![]() This was a comforting message to American audiences, especially when the war was going badly for the United States during 19.īugs Bunny's popularity did not decline after the war ended in 1945. The message embodied in both characters was the same: attitude, quick wits, and "good old American know-how" would always come out on top. Bugs was the cartoon equivalent of a character common in many films produced during the war: a brash young guy, usually working-class and full of "street smarts," who always won out in the end. Even though he lacked superpowers or big muscles, the rabbit always found a way to prevail over his enemies. However, Bugs Bunny's greatest contribution to national pride during the war may have been less direct: Bugs always won. ![]() In 1945, Herr Meets Hare has Bugs popping up in Nazi Germany, where he torments and mocks Nazi official Hermann Göring (1893–1946), and then does the same to Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) himself. Here, Bugs washes up on a Pacific island that is occupied by Japanese troops who try to capture him. As the title suggests, this production was an example of the blatant racism that was widely used to depict the Japanese to American audiences during the war years. The year 1944 brought the full-length cartoon Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips. In the two-minute cartoon Any Bonds Today? (1942), Bugs is dressed in a Revolutionary War (1775–81) uniform while singing about the benefits of buying war bonds. Like many characters at Warner, Disney (see entry under 1920s-Film and Theater in volume 2), and the other animation studios, Bugs was used in cartoons that combined entertainment with propaganda. ![]() Blanc was also responsible for the voices of such characters as Woody Woodpecker, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Barney Rubble.īugs Bunny was gaining popularity at about the same time that the United States entered World War II (1939–45), following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The voice of Bugs Bunny was that of famous voice actor Mel Blanc (1908–1989). The cartoonists at Warner had been informally referring to the character as "Bugs' Bunny" for years. The name came from Ben "Bugs" Hardaway (1896–1957), an animator at Warner Brothers who had invented the rabbit for Porky's Hare Hunt. That anonymity changed in 1941, when the name "Bugs Bunny" was used for the first time in Elmer's Pet Rabbit, directed by Chuck Jones (1912–2002). Directed by Tex Avery (1908–1980), this was the first cartoon to use the line "What's up, Doc?" The tall, gray-and-white rabbit remained unnamed. Bugs Bunny finally reached the form for which he is best known in 1940's A Wild Hare. The character's appearance and attitude evolved through several more cartoon appearances. In his debut, Bugs was given no name he was simply an unidentified rabbit who turned Porky Pig's hunting expedition into a farce. He was drawn smaller than he would later become and was also completely white. He first appeared in Porky's Hare Hunt, a 1938 Warner Brothers cartoon. The rascally rabbit's origins gave no hint of the greatness to come. Bugs Bunny, the smart-aleck cartoon rabbit, known equally well for his carrots, his quips, and his trademark question-"Eh, what's up, Doc?"-is one of the most popular animated characters ever created.
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