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| {{Infobox character | |||
| | name = Bugs Bunny | |||
| | image = ] | |||
| | caption = Classic Bugs Bunny | |||
| | first = {{nowrap|'''Prototype:''' April 30, 1938}}<br />{{nowrap|'']''}}<br />{{nowrap|'''Official:''' July 27, 1940}}<br />{{nowrap|'']''}} | |||
| | creator = {{nowrap|], {{small|(Prototype)}}}}<br />{{nowrap|] and ] {{small|(Official)}}}}<br />{{nowrap|], {{small|(Final)}}}} | |||
| | nickname = Bugs | |||
| | species = ] or ]<br />(]) | |||
| | gender = Male | |||
| | voice = ], (1940–1989)<br />] (1990-1993; 2011-)<br />(]) | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Bugs Bunny''' is a fictional animated character who starred in the '']'' and '']'' series of ] ]s produced by ], which became ] in 1944.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17874931 |title=Bugs Bunny: The Trickster, American Style |publisher=NPR |work= ] Sunday | date= January 6, 2008|accessdate=2011-04-10}}</ref> Bugs starred in 167 shorts during the ], and made cameos in three others along with a few appearances in non-animated films. He is an ] ]. | |||
| According to ''Bugs Bunny: 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare'', he was born in July 27, 1940 in ] in a warren under ], home of the ]. In reality, he was created by many animators and staff, including ], who directed '']'', Bugs' debut role, and ], who created the definitive ''Bugs Bunny'' character design. According to ], the character's original ], Bugs has a ] accent. Bugs has had numerous ]s, the most prominent being a casual "Eh... What's up, doc?", usually said while chewing a carrot. | |||
| He is the most prominent of the Looney Tunes characters as his calm, flippant ] endeared him to American audiences during and after World War II. He is a ] of the Looney Tunes series, and ] in general. | |||
| == History== | |||
| === Happy Rabbit === | === Happy Rabbit === | ||
| {{Main|Evolution of Bugs Bunny}} | {{Main|Evolution of Bugs Bunny}} | ||
| ]A rabbit (named as "Happy Rabbit") with some of the personality of Bugs, though looking very different, first appears in the cartoon short '']'', released on April 30, 1938. Co-directed by ] and an uncredited ] (who was responsible for the initial design of Happy), this short has an almost identical plot to Tex Avery's 1937 cartoon '']'', which had introduced ]. ] is again cast as a hunter tracking a silly prey less interested in escape than in driving his pursuer insane. The latter short replaces the little black duck with a small white rabbit. Happy introduces himself with the odd expression "Jiggers, fellers", and Mel Blanc gave Happy a voice and laugh almost like that he would later use for ]. This cartoon also first uses the famous ] line, "Of course you realize, this means war!" This rabbit was so popular with its audience that the Schlesinger staff decided to use it again. | ]A rabbit (named as "Happy Rabbit") with some of the personality of Bugs, though looking very different, first appears in the cartoon short '']'', released on April 30, 1938. Co-directed by ] and an uncredited ] (who was responsible for the initial design of Happy), this short has an almost identical plot to Tex Avery's 1937 cartoon '']'', which had introduced ]. ] is again cast as a hunter tracking a silly prey less interested in escape than in driving his pursuer insane. The latter short replaces the little black duck with a small white rabbit. Happy introduces himself with the odd expression "Jiggers, fellers", and Mel Blanc gave Happy a voice and laugh almost like that he would later use for ]. This cartoon also first uses the famous ] line, "Of course you realize, this means war!" This rabbit was so popular with its audience that the Schlesinger staff decided to use it again. | ||
| Happy appears again in 1939's '']'', directed by ], where he is the pet rabbit of ] Sham-Fu the Magician. Two dogs, fleeing the local dogcatcher, enter his absent master's house. Happy harasses them, but is ultimately bested by the bigger of the two dogs. | Happy appears again in 1939's '']'', directed by ], where he is the pet rabbit of ] Sham-Fu the Magician. Two dogs, fleeing the local dogcatcher, enter his absent master's house. Happy harasses them, but is ultimately bested by the bigger of the two dogs. | ||
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| In Chuck Jones' '']'' Happy first meets ]. This rabbit looks more like the present-day Bugs, taller and with a similar face. This rabbit, however, speaks with a rural drawl. The early version of Elmer is also different from the present-day one, much fatter and taller, although ]'s voice is the same as it would be later. In ]'s 1940 '']'', a similar rabbit appears to trick the audience into thinking that 750 rabbits have been born. | In Chuck Jones' '']'' Happy first meets ]. This rabbit looks more like the present-day Bugs, taller and with a similar face. This rabbit, however, speaks with a rural drawl. The early version of Elmer is also different from the present-day one, much fatter and taller, although ]'s voice is the same as it would be later. In ]'s 1940 '']'', a similar rabbit appears to trick the audience into thinking that 750 rabbits have been born. | ||
| === Bugs Bunny emerges === | |||
| ]'' (1940).]] | |||
| '']'', directed by Tex Avery and released on July 27, 1940, is the first cartoon where both Elmer Fudd and Bugs are shown in their fully developed forms as hunter and tormentor. In this cartoon Mel Blanc first uses what would become the standard voice of Bugs. And Bugs first emerges from his rabbit hole to ask Elmer, "What's up, Doc?" Animation historian Joe Adamson counts ''A Wild Hare'' as the first "official" Bugs Bunny short.<ref name="Adamson">{{Cite book|title=Bugs Bunny: 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare|first=Joe|last=Adamson|year=1990|publisher=Henry Holt|isbn=0-8050-1855-7}}</ref> | |||
