Hoppy Birthday!
There were forerunners to the classic character we know today. The character that would eventually morph into Bugs first appeared in a film called Porky’s Hare Hunt in 1938. At one point he was going to be white and called Happy Rabbit. Film-makers decided he should be grey and given the name Bugs, after the nickname of one of his original creators, Ben “Bugs” Hardaway. Redesigned by Bob Givens, Bugs Bunny as we now know him had his first starring role in Tex Avery’s short movie A Wild Hare, where he outwits the gun-toting Elmer Fudd – the hunter who would become his long-term rival.
The wise-cracking trickster soon became a hit with audiences thanks to his New York drawl and catchphrase “What’s up, Doc?” delivered while munching on carrots with his trademark buck teeth. Routines by comics Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Marx inspired Bugs’ chilled-out personality.
Bugs’ casual carrot-eating pose was based on a scene
JAMES MOORE in the 1934 film
It Happened
One Night, where Clark
Gable, right, leans on a fence munching on one.
Mel Blanc, who was the voice of Bugs for 50 years, actually munched on real carrots during recordings to get the soundtrack just right. Blanc, inset, ended up in a coma after a crash in 1961 until a doctor said to him: “Bugs Bunny!
How are you doing today?”
Blanc replied:
“Eeee, what’s up, Doc?”, came round and made a remarkable recovery.
Famously a master of disguise, Bugs also appeared in secret World War Two propaganda films for US troops. In another wartime cartoon, Herr Meets Hare, he lampoons Adolf Hitler. Thanks to his starring role during the conflict, Bugs Bunny was made an honorary sergeant in the US Marine
Corps.
The Bugs
Bunny Show hit TV in 1960 and was on the box for 40 years. Bugs has appeared in 175 cartoons – more than any other cartoon character.
He also appeared in 1996’s Space Jam with basketball star Michael Jordan, right, and Bug’s love interest Lola Bunny.
Bugs Bunny became only the second cartoon character to get a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame in 1985 and was on a US stamp in 1997. The Warner Bros star was voted the best cartoon character ever in a poll by tvguide.com. There are now Bugs Bunny rides in theme parks worldwide.
You can see him in New Looney
Tunes on Boomerang across Sky, BT and Virgin.