Roman Legion-Hare

Roman Legion-Hare
Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny) series
Emperor Nero gives the order to "bring the victim"
Directed by	Friz Freleng
Produced by	Edward Selzer (uncredited)
Story by	Warren Foster
Voices by	Mel Blanc
Music by	Milt Franklyn
Animation by	Virgil Ross Art Davis Gerry Chiniquy
Layouts by	Hawley Pratt
Backgrounds by	Irv Wyner
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	November 12, 1955
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	7 minutes 9 seconds

Roman Legion-Hare is a Looney Tunes animated short released in 1955. The title is a play on the words Roman Legionnaire. After being ordered by Emperor Nero to find a victim to be tossed to the lions, Yosemite Sam tries to capture Bugs Bunny.

The setting is Rome, 54 A. D.; the camera pans past a billboard announcing "Another Appian Freeway for Your Safety (Slow Chariots Keep Right)" before settling on an exterior view of the Coliseum. As spectators file into the Coliseum, their shadows fall on a poster describing the day's sporting event:

The sign is a reference to the NFL team with the same name, which was a league powerhouse at the time. The NFL Lions had appeared in the league championship game in the three seasons prior to the short being released, winning the title in 1952 and 1953.

A radio-style sportscaster describes the scene for his audience and the entrance of Emperor Nero into the arena (in a chariot with tail fins from a 1950s Cadillac). Nero is represented as a caricature of actor Charles Laughton who had played the character in The Sign of the Cross in 1932.

The announcer reports that Nero has "consented to throw out the first victim". When it turns out they are all out of victims, Nero commands Captain of the Praetorian Guard Sam to take his legion out to get one (informing Sam that if he fails to provide a victim for the lions, Sam will be the victim).

Along the way, Sam and the legion (which looks more like a squad) cross paths with Bugs Bunny who is looking at them expecting a parade. Sam sends his troops after Bugs but he trips them with his foot.

Sam then chases after Bugs in a chariot where he once again is victim of the "giddyap! horse/whoa! horse" routine.