Bugs Bunny (Continued)

What really helped endear Bugs Bunny to the hearts of Americans was his WWII cartoons where he faced off with the likes of Adolph Hitler, Herman Goering, and the Japanese.  Bugs did a two-minute commercial for US Savings Bonds call “Any Bonds Away”.  The US Marine Corps made Bugs bunny an honorary Marine Master Sergeant, and many of the Army platoons adopted Bugs Bunny as their mascot.

What makes Bugs Bunny cartoons so entertaining are the many parodies done on people from Superman to space aliens.  His “What Opera, Doc?” which parodies Wagner’s opera has been preserved in the National Film Registry, the first cartoon to achieve this honor.

So why is Bugs Bunny so widely loved?  Some of the reasons are his antics.  For instance, Bugs’ carrot chewing style was taken from a scene in “It Happened One Night” where Clark Gable is leaning against a fence rapidly eating a carrot while talking to Caludette Colbert.  Even the way Bugs Bunny holds his carrot is taken from the way Groucho Marx held his cigar.  In fact Bug’s often used line “Of course you realize, this means war” is taken directly from Groucho Marx’s classic movie “Duck Soup”.

Other more obvious reasons for Bugs Bunny’s popularity with young and old are his cool demeanor in the face of danger, his heroism to save his friends, his independent spirit, his quick wit and trickery.  And although Bugs is a smart-alack, he also exudes self-confidence, and he is gregarious.  Bugs can be mischievous yet loveable, has a big mouth but is funny.  And although flippant and brash, what really endears Bugs Bunny to us in his repertoire of cartoons is he always wins - yet he remains modest about it.

For Bugs Bunny’s 50th anniversary in 1990, the first cartoon made for the theater since 1964 was made called “Box Office Bugs”.

So where can Bugs Bunny cartoons be found today?  Ted Turner bought up all the Warner Brothers cartoons, and then when the two companies merged the Cartoon Network was launched in 2000 with exclusive rights to the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons.  In 2002 a younger version of Bugs Bunny was created.  But the Warner Brothers’ cartoons were shown less and less until their final airing on October 7, 2004.  Pre-1948 cartoons are shown as filler on the Turner Movie Classic channel occasionally.

Some of bugs Bunny cartoons are now in the public domain so can be viewed on the Internet.  Also, Warner Brothers has DVDs of their cartoons that can be purchased.  Click below to view some Bugs Bunny cartoons and relive the experience millions have had the world over.

And here is that "Oscar-winning rabbit":

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