| Bugs's second appearance in Jones's '']'' introduces the audience to the name Bugs Bunny, which until then had only been used among the Termite Terrace employees. It was also the first short where he received billing under his now-famous name, but the card, "featuring Bugs Bunny", was just slapped on the end of the completed short's opening titles when ''A Wild Hare'' proved an unexpected success. The rabbit here is in look and voice identical to the one in Jones' earlier ''Elmer's Candid Camera''. | |||
| Bugs in his ''Wild Hare'' likeness appeared in five more shorts during 1941. '']'', directed by Tex Avery, features the first appearance of ]; '']'', is the first Bugs Bunny short directed by ]; '']'', directed by Avery, has Bugs tracked by a little African-American hunter (based heavily on racial stereotypes); '']'' was the final Bugs short Avery worked on before being fired (Avery and producer Schlesinger vehemently disagreed over the ending gag of The Heckling Hare, and Avery refused to compromise his creative principles) and leaving for ]; and '']'', the first Bugs short directed by ]. ''Wabbit Twouble'' was also the first of five Bugs shorts to feature a chubbier remodel of Elmer Fudd, a short-lived attempt to have Fudd more closely resemble his voice actor, comedian ]. | |||
| === World War II === | |||
| By 1942, Bugs had become the number one star of ''Merrie Melodies''. The series had originally been intended only for one-shot characters in shorts after several early attempts to introduce characters (], ] and ]) failed under Harman–Ising. (In 1937, under Schlesinger, it had started introducing newer characters.) Bugs' 1942 shorts included Friz Freleng's '']'', and the Robert Clampett shorts '']'' and '']'' (which introduced ]). ''Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid'' shows a slight redesign of Bugs, with less-prominent front teeth and a rounder head. The character was reworked by Robert McKimson, then an animator in Robert Clampett's unit. The redesign at first was only used in the shorts created by Clampett's unit, but in time it would be taken up by the other directors, with Freleng and ] the first. When McKimson was himself promoted to director, he created yet another version, with more slanted eyes, longer teeth and a much larger mouth. He used this version until 1949 (as did ] for the one Bugs Bunny cartoon he directed) when he started using the version he had designed for Clampett. Jones would come up with his own slight modification, and the voice had slight variations between the units.<ref name="Barrier"/> | |||
| Other 1942 Bugs shorts included Chuck Jones' '']'', Freleng's '']'' and '']'' (which restores Elmer Fudd to his previous size), and Jones' '']''. Bugs also made cameos in Tex Avery's final Warner Bros. short, ''Crazy Cruise'', and stars in the two-minute United States ]s commercial film '']''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lehman|first=Christopher P.|year=2008|url=http://books.google.com/?id=xMWhTUFFuqoC&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=%22any+bonds+today%22+%22bugs+bunny%22+theatrical+cartoon|title=The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films, 1907-1954|location=Amherst, Massachusetts|publisher=University of Massachusetts Press|page=73|accessdate=2009-02-25 | isbn=9781558496132}}</ref> | |||
| Bugs became more popular during World War II because of his free and easy attitude, and began receiving special star billing in his cartoons by 1943. By that time Warner Bros. had become the most profitable cartoon studio in the United States. In company with cartoon studios such as ] and ], Warners put its characters against the period's biggest enemies, ], ], and the ]. The 1944 short '']'' features Bugs at odds with a group of Japanese soldiers. This cartoon has since been pulled from distribution due to its racial stereotypes. He also faces off against ] and Hitler in '']'', which introduced his well-known reference to ] as he mistakenly winds up in the ] of ] instead of ]. | |||
| Since Bugs' debut in ''A Wild Hare'', he had appeared only in color ''Merrie Melodie'' cartoons (making him one of the few recurring characters created for that series in the ] era prior to the full conversion to color), alongside Elmer's prototype Egghead, ], ], and Elmer himself—who was heard but not seen in the 1942 ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon ''Nutty News'', and made his first formal appearance in that series in 1943's '']''. While he made a cameo appearance in the 1943 ] and ] cartoon '']'' this was his only appearance in a black-and-white ''Looney Tune'' cartoon. He did not star in a cartoon in the ''Looney Tunes'' series until that series made its complete conversion to only color cartoons beginning with 1944 releases. '']'' was Bugs' first cartoon in the ''Looney Tunes'' series, and was also the last WB cartoon to credit Leon Schlesinger. | |||
| Among his most notable civilian shorts during this period are Bob Clampett's '']'' (a sequel to 1941's ''Tortoise Beats Hare''); '']'' (a spoof of Disney's '']''); '']''; '']''; Chuck Jones's '']'' parody '']''; and Freleng's '']''. The 1944 short '']'' introduces Jones' ] characters. | |||
| ]''.]]At the end of the cartoon '']'', Bugs appears wearing a ] dress blue uniform. As a result, the Marine Corps made Bugs an honorary Marine ].<ref>] by ] for '']'' on the '']'' (2005).</ref> From 1943 to 1946, Bugs was the official mascot of Kingman Army Air Field, Kingman, Arizona, where thousands of aerial gunners were trained during World War II. Some notable trainees included ] and ]. Bugs also served as the mascot for 530 Squadron of the 380th Bombardment Group, ], ], which was attached to the ] and operated out of Australia's ] from 1943 to 1945, flying ] bombers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://380th.org/380-History.html |title=History of the 380th Bomb Group |publisher=380th.org |date= |accessdate=2010-01-07}}</ref> Bugs riding an air delivered torpedo served as the squadron logo for Marine Torpedo/Bomber Squadron 242 in the Second World War. | |||
