Confidentially...

Tex Avery had a reputation for wild takes, but there are other, more subtle, things going on in A Wild Hare, the first cartoon with the overhauled Bugs Bunny.

In this scene, Elmer Fudd runs behind a tree. But it isn’t just a zip and a stop. Tex goes for some cinematic stuff by having Elmer run into the shadows, then do a 360-degree turn to make it more visually interesting. There’s some perspective, too. Some frames.



There’s some good acting a few scenes later. Elmer thinks he’s caught the wabbit. Instead of just yap-yap-yap, static dialogue, Fudd pulls his hunter’s hat up from over his eyes, gives Bugs an eye when talking to him. Bugs nods in facetious affirmation as Elmer brags about the capture.



Then the take. Not a crazy one like Avery would put on the screen a few years later at MGM, but certainly outrageous for its time at Warners.



Bugs reacts with another “thanks for being a patsy” kiss.



Cut to a close-up with the skunk (Mel Blanc) spouting a variation of Mischa Auer’s “confidentially, it stinks” line in the 1938 Frank Capra Columbia feature You Can’t Take It with You. I guess the line was parodied so much on radio and in cartoons by then, all the skunk needs to say is “Confidentally, uh, you know.”



Cut to the next scene with an interesting directorial choice by Avery. Fudd puts down the skunk with his right hand, but then uses his left hand, crossing over his body, to lower the skunk’s tail.



Treg Brown contributes by employing a rusty hinge sound effect as the tail is lowered. Earlier, Carl Stalling adds something extra by arranging a blinking effect with strings and woodwinds to match the flashing light of the “Carrots” sign.

All these little things add up.

I’m not going to get into the argument about Bugs’ birthday. I will mention that A Wild Hare appeared in more than one theatre before July 27, 1940. Patrons of the Strand in Berwick, Pa., could view it on July 23 (along with the Western musical short Corraling a School Marm; see ad to the right). Feel free to celebrate Bugs’ birthday when you want.

Birthday Bunny

It is said that 81 years ago today, Tex Avery pretty much erased the memory of any other cartoon rabbit that Warner Bros. had offered to movie houses. That’s when A Wild Hare went into formal release.

We use the word “formal” here because the release dates published in trade papers of the time were, more or less, suggested. If a short film was available at an exchange before then, then an exhibitor could book it.

To the right, you see an ad from the Pittsburgh Press of Friday, July 26, 1940 for the cartoon with the words “Now Showing.” The same paper published an ad the day before reading “Starts Tomorrow.”

But who am I to spoil a birthday celebration with facts?

How popular was the cartoon?

In September 1940, it was “re-booked because of many requests” by a theatre in San Bernadino. “The funniest of All Merrie Melody Color Cartoons Returns for Your Enjoyment,” crowed a newspaper ad.

The Los Angeles Daily News of October 17, 1940 reported, with a reference to an earlier rabbit film:

FROM all indications a new star is born at Leon Schlesinger’s cartoon factory. He’s not much for looks, being buck toothed and insolent eyed. He’s also a smart aleck who doles out sarcasms in a voice that is more Dead End Kid than Basil Rathbone. But you've got to admit when you see him that Bugs Bunny has what it takes to win fans. His antics as the shrewd, carrot munching rabbit outwitting the lisping hunter in “A Wild Hare” brought batches of mail from all over the country.
So now Schlesinger announces plans to feature Bugs in five more cartoons, three of which are already completed and a fourth on its way. It won't be long before "Hiawatha’s Rabbit," [sic] "Elmer’s Pet Rabbit" and "Tortoise Beats Hare" find their release. Tex Avery, producer of Bugs’ movies, and Arthur Q. Bryant [sic], the voice of the hunter, have been working overtime turning these out to meet public demand. Bugs, let it be added, began his career modestly when Schlesinger included him in a small part in a Merry Melodie subject, "Harum Scarum." He can dictate his own terms today.

Mel who?

The story, I suspect, was planted by Rose Horsley, Schlesinger’s excellent PR flack, as similar stories popped up in papers around this time.

