The Daily Lesson

On July 27, 1940, Bugs Bunny made his debut in a leading role, appearing in the short film A Wild Hare.  It wasn’t Bugs’ first role, though.  He first appeared in Porky’s Hare Hunt on April 30, 1938.  That’s a rabbit who only vaguely resembles the Bugs most folks remember.  Of course, the rabbit in A Wild Hare doesn’t look a whole lot like I remember from Saturday mornings when I was a kid.  Bug’s name has also changed over time.  He was originally known as Happy Rabbit.  Then George Washington Rabbit.  Somewhere in there he was Bugsworth Bunny.  Then the name Bugs stuck, a take off on his creator’s nickname:  Ben “Bugs” Hardaway.

Folks my age remember Bugs as a staple from Saturday morning cartoons.  Don’t get me wrong, there were other good cartoons, like Bullwinkle.  But Bugs was the best.  Even out of all the other cartoons on The Bugs Bunny Hour – Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzalez, Sylvester, Daffy, Porky, Elmer, Wile, Yosemite Sam, Michigan J. Frog... the list goes on.  I mean, they were great, but Bugs was the best.  Bugs, though, started in 1940, and Saturday morning cartoons wouldn’t come along until the mid-1950s.  And here’s the thing:  No Bugs Bunny cartoon was made especially for Saturday morning cartoons.  However, The Bugs Bunny Hour was.  It was a framework in which to show those classic cartoons that had only previously been shown in movie theatres and at the drive-in.  The Bugs Bunny Hour debuted as a one-time prime time show on October 11, 1960, and then moved to Saturday mornings in 1962.  You know... “Start the show!  Hit the lights!  This is it, the night of nights!  And, Oh! What heights we’ll hit!  On with the show, this is it!”

Over the years, the Wascally Wabbit has been bestowed many honours.   A Wild Hare received an Academy Award nomination, but didn’t win.  Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt, in 1941, was also nominated for an Academy Award, but also didn’t win.  In 1958, though, Bugs did win an academy award for his superb acting in Knighty Knight Bugs. 

Bugs Bunny has been given the honour as the number one cartoon character of all time, and we’re not about to argue with that.  Bugs is Warner Brothers’ official mascot.  He has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character.  He was the first cartoon character to appear on a postage stamp.   And he even has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, being the second animated character to do so, following Mickey Mouse.  Perhaps his greatest honour is having the 1957 classic, What’s Opera, Doc? inducted into the National Film Registry. 

So you tell me... Did you ever find Bugs Bunny attractive when he put on a dress and played a girl bunny?

Oh, by the way.  The first words Bugs ever spoke were, fittingly, “What’s up, doc?”

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