| In 1944, Bugs Bunny made a ] in ''Jasper Goes Hunting'', a short produced by rival studio ]. In this cameo (animated by Robert McKimson, with Mel Blanc providing the voice), Bugs pops out of a rabbit hole, saying his usual catchphrase; Bugs then says, "I must be in the wrong picture" and then goes back in the hole.<ref name="Jasper"/> He also appears fleetingly in the 1947 ] cartoon '']'' | |||
| === The post-war era === | |||
| After World War II Bugs appeared in numerous cartoon shorts in the ''Looney Tunes'' and '']'' series, making his last appearance in the theatrical cartoons in 1964 with '']''. He was directed by Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Arthur Davis and Chuck Jones and appeared in feature films, including '']'' (which features the first-ever meeting between Bugs and his box-office rival ]), '']'', and the 2003 movie ''].'' | |||
| The Bugs Bunny short '']'' (1958), in which a medieval Bugs Bunny trades blows with ] and his fire-breathing dragon (which has a cold), won the ] of 1958. Three of Chuck Jones' Bugs Bunny shorts—'']'', '']'', and '']''—comprise what is often referred to as the "Duck Season/Rabbit Season" trilogy, and are considered among the director's best works.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Jones' 1957 classic, '']'', cast Bugs and Elmer in a parody of ]'s '']''. It has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States ] and selected for preservation in the ], the first cartoon short to receive this honor. | |||
| In the fall of 1960, ] debuted the prime-time television program '']''. This show packaged many of the post-1948 Warners shorts with newly animated wraparounds. After two seasons, it was moved from its evening slot to reruns on Saturday mornings. ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' changed format and exact title frequently, but remained on network television for 40 years. The packaging was later completely different, with each short simply presented on its own, title and all, though some clips from the new bridging material were sometimes used as filler. | |||
| === After the classic cartoon era === | |||
| After Mel Blanc died in 1989, ], ], ], and ] became the new voices of Bugs Bunny and many of the other ''Looney Tunes'' cast members, each taking turns doing Bugs' voice for various projects over the years. | |||
| Bugs has made appearances in animated specials for network television, mostly composed of classic cartoons with bridging material added, including ''How Bugs Bunny Won the West'', and ''The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special''. 1980s ''Bugs Bunny's Busting Out All Over'', however, contained no vintage clips and featured the first new Bugs Bunny cartoons in 16 years. It opened with "Portrait Of The Artist As a Young Bunny", which features a flashback of Bugs as a child thwarting a young Elmer Fudd, while its third and closing short was "Spaced Out Bunny", with Bugs being kidnapped by ] to be a playmate for Hugo, an ]-like character. (A new ] short filled out the half hour.) Compilation films included the independently produced '']'', using the vintage shorts then owned by ]; as well as Warner Bros. efforts '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'' and '']''. He also made guest appearances in episodes of the 1990s television program '']'' as the principal of ] and the mentor of ], and would later make occasional guest cameos on spinoffs '']'' and '']''. He appears in the beginning of '']'', where he tries to ride the opening Warner Bros logo, but is interrupted by Daffy Duck. | |||
| ]. Art by ].]] | |||
| Bugs has had several ] series over the years. ] had the license for all the Warner Brothers cartoons, and produced Bugs Bunny comics first for ], then later for their own ]. Dell published 58 issues and several specials from 1952 to 1962. Gold Key continued for another 133 issues. ], the sister/subsidiary company of Warner Bros., has published several comics titles since 1994 that Bugs has appeared in. Notable among these was the 2000 four-issue miniseries ''Superman & Bugs Bunny'', written by ] and drawn by ]. This depicted a ] between DC's superheroes and the Warner cartoon characters. | |||
| ]]] | |||
| Like SpongeBob for ] and Mickey Mouse (a ] character), Bugs has served as the mascot for ] and its various divisions. He and Mickey are the first cartoon characters to have a star on the ]. | |||
| In the 1988 animated/live action movie '']'', Bugs was shown as one of the inhabitants of ]. However, since the film was being produced by ], Warner Bros. would only allow the use of their biggest star if he got an equal amount of screen time as Disney's biggest star, Mickey Mouse. Because of this, both characters are always together in frame when onscreen. For the same reasons, Bugs never calls Mickey by his name, only referring to him as "Doc," while Mickey calls him "Bugs." | |||
| Bugs Bunny was featured in '']'' showing his displeasure on how man started mistreating the environment. He was voiced by ] who also voiced Porky Pig and Tweety. | |||
| Bugs Bunny came back to the silver screen in '']'' in 1990. This was the first Bugs Bunny cartoon short since 1964 to be released to theaters, and it was created for the Bugs Bunny 50th anniversary celebration. It was followed in 1991 by ''],'' a short that has gained a cult following among some animation fans for its edgy humor. | |||
| Bugs made an appearance in the 1990 drug prevention video ''].'' This special is notable for being the first time that somebody other than Mel Blanc voiced Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. (In this video, both characters were voiced by ].) | |||