One theatre which (according to newspaper ads) showed A Wild Hare on July 27, 1940 was the Worth in Fort Worth, Texas. Devon Baxter has provided us with a pertinent box ad from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of the day before. The paper insisted on calling it “Wild Hare Hunt” (adding “The” in later ads). They loved Bugs so much in the city that the following year, a mini Bugs Bunny film festival was booked.

The Star-Telegram’s film critic, Katherine Howard, wrote in the issue of April 8, 1941:

BELLIGERENT BUGS
Donald Duck would raise an awful squawk if he knew that Bugs Bunny has superseded him as the No. 1 comic of the cartoons. Bugs is the talk of the movie-goers now.
No fluffy pink and white creature, Bugs Bunny is about as cuddlesome as a horned toad.
He is everything an Easter bunny shouldn't be but just the same the Parkway Theater is going to put on a pre-Easter show of Bugs Bunny cartoons Friday and Saturday. He will be seen in "Elmer's Candid Camera," "A Wild Hare" and "Elmer's Pet Rabbit."
"Don't give me none a dem candy eggs. I like de hardboiled kind. Get me guy?" croaks Bugs.
South Side merchants will sponsor two free shows at the Parkway Friday—at 10 a.m. and 12 noon—preceding an Easter egg hunt in Forest Park at 2 p.m. Feature will be "Laddie" with Tim Holt and Virginia Gillmore.

Ads for the cartoon starting Sunday, July 28, 1940 appeared in the Paducah Sun-Democrat (with All This and Heaven Too, starring Bette Davis) and the Newport News Daily Press (with Sporting Blood starring Robert Young, a Pete Smith short called Romance of the Potato and Paramount’s News of the World).

Anyway, best wishes to Bugs on his (sort-of) birthday.

Oh, by the way, he was never named Happy Rabbit by Mel Blanc or anyone else. Mel made up the story, much like the “allergic to carrots” tale he finally admitted was not quite accurate.

You Win A Cigar, Elmer

A joyous Bugs Bunny carefully and deliberately takes aim as Elmer Fudd sobs uncontrollably, thinking he’s killed the wabbit.



Now the sequence switches to an analogy with a carnival midway strongman game where someone uses a mallet to bash a weight up to the top of a pole, the winner getting a prize. That’s what happens here. Elmer soars to the top of a tree, bashes against a branch, a bell is heard, then when he lands, Bugs Bunny fishes into his pocket for the prize—a cigar.



The scene ends with a little balletic dance as Bugs exits.



This, of course, is from A Wild Hare (1940), Tex Avery’s Oscar-nominated take on Bugs. The pacing of the cartoon is far more measured than what he would create at MGM, where it seemed like he tried to cram as many gags in a short as possible. But the slower tempo works here. The audience is given the time to anticipate and then watch what the rabbit will do.

Virgil Ross is the only credited animator, but the Avery unit had Bob and Chuck McKimson, Sid Sutherland and Rod Scribner in it by this point.

Birthday Bugs? Not Quite

When was Bugs Bunny born? Answer—Easter Sunday, 1936.

At least that’s the answer the publicists at Warner Bros. Cartoons pawned off on people until animation historians started digging to get the facts. And the facts are a little murky to begin with.

We’ve reprinted a couple of publicity handouts to newspapers written by the folks at Warners. You can read them in this post. We’ve stumbled across another one, published in the Utica Daily Press, March 20, 1956. There’s no byline, which leaves me to believe it’s a studio press release. It’s chock-full of ridiculousness. It mentions a wholly imaginary Elmer Fudd cartoon made in 1936 (what it could have been, I have no idea), then a 1939 “conference” of the Warners directors and writers—as per the studio’s roster in 1956. Nothing about Tex Avery; “he isn’t at Warners any more, so why mention him?” seems to have been the attitude. Tedd Pierce wasn’t even at Warners at the time, Mike Maltese was an assistant animator and Friz Freleng may still have been at MGM. However, the story is correct after it gets to 1940 (okay, the line about Errol Flynn is facetious). “A Wild Hare” was a huge hit. Oh, and the “allergic to carrots” business was a publicity gimmick. Many years later, Mel Blanc changed the story to say he simply didn’t like the taste of carrots.

Anyway, here’s the story.

