Here's To Lookin' At You, Bugs!

Image used for criticism under "Fair Use." All rights belong to Warner Brothers.

"What's up, Doc?"

Bugs Bunny was one of the great idols of my childhood. Looney Tunes used to regularly come on Cartoon Network, and Bugs was the one I always wanted most to see. In fact, Cartoon Network used to dedicate the entire month of June to playing Bugs Bunny cartoons nonstop. Such a bold move could hardly be imagined today. Even more inconceivable were his appearances at that time beside Michael Jordan in Space Jam, and Mickey Mouse in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The latter more productive than the former.



I speak of Bugs since he just turned seventy-five this year. In the few moments I've spent with him, eyes glued to the TV set, so many are fond. Who wouldn't adore his arguments with Daffy over whether it was "Rabbit Season" or "Duck Season"? We all know the routine. Bugs would concede that it's "Rabbit Season", but Daffy, not one to agree with Bugs, thoughtlessly insists that its "Duck Season", only to get his bill shot off by Elmer. Though Bugs hardly ever got on Elmer's good side, either. As much as he tried to be very, very quiet in his hunting for rabbits, Bugs usually got the upper-hand. Sometimes he did it by cross-dressing as a woman, most famously in What's Opera, Doc? Now remembered as one of Bugs and Elmer's finest, What's Opera, Doc? is a fanciful adaptation of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, with the "Tannhauser Chorus" and "Ride of the Valkyries" included. The short was produced in the 1950's, when the Chuck Jones cartoons acquired a more modernist art style. We see this on point when Elmer's fury to command the weather gets the background into more clashing hues and greys. What stands out about this particular episode is that Elmer actually succeeds in killing Bugs, to which he weeps. I was shocked upon first seeing this. Tom never caught Jerry. Sylvester never caught Tweety. Wile E. Coyote never caught Road Runner. Yet here we were. Though Bugs slipped in a final comment to berate my surprise, "What did you expect from an opera, a happy ending?"

Even when Bugs was shamelessly ripping off Tom and Jerry's Cat Concerto in Rhapsody Rabbit, he managed to get a good laugh or two in. I mean hell, he literally pulls out a gun to shoot a coughing audience member. I suppose a bullet does better to silence than cough drops.

Bugs had wit. I'd argue that's part of his draw. With so many one-liners, Bugs comes across as an animated Groucho Marx. (Bugs has even put on a Groucho disguise). The rabbit always used his brains to get the upper-hand over his opponents, and being a cartoon, he resolves matters in ways that may surprise the viewer. Compare this to Popeye the Sailor, whom while being entertaining in his own right, always ended his conflicts in the same way: with spinach and muscle. Though the type of character Bugs is comes from the Trickster archetype. NPR compared him favorably to Puck, Anansi, and the Monkey King. Further, the radio station quoted Robert Thompson, who directs a pop-culture studies program at Syracuse University. Thompson remarked of Bugs that, "He defies authority. He goes against the rules. But he does it in a way that's often lovable, and that often results in good things for the culture at large," (Sutherland). Chuck Jones, always made sure that Bugs only acted when provoked. His trickery was a matter of defending his dignity.

And to my recollection, he always won.

Image used for criticism under "Fair Use." All rights belong to Warner Bros.

Bibliography

Sutherland, J.J. "Bugs Bunny: The Trickster, American Style." NPR, January 6, 2008. Web. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17874931