posted 06-01-2018 10:32 AM                  

Bugs Bunny is one of the most beloved cartoon characters ever. But that name.... Where did that name come from?

It starts with Ben (Bugs) Hardaway, who was a director of animation for Warner Brothers Studios in the 1930’s and 40’s..... Hardaway's staff of animators had given him a nickname and they affectionately referred to him as "Bugs" Hardaway instead of Ben.

In 1937, Hardaway's animators had produced a short cartoon with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig called “Porky’s Duck Hunt.” Unlike the audience’s expectation of the day, Daffy didn’t flinch when confronting Porky the hunter. Daffy went wild and crazy in an over the top way which viewers had never seen before.

Audiences loved the mayhem and begged the studio for more.

Then, in 1938, Hardaway was tapped to direct a follow-up Porky Pig cartoon but this time, Porky's "prey" was to be an elusive rabbit instead of a duck.... The cartoon was titled “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” ….Porky Pig was now set on catching a rabbit.

But, in classic Warner Brothers style, this particular rabbit was to be no easy prey. This rascally rabbit character was created and made his debut in a cartoon titled “Prest-O Change-O.”

The studio knew it had another hot property and decided to develop even more content around the hare. The brain trust then decided that this character needed a name..... So after great debate and discussion, the name "Happy Rabbit" was chosen.

While the third "Happy Rabbit" cartoon was in development, an animator named Gil Turner was drawing the rabbit and after completing his drawing made a notation on the top of his sheet to indicate which character he had sketched.

Rather than write out Hardaway’s full name, the artist wrote only his director’s nickname (which was Bugs) to indicate who the creator of the character was:.....

He simply wrote: "Bug's bunny" at the top of the sketch to indicate that it was a drawing of his boss's character.

(In the 30’s, the nickname “Bugs” or “Bugsy” was a popular term to describe someone who was crazy or loony, which fit the Rascally Rabbit to a T.)

The studio dropped the apostrophe, re-named the rabbit using the reference on the sketch and the rest is animation history.