Biggest Star of Them All
Bugs Bunny, the most popular short subjects star of them all—voted No 1 by exhibitors for 12 straight years, passed his 20th birthday this year making him at least 18 years older than any other cottontail rabbit in the country, and certainly a good deal more popular than all of them.
Bugs was not always a star. His is a success story to stiffen the spine of any chicken-hearted rabbit who would conquer Hollywood. Born in 1936 on the end of a Warner Bros. art director’s pen he played only a bit roll in an Elmer Fudd starrer, then was put back in the ink bottle. But no cork could frustrate the irrepressible bounce of this bunny. In 1938, Bugs who had been living on discarded beet (ugh) tops, began eating high off the carrot as befits a new star.
He got his break when I. Freleng, Charles Jones and Robert McKimson, directors, and writers Michael Maltese, Warren Foster and Tedd Pierce, got together to give Bugs a format worthy of his talent. From then on, he was another Gobel. Only nakeder.
“Bugs has never worn clothes,” Freleng pointed out. “His tastes are too expensive. Besides, he looks better au naturel. He never wears shoes, his feet’s too big. He has a Brooklyn accent because he escaped from there. He never looks for trouble, but trouble seeks him like a guided missile. Bugs can handle any situation with his wits.”
Seven thousand drawings and one year after the historic conference a new star named Bugs Bunny burst upon the cinematic world in his own vehicle, “Wild Hare.” Acclaim was immediate, but it did not turn his head (only a pretty girl rabbit can do that). Bugs is still the same unspoiled bunny, houseless, hungry, unmarried.
Since 1938 he has starred in 138 of his own pictures—more than Peck and Gable combined, including such classics as “Up Swept Hare,” “John Brown’s Bunny,” “Rabbit Transit,” “Hare Meets Hair,” [sic] and “Rabbit Hood.” In the latter Bunny, with the insouciance of a true star, boosted the career of an upcoming youngster named Errol Flynn by allowing the latter to play a small part. He also helped out a couple of other actors named Doris Day and Jack Carson by consenting to appear in their pictures: “My Dream is Yours,” and “Two Guys From Texas.”
Few bunnies can equal Bugs’ war record. He helped the boys at the front by, for example, leading the first Liberator bomber to attack Davao on the march back to the Philippines. He helped the Treasury Department sell war bonds. He allowed himself to be appointed official mascot of many air groups, tank battalions, and infantry companies. He is officially a member of the Marine Corps, and his service record is on file in Washington, D.C.
Bugs has no trouble in talking with other rabbits, but when it comes to human conversation he employs Mel Blanc, one is not only the voice of Bugs Bunny, but of practically all of the Warner Bros. Cartoons characters, such as Tweety, Sylvester, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Pepe Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn and other incidental characters. The strange thing about Mel Blanc is that although he is the voice of Bugs Bunny, who is very fond of carrots, Mel himself is allergic to carrots. The creation and development of Bugs Bunny to his present high box-office position is no accident. As much care is given to the selection of the proper story for a Bugs Bunny cartoon as is devoted by the major studios to the material picked for the most popular human stars.
The carrot is Bugs Bunny’s principal prop. There is no limit to the range of his talents.
Incidentally, more than two million Bugs Bunny comic books are sold each month and these comic books, which are distributed by the Dell Publishing Company, are as clean and wholesome as a rabbit’s tooth. Bugs never does anything that is apt to lead a youngster into juvenile delinquency. The same may be said for his newspaper comic strips which are syndicated by the NEA to over 600 newspapers, daily and Sunday.
Recently, Warner Bros. Cartoon Department moved into a new building in Burbank, Calif., on the company’s own studio property. It could be very aptly called, “The House That Bugs Bunny Built,” but Bugs, being of a modest nature, prefers to have the building known as the Warner Bros. Cartoon Studio.

The 1936 birth date is mentioned in an earlier newspaper story, one by the Newspaper Enterprise Association to publicise its Bugs comic strip in subscribing papers. This came from the Morning Herald of Johnstown, New York, April 10, 1950.

