The prototype Bugs Bunny, more commonly referred to by fans as Happy Rabbit, was a name often associated to the preliminary version of Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, who appeared in four cartoons before his finalization in the 1940 short "A Wild Hare". Created by Ben Hardaway in 1938, the rabbit first appeared in the short "Porky's Hare Hunt".
Like most of the other Looney Tunes characters, the rabbit was voiced by Mel Blanc. The name of the Bugs Bunny prototype was not used publicly in the 1930s, while Blanc spoke of Bugs' origins in interviews and his autobiography, though there is some doubt that it was ever an official name.
History[]
Early appearances[]
The rabbit made his debut in the 1938 Looney Tunes short "Porky's Hare Hunt", directed by Ben Hardaway. Similar in tone and execution to the previous year's "Porky's Duck Hunt", which introduced Daffy Duck, "Porky's Hare Hunt" involves Porky hunting a white rabbit whose wild antics drive him mad. Mel Blanc would later use a similar sounding voice characterization as the voice of Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker. The rabbit character was popular enough with audiences that the Termite Terrace staff decided to use it again.[1]
Chuck Jones used the rabbit as a foil in his 1939 short, "Prest-O Change-O", the rabbit's second appearance. In this short, he antagonizes The Two Curious Puppies.
The rabbit was the focal point of his third short, "Hare-um Scare-um" (1939), for which he was redesigned as a gray rabbit with large buck teeth, apricot-colored gloves and mouth, a black nose, black-tipped ears, and the same voice that he had in "Porky's Hare Hunt" and in "Prest-O Change-O". In this cartoon, a hunter goes after him for food upon learning about high meat prices. Character designer Charles Thorson made a model sheet of the rabbit with six poses and labeled it "Bug's Bunny".
Following the release of "Porky's Hare Hunt", Tedd Pierce, the head of the story department, approached Thorson and requested that he create a better rabbit for an upcoming cartoon, "Hare-um Scare-um". Thorson's work on designing hares and rabbits, including Max Hare in "Toby Tortoise Returns" (Disney, 1936) and others in his portfolio, presumably prompted Pierce. Thorson's model sheet is a "comic rendition of the stereotypical fuzzy bunny" and a twist on Walt Disney Animation Studios' model of drawing animals as cute infants. He had a pear-shaped body, a protruding rear end, a flat face, and large, expressive eyes. He also had an exaggerated long neck, gloved hands with three fingers, oversized feet, and a "smart aleck" grin. The influence of his Disney works was demonstrated in the shape of the character, a mix of the lean and streamlined Max Hare and the round, soft bunnies from "Little Hiawatha" (1937).[2][3]
The prototype made his fourth appearance in "Elmer's Candid Camera" (1940), a short that marked the first appearance of the "official" version of Tex Avery's Elmer Fudd. The cartoon set into play the antagonistic relationship that would develop between Elmer and Bugs Bunny over the years. By this time, the appearance and personality of the rabbit had become very similar to the classic Bugs, though the rabbit is portrayed as more malicious than would become the standard for Bugs.
The rabbit appeared one last time with a cameo appearance in "Patient Porky" (1940), a month after Bugs' official debut in "A Wild Hare" (1940).
Naming misconception[]
In interviews and his autobiography, Mel Blanc claimed the proposed name for the character was "Happy Rabbit", which he suggested should be renamed "Bugs Bunny", after the director Ben Hardaway, whose nickname was "Bugs".[4] However, the name "Happy" only seems to have been used for the director. In "Hare-um Scare-um", a newspaper headline that reads "Happy Hardaway" can be seen.[5]
Animation historian David Gerstein contends that "Happy Rabbit" has never been used as an official name and that Blanc created that myth in the 1970s and 1980s. The character started getting identified as "Bugs Bunny" as early as August 1939 in a copyright sheet of "Hare-um Scare-um", a review of that same cartoon for the Motion Picture Herald, and in merchandising materials, including a 1939 promotional book,[6][7][8] as well as referred to as "Bug's Bunny" in Thorton's model sheet for "Hare-um Scare-um".
