Today is Bugs Bunny’s 83rd birthday – the day in history, July 27, 1940, when Bugs Bunny made his debut in the animated short “Hare” released by Warner Bros.
The cottontail friend is well-known in pop culture for his iconic question, “What’s up, Doc?”
The basic plot of “Hare” chronicles Elmer Fudd’s fruitless pursuit of the much smarter Bugs Bunny.
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Elmer Fudd peers down the rabbit hole, taunts Bugs with a carrot, and tries (unsuccessfully) to catch him.
“Finally, a frustrated Elmer, upset by the rabbit’s antics, walked away sobbing… and Bacchus began to play his carrot like a fife, playing the tune “The Girl I Left Behind Me.” , and walked toward his rabbit on one stiff leg.
Bugs Bunny debuted in the summer of 1940. (Warner Bros. )
According to the official website of Warner Bros., the short film was nominated for the Academy Award for “Best Short Film: Cartoon”.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Bugs Bunny” was conceived in Leon Schlesinger’s animation department at Warner Bros. Studios.
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The same source said the creative team features many of animation’s top names, including Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett and Free Friz Freleng, as well as renowned voiceover artist Mel Blanc and musician Carl Stalling.
Bugs Bunny was conceived in Leon Schlesinger’s animation department at Warner Bros. Studios.
Bugs Bunny is an affable, wisecracking rabbit voiced by Mel Blanc.
According to Variety, Bugs Bunny first appeared in 1938’s “Porky’s Jackpot”, although the character’s speech patterns and appearance were quite different.
Multiple sources note that other cartoon bunnies appeared in Warner Bros.’s Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons in the following years.
A poster showing Looney Tunes characters: Bugs Bunny, Speedy Gonzalez, Wile Wolf, Roadrunner, Daffy Duck and Sylvester, circa 1950. (Movie Poster Image Arts/Getty Images)
But it was in the 1940 short “Wild Hare” that Bugs Bunny looked and sounded like himself — and, remarkably, for the first time, Variety reported The immortal words: “What’s the matter, Doctor?”
Only Walt Disney Company’s Mickey Mouse rivals Bugs Bunny as the most popular cartoon character of all time, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.com.
The same source states that Bugs Bunny sometimes appears alongside other animated protagonists such as Daffy Duck and Piglet, while his most common antagonists are Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam.
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Classic Bugs Bunny cartoons include “Tonic” (1945), “The Big Snooze” (1946), “The Shaggy Hare” (1946), “The Pirate Rabbit” (1948), “The Mississippi Bunny” (1949), “Mutiny” On the Rabbit” (1950), “What’s the Matter, Doc? (1950), “The Rabbit of Seville” (1950) and the Academy Award-winning “Bugs the Knight” (1958).
A standout in animation “What is an Opera, Doctor?” “The Ring of the Nibelung” (1957) starring Backus and Elmer Fudd as Brünnhilde and Siegfried, based on Richard De Wagner’s “The Ring of the Nibelung”, hailed as the first cartoon short to be included in the National Film Library’s registry, was elected as a member of parliament in 1992, Britannica.com notes.
Bugs Bunny has been tricking hunter Elmer Fudd for decades. (Warner Bros. )
In 1987, decades after his debut, “The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show” became ABC’s No. 1 children’s television show, titled “Wabbit Wins Watings Wace,” according to Variety.
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Bugs Bunny had other accomplishments over the years.
He has appeared in more than 150 films, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was the first animated character to have his face on a postage stamp.
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TV Guide also ranked him number one on its list of the 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
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The cartoon con man also appeared in the feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. (1988), “Space Jam” (1996) starring Michael Jordan, and “Space Jam: A New Legacy” (2021).
