Bugs Bunny got cheated. It was Bugs Bunny’s 70th birthday on July 27, and it passed without Looney Tunes cartoon specials or celebrations. A cartoon icon like Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes cartoons deserves a party. While there was no cake and ice cream, Bugs did get a birthday present from Warner Brothers. He will get a new show on the Cartoon Network. The Looney Tunes Show will air this fall. He will star with his old pal Daffy Duck in the television cartoon.
Bugs Bunny was born on July 27, 1940, with his debut movie A Wild Hare. Famous for his line, “Eh,What’s up Doc?,” the Bunny won hearts with his irreverent style.
In 1960, The Bugs Bunny Show premiered, but this wasn’t an ordinary cartoon. It was geared for adults, and aired on Tuesday evenings. By the time I started watching the Looney Tunes cartoons with Bugs Bunny on television, the series was airing on Saturday mornings. Back in the day before cable TV was widespread, the only time to see Looney Tunes cartoons or any other animated show was on Saturday morning. Breakfast was eaten in front of the TV so as not to miss a moment of cartoon time. The Bugs Bunny Show and the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour series were the mainstays of the Saturday cartoons.
The show and Bugs were for adults, but you did not have to be an adult to enjoy it. The Looney Tunes cartoons were visually pleasing. The animation and colors were top-quality. Even if you didn’t get the references and jokes, Bugs Bunny was funny. The episode where Bugs is a barber (“Rabbit of Seville”) and makes a salad on Elmer Fudd’s head is a good example of the Bugs fun. The comic suspense builds as the salad grows. You wonder what Elmer Fudd will do when he realizes there is a beautiful salad on his head.
Another favorite is the episode where Bugs Bunny meets Marvin the Martian. Even an alien from outer space does not throw Bugs off-track; he is always quick with a clever line. Because the Looney Tunes cartoon characters each had their own distinct personalities, it was always a treat to see Bugs interact with his cartoon colleagues. Some favorite Looney Tunes characters are Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn and, of course, the amazing Road Runner. How many times did that bird fall off a cliff, or get an anvil on his head? Or was that Wile E. Coyote who got the anvils?
Years later, as an adult, I watched rebroadcast Looney Tunes cartoon episodes, and they are as good as I remembered. This is unusual, as reruns of other cartoons only make me shake my head and wonder what I was thinking. Still fun to look at, the detailed Looney Tunes cartoons were funnier the second time around, since, as an adult, I was able to catch many of the jokes geared for adults.
A starring role in a new show is pretty good for an old guy like Bugs Bunny. May he have a long and successful run on the new cartoon.
Kevin Mccory, “The Bugs Bunny Show” Golden Age Cartoons
Steven Thompson, “Over it-Bugs Bunny turns 70 and somehow gets a new show.” Culture Map