Despite the misconception, the "Happy Rabbit" name would still be used in modern Looney Tunes-related media, most recently appearing in the game Looney Tunes World of Mayhem.[9]
Bugs' finalization and prototype references[]
Eventually, Tex Avery was given the opportunity to direct a cartoon starring the rabbit. He was unsatisfied with the character, who was said to be "too cute" by the directors, so he requested Robert Givens to remodel the rabbit for his new cartoon, "A Wild Hare" (1940). The short featured Elmer Fudd hunting a rabbit, where he had been revised with a new personality and a different voice, as is credited to be the first official Bugs Bunny cartoon.[2][3] In Chuck Jones' 1941 follow-up to that short, "Elmer's Pet Rabbit", the rabbit was, for the first time, officially named on screen as "Bugs Bunny".
In recent years, many animation historians have identified these four prototype Bugs Bunny cartoons as his early cartoons before he reached fame in "A Wild Hare", as evident in documentaries such as The Wabbit Turns 50 from WWOR in 1990.[10][dead link] Cartoon Network's June Bugs marathons over the years acknowledged this by airing the rabbit's cartoons alongside all the other Bugs Bunny cartoons and in some interviews with a character designer, Bob Givens, indicating that both Bugs Bunny and Ben Hardaway's rabbit are one of the same rabbit.
In the deleted scenes of the 2003 film Looney Tunes Back in Action, Bugs is zapped by the Blue Monkey diamond, which regresses its targets to more primitive forms. Bugs briefly appears as his prototype form of himself.[11]
Bugs's "too retro" remake in New Looney Tunes
In a scene in the New Looney Tunes episode "One Carroter in Search of an Artist", Bugs is given a makeover by an offscreen animator (which was later revealed to be Daffy at the end). In this brief sequence, Bugs looked like his third prototype in "Hare-um Scare-um". In addition, this sequence was produced in black-and-white as a homage to the earliest appearances. Bugs dismisses it as "too retro".
Filmography[]
Cartoons[]
"Porky's Hare Hunt" (1938)- "Prest-O Change-O" (1939)
- "Hare-um Scare-um" (1939)
- "Elmer's Candid Camera" (1940)
- "Patient Porky" (1940)
In other media[]
- Looney Tunes Back in Action (deleted scenes)
The New Looney Tunes episode:
- "One Carroter in Search of an Artist" (cameo)
Evolution process[]
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References[]
- ↑ Bugs Bunny. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on 20 September 2009.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Walz, Gene (1998). "Designing Bugs in Termite Terrace", Cartoon Charlie: The Life and Art of Animation Pioneer Charles Thorson. Great Plains Publications, page 138–141. ISBN 978-0969780496.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Barrier, Michael (1999). "Warner Bros., 1933-1940", Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford University Press, page 359–362. ISBN 978-0195167290.
- ↑ Blanc, Mel; Bashe, Philip (1988). "Those Wonderful Warner Bros. Characters", That's Not All Folks!. Warner Books, page 84–85. ISBN 978-0446390897.
- ↑ Brian, Greg. 1939. Looney Tunes Hidden Gags. Retrieved on 20 September 2009.
- ↑ Beck, Jerry (27 April 2013). How Old Is Bugs Bunny?. Cartoon Research. Retrieved on 17 March 2024.
- ↑ "...With gun and determination, he takes to the field and tracks his prey in the zany person of 'Bugs' Bunny, a true lineal descendant of the original Mad Hatter if there ever was one...", from Page 51 of Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1939)
- ↑ Beck, Jerry (3 April 2008). Rare 1939 Looney Tunes Book found!. Cartoon Brew. Retrieved on 20 September 2009.
- ↑ https://looneytuneswom.scopely.com/2022/11/17/event-overview-happy-rabbit/
- ↑ http://mfoxweb-001-site22.mysitepanel.net/viewtopic.php?t=2673 |"The Wabbit Turns 50" TV Special discussions on the GAC Forums Archives website
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyRU0hOQKqQ