| In 1997, Bugs appeared on a ], the first cartoon to be so honored, beating the iconic Mickey Mouse. The stamp is number seven on the list of the ten most popular U.S. stamps, as calculated by the number of stamps purchased but not used. The introduction of Bugs onto a stamp was controversial at the time, as it was seen as a step toward the 'commercialization' of stamp art. The postal service rejected many designs, and went with a postal-themed drawing. Avery Dennison printed the Bugs Bunny stamp sheet, which featured "a special ten-stamp design and was the first self-adhesive ] issued by the ]."<ref> ] ].</ref> | |||
| A younger version of Bugs is the main character of ''],'' which debuted on ] in 2002. In the action comedy '']'', his definite descendant Ace Bunny is the leader of the Loonatics team and seems to have inherited his ancestor's Brooklyn accent and comic wit. Strangely, Bugs was one of the few Looney Tunes characters who never appeared in the 2003 Duck Dodgers ]. | |||
| Bugs has appeared in numerous ]s, including the ''Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle'' series, '']'', '']'' and the similar '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and its sequel, '']'', and ''Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' and the new video game '']''. | |||
| On August 13, 2010, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that they are planning a live-action/CG-animated combo feature film based on the Looney Tunes character.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=68752 |title= Bugs Bunny Theatrical Film Planned |publisher= ] |date= August 13, 2010 |accessdate= 2011-04-10}}</ref> | |||
| ===Return to television=== | |||
| Bugs Bunny and the rest of the ''Looney Tunes'' gang returned to ] in 2011 in a brand new show called '']'', with ] returning to voice both Bugs and Daffy Duck. This series will also feature the characters singing original songs as well. The show debuted on May 3, 2011. A large difference between Bugs and Daffy's friendship in the show is that, whereas Bugs would hardly mind Daffy's flaws in the original cartoons, in the show Bugs is often and openly annoyed at Daffy's antics, sometimes to the point of aggression when Daffy becomes too obnoxious. | |||
| ==Personality and catchphrases== | |||
| {{rquote|right|Some people call me cocky and brash, but actually I am just self-assured. I'm nonchalant, im­perturbable, contemplative. I play it cool, but I can get hot under the collar. And above all I'm a very 'aware' character. I'm well aware that I am appearing in an animated car­toon....And sometimes I chomp on my carrot for the same reason that a stand-up comic chomps on his cigar. It saves me from rushing from the last joke to the next one too fast. And I sometimes don't act, I react. And I always treat the contest with my pursuers as 'fun and games.' When momentarily I appear to be cornered or in dire danger and I scream, don't be consoined{{sic}} – it's actually a big put-on. Let's face it Doc. I've read the script and I al­ready know how it turns out. |] on Bugs Bunny, written in ].<ref name="WBCharDesign"/>}} | |||
| Bugs has feuded with ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and a host of others. Bugs almost always wins these conflicts, a plot pattern which recurs in ''Looney Tunes'' films directed by Chuck Jones. Concerned that viewers would lose sympathy for an aggressive protagonist who always won, Jones arranged for Bugs to be bullied, cheated, or threatened by the ]s while minding his own business, justifying his subsequent antics as retaliation or self-defense. He's also been known to break the ] by "communicating" with the audience, either by explaining the situation (ex. "Be with you in a minute, folks!"), describing someone to the audience (ex. "Feisty, ain't they?"), clueing in on the story (ex. "That happens to him all during the picture, folks."), explaining that one of his antagonists' actions have pushed him to the breaking point ("Of course you know, this means war."), etc. | |||
| Bugs will usually try to placate the antagonist and avoid conflict, but when an antagonist pushes him too far, Bugs may address the audience and invoke his catchphrase "Of course you realize this means ''war!''" before he retaliates, and the retaliation will be devastating. This line was taken from ] and others in the 1933 film '']'' and was also used in the 1935 Marx film '']''.<ref name="Duck Soup">{{cite web|url=http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/d/duck-soup-script-transcript-marx.html |title=Transcript of ''Duck Soup'' |publisher=Script-o-rama.com |date= |accessdate=2009-09-20}}</ref> Bugs would pay homage to Groucho in other ways, such as occasionally adopting his stooped walk or leering eyebrow-raising (in '']'', for example) or sometimes with a direct impersonation (as in '']''). | |||
| Other directors, such as Friz Freleng, characterized Bugs as altruistic. When Bugs meets other successful characters (such as Cecil Turtle in '']'', or, in World War II, the Gremlin of '']''), his overconfidence becomes a disadvantage. Most of Bugs' antagonists are extremely dim-witted, and Bugs is easily able to outwit and torment them, though on occasion they will manage to get the best of Bugs. Daffy Duck, who is considerably more intelligent, is unaffected by Bugs' usual schemes, and the two usually end up fighting a battle of wits, though Bugs is still the superior. | |||
| During the 1940s, Bugs was immature and wild, but starting in the 1950s his personality matured and his attitude was less frenetic. Though often shown as highly mischievous and violent, Bugs is never actually malicious, and only acts as such in ] against his aggressors; the only two cartoons where Bugs ever served as an antagonist were ] and ]; the latter cartoon depicts him as far more ] than usual, as he becomes the cartoonist and abuses his newfound ] to torture Daffy. | |||
