Hold the Lion, Please

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = Hold the Lion, Please
series = Merrie Melodies/Bugs Bunny


caption = Title card of "Hold the Lion, Please".
director = Charles M. Jones
story_artist = Tedd Pierce
animator = Ken Harris
voice_actor = Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny)
Tedd Pierce (Lion)
(both uncredited)
musician = Carl Stalling
producer = Leon Schlesinger Productions
distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures
release_date = June 13, 1942
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 7 mins
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0034861

"Hold the Lion, Please" is a Merrie Melodies cartoon, first released on June 13, 1942, distributed by the Vitaphone Corporation and Warner Bros.. This skit is Bugs Bunny's tenth appearance and Chuck Jones' 39th Warner Bros. cartoon.

The short was directed by Chuck Jones, animated by Ken Harris and scripted by Tedd Pierce. Musical Direction was assigned to Carl Stalling.

The title is an obvious play on the expression by switchboard operators 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.

Synopsis

The short focuses on a lion who is trying to prove he is still "King of the Jungle" by hunting a small, defenseless animal. He chooses Bugs Bunny as his intended victim. The lion soon finds out that, in a battle of wits, he is the defenseless one. However, the lion eventually gets Bugs under one paw while raising the other one, claws extended, and looking angry; a truly frightened-looking Bugs could be facing his end. Just then the lion gets a phone call from his wife, changing the lion's demeanor from mean to meek. He apologizes to Bugs that he can't "stay and kill him", and dashes away toward his home. Bugs ridicules the lion's apparent submissiveness, but he also has someone to answer to: his own wife, who sends Bugs slinking into the rabbit hole while "Mrs. Bugs Bunny" (according to an arrow pointing to her) shows the audience that "she" "wears the pants in this family." Mrs. Bugs' higher-pitched voice is similar to that of Tweety Bird minus the speech impediment. It was the first and last appearance of Mrs. Bugs Bunny, as Bugs is later again depicted as a bachelor.

Cast

*Mel Blanc voiced Bugs Bunny, Monkey, Giraffe, Mrs. Bugs Bunny.
*Tedd Pierce voiced Leo the Lion.
*Tex Avery voiced the Hippo.