On this date in 1940, we were introduced to one of the iconic figures of American cartoon history. Bugs Bunny appeared in his first Merrie Melodies episode entitled, "A Wild Hare".
I was not around for this introduction of Bugs Bunny but I certainly remember watching this and many other episodes when Saturday morning cartoons were still cool and unsullied by crap.
I was not around for this introduction of Bugs Bunny but I certainly remember watching this and many other episodes when Saturday morning cartoons were still cool and unsullied by crap.
The basic plot of A Wild Hare, which centers on Elmer Fudd's hopeless pursuit of the much smarter Bugs, would serve as a template for many subsequent cartoons. In addition, many of the specific gags and plot devices in this cartoon became part of the template for later Bugs/Elmer confrontations, with subsequent shorts repeating them or varying them for comic effect. Examples include Elmer failing to recognise Bugs as a rabbit, Bugs kissing Elmer,[6] and Bugs feigning death.Finally, the frustrated Elmer driven to distraction by the rabbit's antics, walks away sobbing about "wabbits, cawwots, guns", etc. Bugs tells the audience, "Ya know, I think the poor guy's screwy!" Bugs then begins to play his carrot like a fife, playing the tune The Girl I Left Behind Me, and marches with one stiff leg towards his rabbit hole, as with the fifer in the painting, The Spirit of '76.
