The Original OMG Bunny
July 27, 2015 1:38 AM Subscribe
On this date in 1940 (that's exactly 75 years ago, bud), a new Merrie Melodies cartoon premiered: "A Wild Hare"; and Bugs Bunny was officially 'born'.
Warner Bros. had made previous cartoons with 'crazy rabbits' (or 'cwazy wabbits') before, but this one, directed by cartoon legend Tex Avery was the first one with the recognizable 'Bugs' character design and the first time Mel Blanc used Bugs' distinctive voice to say "What's up, doc?", as well as the first time Elmer Fudd, (voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan, NOT Blanc) said "Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits".
Happy Birthday, Bugsy, you sure don't look 75 (though you always were grey haired [hared])
Warner Bros. has officially declared it would not make a big deal of cartoon characters' birthdays/anniversaries, but it wasn't that way for Bugs' 50th in 1990.
Warning: among the collection of 'star studded celebrities' are a couple you may NOT want to see anymore
We are still awaiting the announcement of the premiere date of another Bugs Bunny reboot series (on Warner/Turner's Boomerang network) currently in production titled "Wabbit"
What could possibly go wrong?
Warner Bros. had made previous cartoons with 'crazy rabbits' (or 'cwazy wabbits') before, but this one, directed by cartoon legend Tex Avery was the first one with the recognizable 'Bugs' character design and the first time Mel Blanc used Bugs' distinctive voice to say "What's up, doc?", as well as the first time Elmer Fudd, (voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan, NOT Blanc) said "Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits".
Happy Birthday, Bugsy, you sure don't look 75 (though you always were grey haired [hared])
Warner Bros. has officially declared it would not make a big deal of cartoon characters' birthdays/anniversaries, but it wasn't that way for Bugs' 50th in 1990.
Warning: among the collection of 'star studded celebrities' are a couple you may NOT want to see anymore
We are still awaiting the announcement of the premiere date of another Bugs Bunny reboot series (on Warner/Turner's Boomerang network) currently in production titled "Wabbit"
What could possibly go wrong?
Tex Avery was just amazing. He is by far my favorite of the Warner Bros cartoon directors.
posted by Kattullus at 4:29 AM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 4:29 AM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Be wewy wewy quiet, I'm hunting favourites!!
posted by Fizz at 4:41 AM on July 27, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 4:41 AM on July 27, 2015 [5 favorites]
Aren't Tasmanian Devils dying off from one of those viral cancers?
Makes you think.
posted by clvrmnky at 5:30 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Makes you think.
posted by clvrmnky at 5:30 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yay for Bugs. My five-year-old has just taken a liking to Bugs. He was even walking around saying "What's up, doc?" yesterday. So I'm happy.
But I won't be watching that 50th anniversary show with actors no one cared about in 1990. And I sure as hell am not looking forward to Bugs with a Scrappy-Doo squirrel and wacky sitcom neighbors. Then again, I'm not five.
posted by pracowity at 5:42 AM on July 27, 2015 [5 favorites]
But I won't be watching that 50th anniversary show with actors no one cared about in 1990. And I sure as hell am not looking forward to Bugs with a Scrappy-Doo squirrel and wacky sitcom neighbors. Then again, I'm not five.
posted by pracowity at 5:42 AM on July 27, 2015 [5 favorites]
Warning: among the collection of 'star studded celebrities' are a couple you may NOT want to see anymore
I will not have Morgan Fairchild spoken of in this manner.
posted by mittens at 5:47 AM on July 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
I will not have Morgan Fairchild spoken of in this manner.
posted by mittens at 5:47 AM on July 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
One of a kind, and most likely the most incredible cartoon character of all time. I mean, who even comes close? Hope they don't screw it up (again) with this "Wabbit" deal.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 6:16 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 6:16 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
*pours JHarris a tall refreshing glass of OJ*
posted by device55 at 6:25 AM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by device55 at 6:25 AM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ain't I a stinker?
posted by Chrysostom at 6:30 AM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 6:30 AM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Wow, this makes me feel old. Bugs Bunnies seemed ancient to me when I was a wee lad in the early 70s, and now you are telling me they were as old then as something from 1990 is today? *sigh*
Get off my lawn!
posted by terrapin at 6:36 AM on July 27, 2015
Get off my lawn!
posted by terrapin at 6:36 AM on July 27, 2015
Bugs Bunny is my totem animal.
posted by King Sky Prawn at 6:42 AM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by King Sky Prawn at 6:42 AM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Get off my lawn!