| Bugs Bunny's nonchalant carrot-chewing standing position, as explained by Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and ], originated in a scene in the film '']'', in which ]'s character leans against a fence, eating carrots rapidly and talking with his mouth full to ]'s character. This scene was well known while the film was popular, and viewers at the time likely recognized Bugs Bunny's behavior as ].<ref name="filmsite">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/itha.html |title=''It Happened One Night'' film review by Tim Dirks |publisher=Filmsite.org |date= |accessdate=2009-09-20}}</ref> | |||
| The carrot-chewing scenes are generally followed by Bugs Bunny's most well-known catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?", which was written by director Tex Avery for his first Bugs Bunny short, 1940s ''A Wild Hare''. Avery explained later that it was a common expression in his native Texas and that he did not think much of the phrase. When the short was first screened in theaters, the "What's up, Doc?" scene generated a tremendously positive audience reaction.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adamson|first=Joe|title=Tex Avery: King of Cartoons|location=]|publisher=De Capo Press|year=1975|isbn=0306802481}}</ref> As a result, the scene became a recurring element in subsequent films and cartoons. The phrase was sometimes modified for a situation. For example, Bugs says "What's up, dogs?" to the antagonists in '']'', "What's up, Duke?" to the knight in '']'' and "What's up, prune-face?" to the aged Elmer in '']''. He might also greet Daffy with "What's up, Duck?" He used one variation, "What's all the hub-bub, bub?" only once, in ''].'' Another variation is used in '']'' when he greets a ]-wielding ] saying "What's up, ]?" | |||
| Several Chuck Jones shorts in the late 1940s and 1950s depict Bugs travelling via cross-country (and, in some cases, intercontinental) tunnel-digging, ending up in places as varied as Mexico ('']'', 1953), the ] ('']'', 1960) and ] ('']'', 1949) all because he "shoulda taken that left toin at ]." He first utters that phrase in '']'' (1945), when he emerges in the ], a cartoon seldom seen today due to its blatantly topical subject matter. When ] says to Bugs, "There is no Las Vegas in 'Chermany'" and takes a potshot at Bugs, Bugs dives into his hole and says, "Joimany! Yipe!", as Bugs realizes he's behind enemy lines. The confused response to his "left toin" comment also followed a pattern. For example, when he tunnels into Scotland in 1948's '']'', while thinking he's heading for the ] in ], it provides another chance for an ethnic stereotype: "Therrre's no La Brrrea Tarrr Pits in Scotland!" (to which Bugs responds, "Uh...what's up, Mac-doc?"). A couple of late-1950s shorts of this ilk also featured ] travelling with Bugs ("Since when is ] inside a cave?!"). | |||
| Bugs Bunny has some similarities to figures from ] and ], such as ], ], or ], and might be seen as a modern ] (for example, he repeatedly uses ] mischievously). Unlike most cartoon characters, however, Bugs Bunny is rarely defeated in his own games of trickery. One exception to this is the short '']'', in which Elmer Fudd ultimately carries the day at the end; however, critics note that in this short, Elmer and Bugs assume each other's personalities—through mental illness and hypnosis, respectively—and it is only by becoming Bugs that Elmer can win. However, Bugs was beaten at his own game. In the short '']'' he torments Daffy Duck as the unseen animator, ending with his line, "Ain't I a stinker?" Bugs feels the same wrath of an unseen animator in the short '']'' where he is in turn tormented by Elmer Fudd. At the end of the clip Elmer gleefully exclaims, 'Well, I finally got even with that scwewy wabbit!" | |||
| Although it was usually ] who brought the WB cartoons to a close with his stuttering, "That's all, folks!", Bugs would occasionally appear, bursting through a drum just as Porky did, but munching a carrot and saying in his Bronx-Brooklyn accent, "And dat's de end!" | |||
| The name "]" or "]" as an old-fashioned nickname means "crazy" (or "loopy"). Several famous people from the first half of the twentieth century had that nickname. It is now out of fashion as a nickname, but survives in 1950s-1960s expressions like "you're bugging me", as in "you're driving me crazy". | |||
| Bugs wears white gloves, which he is rarely seen without. One example is the episode '']'', where Bugs pretends to be the famed conductor ] and instructs opera star "Giovanni Jones" to sing and to hold a high note. As Giovanni Jones is turning red with the strain, Bugs slips his left hand out of its glove, leaving the glove hovering in the air in order to command Jones to continue to hold the high note. Bugs then nips down to the mail drop to order, and then to receive, a pair of ear defenders. Bugs puts on the ear defenders and then zips back into the amphitheater and reinserts his hand into his glove as singer Jones is writhing on the stage, still holding that same high note. | |||
| Bugs Bunny is also a master of disguise: he can wear any disguise that he wants to confuse his enemies: in '']'' he uses diverse disguises: fakir, gentleman, woman, baker and finally policeman. This ability of disguise makes Bugs famous because we can recognize him while at the same time realizing that his enemies are trapped. Bugs has a certain preference for the female disguise: Taz, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam were fooled by this sexy bunny (woman) and in '']'', Sam discovers the real face of "Granny" (Bugs's disguise) in the church where they attempt to get married. For all the gullible victims of all these disguises, however, for some reason, Daffy Duck and Cecil Turtle are among those who are never fooled. | |||
