Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Just Who Was Bugs Bunny's Dad Anyway?

First off, I want to apologize to Bugs Bunny about not noting his birthday on July 27th like I did last year. I was busy with real life. (My mom shares her birthday with Bugs which is part of the reason.) Lame excuse, I know, but still, I bet you don't spend all your time online either.

Now that I got that off my chest, I'd like to address something I've come across while looking at the updates on Cartoon Brew. It seems that Martha Sigall, the last survivor of Termite Terrace, had just posted a video on YouTube about the history of the creation of Bugs Bunny. (She even mentioned Daffy Duck's popularity near the end of the vid.) See it here through Cartoon Brew. Although Ben "Bugs" Hardaway (Did I spell his last name right?) created a Daffy-esque bunny for 1938's "Porky's Hare Hunt" (in which, the bunny would first tell Porky the famous Groucho Marx line "Of course, you realize that this means WAR." years before the wabbit himself would often declare that as his revenge vow to his adversaries in the Chuck Jones directed shorts) and his name was on the bunny's model sheet (shown as "Bugs' Bunny" which led to our wascally wabbit's given name), it was Tex Avery's 1940 cartoon "A Wild Hare" who gave the rabbit his personality, not to mention the iconic catchphrase "Eh, what's up, doc?" which would kick start the everlasting career of the hare we came to know as Bugs Bunny. Ain't he a celebrity?

So, here's to Bugs Bunny, no matter who created him first. And maybe next year on his 70th birthday, I'll post something really memorable. ...as soon as I get enough resources.