Edgar Allan Pooh . . . the vast majority of witches were, to quote Dorothy Gale of Kansas, "old and ugly." Glinda the Good Witch of Northern Oz notwithstanding, the tide of Witch Warts & Whiskers never really turned until BROOMSTICK BUNNY, which concludes with the classically ugly Witch Hazel transforming into a cartoon caricature of her Real Life voice artist, young redhead June Foray. It was just a tiny step from Hazel\June to Elizabeth Montgomery's TV Sit-Com role as that Chronic Nose-Twitcher, Samantha Stevens. The rest is History, right down to Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt glamorized to the nines as they duke it out in the current theatrical release, THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR. Though Theron and Blunt may not play Quidditch on broomsticks, their Witchy powers far exceed anything that Hermione managed at Hogwarts. Their main bone of contention is the Man in the Mirror, a twin to Witch Hazel's own Looking Glass Guy. The tide of horrid hags with warts & whiskers is bound to sweep back in soon, as the current Reign of Beauty Queen Witches represents Hollywood Lookism at its worst. It's all but certain than President Hillary will issue an Executive Order during her First 100 Days mandating that all future witch roles will put food on the tables of only old and ugly actresses.

phantom_tollbooth Chuck Jones's 'Broomstick Bunny' is an odd cartoon. Bugs Bunny goes trick-or-treating disguised as a witch, unwittingly stealing the position of "ugliest of them all" from the former holder of the title, Witch Hazel (brilliantly voiced, as always, by June Foray). When she finally realises Bugs is a rabbit, Witch Hazel's thoughts turn to the rabbit's clavicle she needs for her latest potion. With its stylised, scrawled backgrounds, 'Broomstick Bunny' nicely establishes an off-kilter atmosphere and then fails to do much with it. Rather than outwitting his pursuer with his normal brand of heckling, Bugs simply runs for his life throughout the cartoon! At one point, in genuine fear for his life, he cries big, salty tears and it's unclear whether this is part of a ruse or actual emotion but, on the evidence of Bugs's persona in the rest of the cartoon, it would seem to be real. He comes across as a weak, easily tricked character (a carrot on a fishing rod? Come on!) right up until his closing double-pun wisecrack, which is the best thing in the whole cartoon. Although the creepy, angular look of 'Broomstick Bunny' sets up an unsettling atmosphere, the most troubling thing in the film is who exactly this Bugs Bunny impersonator is and what he's done with the real McCoy!

Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71) This is a great cartoon for Halloween and I love it and I'm really (and I mean really) into witches.I like it when Bugs gave Witch Hazel the "puppy-eyes," and when he hands her a cup of tea to cheer Hazel up (which is really a beauty potion) and she turns a beautiful woman. Did you all know that Witch Hazel's voice actress June Foray was the model for "beautiful" Witch Hazel? I had heard it on the audio commentary for this cartoon on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume #2" DVD box-set.I also would like to point out that there is another Witch Hazel in the 1952 Donald Duck cartoon "Trick or Treat."

bob the moo It's Halloween and Witch Hazel is preparing a potion to ensure that she keeps ugly. Meanwhile Bugs is trick or treating dressed as a very ugly witch. When Hazel opens the door to Bugs in costume, she fears that she is not the ugliest witch in the world. When she eventually finds out that Bugs is a rabbit, it only places him in more danger as Hazel needs rabbit to finish her potion.I have seen several other cartoons with this witch Hazel character in them and I haven't really taken to her as a regular character, although as an one off she can do the job reasonably well. Here the film gets off to a slow start where Bugs is still in costume but gets better when the actual chase begins. The problem is that this chase is left far too late in the film to make up for the lack of good laughs in the first place. The chase has laughs but the fact that it comes late in the game is a letdown.Bugs does OK in his role and manages to do his usual stuff even if he has more running away to do than he has actual trickery. Hazel is alright but I just don't really like her as I never see her as a character so much as just a big witch stereotype (which is what she is). She gets a few laughs here but her dominant character doesn't really fit with Bugs' style of humour.Overall this is reasonably funny but inexplicably leaves the good stuff till right near the end of the cartoon instead of spreading it out. One of the better Witch Hazel cartoons, but that really isn't saying a great deal.