| Bugs Bunny may also have some mystical potential. In '']'' he was able to return to his bunny form (after being transformed into a donkey) by removing his donkey form as if it were a suit. Merlin of Monroe (the wizard) was unable to do the same thing. Later Bugs Bunny defeated the ] in a magical spell duel. However, the story was a dream and Bugs Bunny's victory over Count Blood Count was a result of his intellect, not innate magical power. | |||
| ===Rabbit or hare?=== | |||
| The animators throughout Bugs' history have treated the terms ] and ] as synonymous. Taxonomically, they are not synonymous, being somewhat similar but observably different types of ]. Hares have much longer ears than rabbits, so Bugs might seem to be of the hare family, yet rabbits live in burrows, as Bugs is seen to do. Many more of the cartoon titles include the word "hare" rather than "rabbit," as "hare" lends itself easily to puns ("hair," "air," etc.) Elmer Fudd has always referred to Bugs as a "wabbit". | |||
| Within the cartoons, although the term "hare" comes up sometimes, again typically as a pun—for example, Bugs drinking "hare tonic" to "stop falling hare" or being doused with "hare restorer" to bring him back from invisibility—Bugs as well as his antagonists most often refer to the character as a "rabbit." The word "]" is of no help in answering this question, as it is a synonym for ''both'' young hares ''and'' young rabbits. | |||
| In ] commercials with ], Bugs had been referred to as "''Hare'' Jordan."<ref>{{YouTube|id=2URMB4NGbo8|title=1993 - Nike - Michael Jordan & Bugs Bunny}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id=3oK7PAvKHqc|title=Air Jordan VII Original Sneaker Bugs Bunny Sneakerfiles.com}}</ref> | |||
| ===The opening and closing=== | |||
| In the opening of many of the Bugs Bunny cartoons, the '']'' and '']'' irises contain Bugs Bunny's head after the ] shield (generally from 1944 and 1949 onward). Others have Bugs Bunny relaxing on top of the Warner Bros. shield: He chews on his carrot, looks angrily at the camera and pulls down the next logo (''Merrie Melodies'' or ''Looney Tunes'') like a window shade (generally on cartoons between 1945 until early 1949). Then he lifts it back up, to now be seen lying on his own name, which then fades into the title of the specific short. In some other cases, the title card sometimes fades to him, already on his name and chewing his carrot then fade to the name of the short. At the finish of '']'' and '']'', Bugs breaks out of a drum (like '']'') and says, "And that's the end". Also, at the end of '']'', right after ] and ] run out through the ] "That's All Folks!" sequence, Bugs later comes in through the rings and says, "And that's all, folks!". He did the ending for the last time at the end of '']'' but this time saying "Well, that's all, folks!". | |||
| ==Voice actors== | |||
| The following are the many voice actors who have voiced the character Bugs Bunny over the last seventy-one years: | |||
| ;]] | |||
| :Mel Blanc voiced the character for 49 years, from Bugs' debut in '']'' (1940) until Blanc's death in 1989. Blanc described the voice as a combination of ] and ] ]; however, Tex Avery claimed that he asked Blanc to give the character not a New York accent ''per se'', but a voice like that of actor ], who frequently appeared in supporting roles in the 1930s and whose voice might be described as New York Irish.<ref name="Barrier">{{Cite book|title=Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age|last=Barrier|first=Michael|date=2003-11-06|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=United States|isbn=978-0195167290|page=672}}</ref> In Bugs' second cartoon '']'', Blanc created a completely new voice for Bugs, which sounded like a ] impression, but the directors decided the previous voice was better. Though his best-known character was the carrot-chomping rabbit, munching on the carrots interrupted the dialogue. Various substitutes, such as ], were tried, but none of them ''sounded'' like a carrot. So for the sake of expedience, he would munch and then spit the carrot bits into a ] rather than swallowing them, and continue with the dialogue. One oft-repeated story, possibly originating from '']'', is that he was allergic to carrots and ''had'' to spit them out to minimize any allergic reaction — but his autobiography makes no such claim;<ref name="Blanc">{{Cite book|last=Blanc|first=Mel|first2=Philip|last2=Bashe|title=That's Not All, Folks!|location=Clayton South, VIC, Australia|publisher=Warner Books|year=1989|isbn=0446512443}}</ref> in fact, in a 1984 interview with ], co-author of ''The Magic Behind The Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors'' (University Press of Mississippi, 2004), Blanc emphatically denied being allergic to carrots. | |||
| ;] | |||
| :Jeff Bergman was the first to voice Bugs Bunny (and several other Looney Tunes characters) after Mel Blanc died in 1989. He got the job by impressing Warner Bros. higher-ups with a tape of himself re-creating the voices of several of Blanc's characters, including Bugs. He had rigged the tape player so that he could use a switch to instantly toggle back and forth between the original recording of Blanc and Bergman's recording of the same lines. Upon doing this, it was almost impossible for the producers to tell which voice was Blanc's and which voice was Bergman; thus his vocal ability was established and his career launched. | |||
