Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is an animated character originating from Warner Bros. Cartoons, originally known as Leon Schlesinger Productions, whose development began in the late 1930s and who made a Broadway appearance in 1990 in the production Bugs Bunny on Broadway.

The character's origins were collaborative rather than the work of a single creator. An early prototype appeared in Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton's Porky's Hare Hunt, released on April 30, 1938, in which a small white rabbit with an oval head and shapeless body was depicted as a loud, zany rural buffoon. Mel Blanc provided the character's voice, using a guttural laugh similar to the one he would later employ for Woody Woodpecker. The rabbit returned in Chuck Jones's Prest-O Change-O in 1939, this time portrayed as cool and controlled, and again in Dalton and Hardaway's Hare-um Scare-um the same year, which marked the first appearance of the character as a gray rabbit rather than a white one. Lead animator Charlie Thorson wrote "Bugs's Bunny" on the model sheet he drew for that production, and promotional materials adapted that label into the character's official name. The name "Bugs Bunny" appeared in print as early as August 1939 in the Motion Picture Herald.

The character's definitive form was established in Tex Avery's A Wild Hare, released on July 27, 1940, widely regarded as the first official Bugs Bunny cartoon. Bob Givens redesigned the rabbit for that film, producing a more elongated, erect figure. It was also the first cartoon in which Blanc used what became Bunny's standard voice and the first in which the character delivered his catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?" A Wild Hare received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cartoon Short Subject. The character's visual identity was further shaped over time by Chuck Jones and Robert McKimson alongside Givens.

Bunny starred in more than 160 short films produced between 1940 and 1964 as part of Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. He is characterized by a Brooklyn accent, a flippant and insouciant personality, and a recurring role as a trickster who outwits antagonists including Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and various authority figures. He also develops a recurring rivalry with Daffy Duck. Beyond the short films, Bunny has appeared in feature films, television productions, and comics. He has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character, ranks as the ninth most-portrayed film personality in the world, holds a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and serves as Warner Bros.' official mascot.

Bunny's stage presence extended to Broadway in 1990 with the production Bugs Bunny on Broadway, bringing the animated character into a live theatrical context.