that the cartoon takes too long to introduce bugs into the film, this is actually an enjoyable run of Bugs Bunny doing his usual tricky stuff. The range of jokes is as normal and altered to the situation and characters. Mostly it is pretty funny throughout, although the ending is a bit of a letdown as an poorly drawn (in both sense) character is introduced as the punchline.Bugs is always good value for money and, although he does the same stuff every time, he is almost always funny. What he does need though, is a good foil to bounce off of. Here the lion doesn't quite fit the bill and is too weak and wishy-washy a character to suffice. His side of the film is a little weaker as a result although Bugs does cover well for it.Overall this is a good cartoon that basically does what Bugs does all the time – be tricky and slippery. If you find that as funny as I do then you'll enjoy this film even if the lion will make you find of Elmer Fudd with a wistful look in your eye.