| :Bergman first voiced Bugs during the 1990 Academy Awards and then in '']'', a 4-minute '']'' short released in 1990 to commemorate Bugs' fiftieth anniversary. Bergman would next voice Bugs in the 1991 short '']'', a ]-directed cartoon produced to coincide with Bugs' 51st and a half anniversary. However, the short never received its intended theatrical release and was shelved for years, until ] rediscovered it and broadcast it on their channel several years later.<ref name="Rosenbaum"/> ''(Blooper) Bunny'' has since garnered a cult following among animation fans for its use of edgy humor.<ref name="Rosenbaum">{{cite web|last=Knight |first=Richard |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/2001/0101/010126.html |title=Consider the Source |publisher=Chicagoreader.com |date= |accessdate=2009-09-20}}</ref> Other works for which Bergman provided Bugs' voice include '']'' (an obvious ] of the 1950s ] ] '']''), '']'' (a popular television program of the early nineties that featured the classic ''Looney Tunes'' characters as mentors to their younger counterparts) in the first season, and '']'' (a television special exposing children to dangers of illegal drugs). Bergman would continue to do the voice of Bugs Bunny until 1993, apparently due to him having difficulty moving to ] at the time. In 2011, Bergman has returned to voice Bugs for ]'s new series, '']''. | |||
| ;] | |||
| :Greg Burson first voiced Bugs Bunny in later episodes of ''Tiny Toon Adventures''. He was then given the responsibility of voicing Bugs in 1995's '']'', a well-received 8-minute ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon originally shown in cinemas alongside '']'' (US) and '']'' (non-US); it has since been released on video packaged with older ''Looney Tunes'' cartoons and was even included in the special edition ] release of '']'', of which it is both a ] and an ]. Burson next voiced Bugs in the 1996 short '']''; the film is notable for being dedicated to the memory of the then-just deceased ], and for being the final ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon that ] directed. Burson also provided Bugs' voice in '']'', which ran on ] from 1996 to 2003. He died in 2008. | |||
| ;] | |||
| :Billy West has been in television since the late 1980s. His first role was for the 1988 revived version of ]'s '']''. West's breakthrough role then came almost immediately, as the voice of Stimpy and later Ren in ]'s '']''. West has since been the voice talent for close to 120 different characters, including some of the most iconic animated figures in television history. Perhaps West's most notable film work came in the 1996 film '']''. Starring alongside ], West provided the voice of both Bugs Bunny and ]. West would go on to reprise the roles of Bugs in subsequent '']'' productions, including his cameos on '']'', also he made a cameo appearance on '']'' in "Class Act", the ] promotional spots, and the 2006 ]-themed special '']'' and the DVD compilations "Reality Check" and "Stranger Than Fiction", along with several ''Looney Tunes''-centric CDs, cartoons, and video games. | |||
| ;] | |||
| :Joe Alaskey, like ], is well-known for his ability to successfully impersonate many '']'' characters. In fact, Alaskey voiced ] in '']'', as original voice actor Mel Blanc had found it too hard on his vocal cords (which makes Sam one of the few voices created by Blanc to be voiced by someone else during his lifetime). Alaskey's first performance as Bugs Bunny came in the 2003 feature film '']'', although he had tested performing the role in a few earlier projects, such as '']''. While still best known for providing the voice of ], Alaskey has also gone on to do Bugs' voice in several subsequent productions, including '']'' (which was released on ''The ]'' and dedicated to then-just deceased Chuck Jones) and several recent video games and Looney Tunes cartoons, including '']''. | |||
| ;] | |||
| :Jess Harnell served as the voice of Bugs in the ] TV series '']''. | |||
| ;] | |||
| :Noel Blanc, Mel Blanc's son, voiced Bugs for the ''Tiny Toons'' special '']''. The elder Blanc claimed in his later years that Noel substituted for Mel in various cartoon studios, including doing Bugs at Warner Bros., while he was recovering from a near-fatal car wreck. Noel can also be seen doing Bugs' voice with his father in the documentary on the making of the film '']''. | |||
| ==Cameos== | |||
| Bugs Bunny has had cameo appearances in several cartoons, including two '']'' shorts. | |||
| *'']'' (1940) | |||
| *'']'' (1942) | |||
| *'']'' (1943, Bugs's only appearance in a black-and-white Looney Tunes short) | |||
| *'']'' (1944, for ])<ref name="Jasper">{{cite web|url=http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/36556-Jasper_Goes_Hunting.html |title=''Jasper Goes Hunting'' information |publisher=Bcdb.com |date= |accessdate=2009-09-20}}</ref> | |||
| *'']'' (1945) | |||
| *'']'' (1947, with a sped-up voice) | |||
| *'']'' (1950) | |||
| *'']'' (1953) | |||
| *'']'' (2008, voiced by Joe Alaskey, as one of the forms of ]) | |||
| ==Current popularity== | |||
| In 2002, '']'' compiled a list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time as part of the magazine's 50th anniversary. Bugs Bunny was given the honor of number 1.<ref name="CNNBugs">{{Cite news|title=Bugs Bunny tops greatest cartoon characters list|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/30/cartoon.characters/index.html|publisher=CNN.com|date=2002-07-30|accessdate=2008-02-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work=CNN.com|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/30/cartoon.characters.list/index.html|title=List of All-time Cartoon Characters|accessdate=April 11, 2007|date=July 30, 2002|publisher=CNN}}</ref> In a ] broadcast on July 31, 2002, a ''TV Guide'' editor talked about the group that created the list. The editor also explained why Bugs pulled top billing: "His stock...has never gone down...Bugs is the best example...of the smart-aleck American comic. He not only is a great cartoon character, he's a great comedian. He was written well. He was drawn beautifully. He has thrilled and made many generations laugh. He is tops."<ref>{{Cite news|work=CNN.com|title=CNN LIVE TODAY: 'TV Guide' Tipping Hat to Cartoon Characters|accessdate=April 11, 2007|date=July 31, 2002|publisher=CNN|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0207/31/lt.20.html}}</ref> Additionally, in '']'''s ''50 Greatest Movie Animals'' (2004), Bugs was named #3, behind ] and ]. | |||