Or, considering, "Get outta my lawn!"
posted by King Sky Prawn at 6:43 AM on July 27, 2015
Or, considering, "Get outta my lawn!"
posted by King Sky Prawn at 6:43 AM on July 27, 2015
King Sky Prawn, had that thought too as I pictured Bugs popping up with a map after he'd made a wrong turn at Albuquerque.
posted by terrapin at 6:47 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by terrapin at 6:47 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wow, was the 50th really twenty-five years ago? Those were good times. WB sure as hell made a huge deal about it back then, right when the animation renaissance was pumping along at full speed too.
posted by deathmaven at 7:20 AM on July 27, 2015
posted by deathmaven at 7:20 AM on July 27, 2015
WB sure as hell made a huge deal about it back then, right when the animation renaissance was pumping along at full speed too.
WB had quite a few current properties with ties to Looney Tunes back then, so it was really an extra marketing tie-in. Now, not so much. Oh, except for Space Jam 2 w/ Lebron.
posted by parliboy at 7:45 AM on July 27, 2015
WB had quite a few current properties with ties to Looney Tunes back then, so it was really an extra marketing tie-in. Now, not so much. Oh, except for Space Jam 2 w/ Lebron.
posted by parliboy at 7:45 AM on July 27, 2015
Latter-day Bugs, with wacky sitcom neighbors and tranquilized responsible-bunny affect, makes me cling ever the more to the anarchic and decidedly un-PC Looney Tunes of old.
posted by blucevalo at 11:22 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by blucevalo at 11:22 AM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
A bunny Is the animal I wanna be.
posted by AdamTheChespin at 11:44 AM on July 27, 2015
posted by AdamTheChespin at 11:44 AM on July 27, 2015
Was it "PC" or not? I don't know. But as often as Bugs dressed up as a woman-rabbit or kissed Elmer straight on the lips, I'm still surprised he was never adopted as a LGBT icon.
The top producer of "Wabbit" is promising NOT to make the same mistakes "The Looney Tunes Show" did. Still, he has promised they won't drop anvils on anybody, and where's the cartoon anarchy without THAT?
And I am worried about the attempt to domesticate Taz in the synopsis. I share the love for "Taz-Mania", which had a still-uncivilized Taz sharing the stage with the best collection of new characters since the original Looney Tunes menagerie, including ones based on Bing Crosby, Woody Allen and a 'young' George H.W. Bush, while the great John Astin did the voice of an alligator. Comedy gold? More like Comedy Unobtanium.
I also wonder about "Squeaks the Squirrel", since Tex Avery, after leaving Warner Bros. for MGM to make cartoons, created Screwy Squirrel to specifically be more Daffy than Daffy Duck. I love cartoon squirrels, from Screwy to Rocky to Secret Squirrel to Animaniacs' Slappy, but I hope Squeaks isn't just a Screwy Squirrel clone.
But I had two reasons to post this...
One, I remember the 50th Anniversary Media Blitz, and I bought the souvenir glass which I still have to this day, holding pens on my desk. And two, since I had made posts to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of both Rocky & Bullwinkle and The Dick Van Dyke Show, I could not let this anniversary for my OTHER greatest childhood inspiration pass by even if Warner could.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:07 PM on July 27, 2015
The top producer of "Wabbit" is promising NOT to make the same mistakes "The Looney Tunes Show" did. Still, he has promised they won't drop anvils on anybody, and where's the cartoon anarchy without THAT?
And I am worried about the attempt to domesticate Taz in the synopsis. I share the love for "Taz-Mania", which had a still-uncivilized Taz sharing the stage with the best collection of new characters since the original Looney Tunes menagerie, including ones based on Bing Crosby, Woody Allen and a 'young' George H.W. Bush, while the great John Astin did the voice of an alligator. Comedy gold? More like Comedy Unobtanium.
I also wonder about "Squeaks the Squirrel", since Tex Avery, after leaving Warner Bros. for MGM to make cartoons, created Screwy Squirrel to specifically be more Daffy than Daffy Duck. I love cartoon squirrels, from Screwy to Rocky to Secret Squirrel to Animaniacs' Slappy, but I hope Squeaks isn't just a Screwy Squirrel clone.
But I had two reasons to post this...
One, I remember the 50th Anniversary Media Blitz, and I bought the souvenir glass which I still have to this day, holding pens on my desk. And two, since I had made posts to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of both Rocky & Bullwinkle and The Dick Van Dyke Show, I could not let this anniversary for my OTHER greatest childhood inspiration pass by even if Warner could.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:07 PM on July 27, 2015
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while the Tasmanian Devil (renamed "Theodore Tasmanian") is employed as an accountant, though he represses his true self
That's interesting, although I think the best reboot for Tazzy has to be the greatly underrated Taz-Mania.
posted by JHarris at 3:09 AM on July 27, 2015 [3 favorites]