The Heckling Hare is a Merrie Melodies cartoon, released on July 5, 1941, and featuring Bugs Bunny and a dopey dog named Willoughby.

This is the second-to-last Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Tex Avery to be released following a dispute with producer Leon Schlesinger during production (see "Original Ending" below).

The Merrie Melodies opening sequence also featured the first usage of the Warner Bros. shield logo zooming in with a carrot-munching Bugs Bunny lying on top of it.

Here, after the zoom-in and a couple of bites of his carrot, Bugs pulls down the Merrie Melodies title screen like it is a shade.

After Bugs and Willoughby fall through the sky in a lengthy sequence, they "put on the brakes" and make a soft, feet-first landing on the ground.

Willoughby's line and the fade out to the end card are usually cut in TV versions (mostly those shown on the Ted Turner-owned cable networks TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang) to cover up the fact that the cartoon had been edited in such an abrupt manner prior to release in theaters.

[7] During his suspension, Avery was hired by Jerry Fairbanks at Paramount Pictures where he directed the first three Speaking of Animals shorts[5] and later left for MGM.