| Bugs has also had an effect on "live" movie acting. During an interview for '']'', ] ] cited him as one of his earliest influences, praising ] ]. | |||
| According to ], Bugs Bunny became the current official ] for ] ]s beginning with their 45th anniversary. | |||
| ==Awards== | |||
| ===Academy Awards=== | |||
| *'']'' (1958) | |||
| ===Academy Award nominations=== | |||
| *'']'' (1940) | |||
| *'']'' (1941) | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| {{Portal box|Animation|United States|Film|Biography}} | |||
| *'']'' | |||
| *'']'' | |||
| *'']'' | |||
| *'']'' | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist|2|refs= | |||
| <ref name="WBCharDesign">{{cite book| title= Draw the Looney Tunes: The Warner Bros. Character Design Manual| isbn= 0811850161 | year= 2005 | publisher=]| location=]| chapter= Chapter 11: What's Up Doc? | page=166}}</ref> | |||
| }} | |||
| ==Bibliography== | |||
| *{{Cite book|last=Adamson|first=Joe|title=Bugs Bunny: 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare|location=New York | |||
| |publisher=Henry Holt|year=1990|isbn=0-8050-1855-7}} | |||
| *{{Cite book|last=Beck|first=Jerry|first2=Will|last2=Friedwald|title=Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies|location=New York|publisher=Henry Holt|year=1989|isbn=0-8050-0894-2|authorlink=Jerry Beck}} | |||
| *{{Cite book|last=Blanc|first=Mel|first2=Philip|last2=Bashe|title=That's Not All, Folks!|location=Clayton South, VIC, Australia|publisher=Warner Books|year=1989|isbn=0-446-39089-5|authorlink=Mel Blanc}} | |||
| *{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Chuck|title=Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist|location=New York|publisher=Farrar Straus & Giroux|isbn=0-374-12348-9|authorlink=Chuck Jones|year=1989}} | |||
| *{{Cite book|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|title=Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons|location=New York|publisher=Plume Book|year=1987|isbn=0-452-25993-2|edition=Revised}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{Commons category}} | |||
| {{Wikiquote}} | |||
| *{{IMDB character|id=0000574}} | |||
| *{{Toonopedia|bugs.htm}} | |||
| * | |||
| {{Chicago Bulls}} | |||
| {{Warner Bros. cartoon characters}} | |||
| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME= Bunny, Bugs | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Rabbit, Bugs | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION= Looney Tunes character | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH= 1940 | |||
| |PLACE OF BIRTH= ] | |||
| }} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunny, Bugs}} | |||
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Revision as of 13:47, 17 June 2011
Happy Rabbit
Main article: Evolution of Bugs Bunny
A rabbit (named as "Happy Rabbit") with some of the personality of Bugs, though looking very different, first appears in the cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt, released on April 30, 1938. Co-directed by Ben "Bugs" Hardaway and an uncredited Cal Dalton (who was responsible for the initial design of Happy), this short has an almost identical plot to Tex Avery's 1937 cartoon Porky's Duck Hunt, which had introduced Daffy Duck. Porky Pig is again cast as a hunter tracking a silly prey less interested in escape than in driving his pursuer insane. The latter short replaces the little black duck with a small white rabbit. Happy introduces himself with the odd expression "Jiggers, fellers", and Mel Blanc gave Happy a voice and laugh almost like that he would later use for Woody Woodpecker. This cartoon also first uses the famous Groucho Marx line, "Of course you realize, this means war!" This rabbit was so popular with its audience that the Schlesinger staff decided to use it again.
Happy appears again in 1939's Prest-O Change-O, directed by Chuck Jones, where he is the pet rabbit of unseen character Sham-Fu the Magician. Two dogs, fleeing the local dogcatcher, enter his absent master's house. Happy harasses them, but is ultimately bested by the bigger of the two dogs.
His third appearance is in another 1939 cartoon, Hare-um Scare-um, directed by Dalton and Hardaway. This short, the first where he is depicted as a gray bunny instead of a white one, is also notable for Happy's first singing role. Charlie Thorson, lead animator on the short, gave the character a name. He had written "Bugs' Bunny" on the model sheet that he drew for Hardaway, implying that he considered the rabbit model sheet to be Hardaway's property. In promotional material for the short, including a surviving 1939 presskit, the name on the model sheet was altered to become the rabbit's own name: "Bugs" Bunny (quotation marks only used at the very beginning). In his later years, Mel Blanc stated that a proposed name was "Happy Rabbit". Oddly, "Happy" was only used in reference to Bugs Hardaway. In the cartoon Hare-um Scare-um, a newspaper headline reads, "Happy Hardaway".
In Chuck Jones' Elmer's Candid Camera Happy first meets Elmer Fudd. This rabbit looks more like the present-day Bugs, taller and with a similar face. This rabbit, however, speaks with a rural drawl. The early version of Elmer is also different from the present-day one, much fatter and taller, although Arthur Q. Bryan's voice is the same as it would be later. In Robert Clampett's 1940 Patient Porky, a similar rabbit appears to trick the audience into thinking that 750 rabbits have been born.
- Cite error: The named reference
Barrierwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - "''Bugs Bunny''". Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica.com. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
- "Leading the Animation Conversation » Rare 1939 Looney Tunes Book found!". Cartoon Brew. 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
- Cite error: The named reference
Blancwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - "Looney Tunes Hidden Gags". Gregbrian.tripod.com. Retrieved 2009-09-20.