14-CARROT BIRTHDAY FOR BUGS
By NEA Service
Bugs Bunny, carrot-chomping star of the movie cartoons and The Morning Herald’s daily comic strip, celebrated his 14th birthday yesterday.
The rascally rabbit has appeared in the comics for half of his 14 years, made more than 100 screen cartoons and for five years in a row has reigned as box office champion of all movie short subjects. NEA Service, the world's largest picture and feature organization, distributes the "Bugs Bunny" daily comic strips and Sunday color pages to more than 800 newspapers.
Like many famous stars. Bugs got his start as a bit player. He popped out of the inkwell at the Warner Brothers Hollywood studios one day to be the intended victim of the intrepid hunter, Elmer Fudd. Saved from the shotgun by his nimble feet the zany bunny went back on the shelf for a couple of years until he was finally "discovered" in true Hollywood style.
Pretty soon Bugs Bunny was popping up out of rabbit holes, chewing his carrot and shouting "What's cookin', Doc?" as the star of his own cartoon series, while Elmer was playing supporting roles. Now Bugs condescends to let frustrated Elmer appear in his daily comic strips, too, along with other screen pals like stuttering Porky Pig, plump Petunia, little Cicero and a new comic page discovery, Sylvester the languid cat.
The bold, brash character of Bugs Bunny—so unlike the everyday rabbits you meet—developed as the cartoon star matured. At 14. he is as full of pep and mischief as the average teen-ager, although his Brooklynese repartee is about as average as Ladies' Day at Ebbet's Field.

Much of Bugs' popularity is due to the fact that all red-blooded Americana enjoy watching the underdog get the better of his oppressor. The happy hare always gets deep into trouble through no fault of his own—then turns the tables on the bad guys.
Bugs Bunny has an impressive war record. He was adopted by units of every branch of the armed forces and became the most widely-traveled Hollywood star—going around the world on bombers, warships, tanks, jeeps and other military vehicles.
In celebrating his birthday on Easter Sunday, Bugs shares the spotlight with another well-known rabbit. However, he and the Easter Bunny have rather opposite views on what constitutes fun, and Bugs definitely hates eggs. He's had too many thrown at him in his 14 years as a slapstick comedian.

So celebrate Bugs’ birthday tomorrow on Easter Sunday if you wish. Try to find that 1936 cartoon they keep talking about. I’ll still consider July 27th his birthday. But, of course, you don’t need a birthday as an excuse to haul out a DVD or go to a video web site and enjoy a cartoon starring the greatest rabbit in animation history (and you can’t go wrong with “Rabbit Hood”).

An Early Elmer Fudd Loss

Bugs Bunny wasn’t exactly wild in “A Wild Hare” but his personality is fully-formed in the cartoon and set the pattern for all that followed.

Bugs got awfully chatty in the 1950s—no doubt because writers like Warren Foster and Mike Maltese could come up with clever dialogue—but in this cartoon, Bugs doesn’t speak for a good couple of minutes as director Tex Avery lets subtle movement drive the humour.

A good example is at the opening of the cartoon where Bugs’ fingers behave like humans in swiping Elmer Fudd’s carrot bait and then discover his hunting rifle. The next sequence has no dialogue, either, as the unseen Bugs and Elmer play tug-of-war with the gun. Bugs lets go of the gun. Notice how Elmer almost tumbles over backward, losing his balance. Warners animation had come a long way since Buddy five years earlier.



Elmer realises his gun has been tied up in a bow. The take isn’t as crazy as Avery’s bug-eyed wolf at MGM a couple of years later, but it’s still effective.



You can see the annoyance in Elmer.



He tosses away the gun and it’s on to the next gag.

Virgil Ross, Sid Sutherland and Bob McKimson are among the animators in this great cartoon; Ross was the only one to get screen credit.

He's 75

Confidentally...



...I am a wabbit.

The internet loves celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, deathiversaries, to the point of overkill. So it is with some trepidation that we join the huge throng of fans marking the 75th anniversary of the official release date of the first Bugs Bunny cartoon, “A Wild Hare.” The short could very well have been in theatres before then. And then there’s the argument that the Hardaway Hare of the late ‘30s was marketed as Bugs Bunny. Regardless, Bugs became Warner Bros.’ number-one animated star (and, arguably, cartoon-dom’s). His image started appearing in trade ads in September 1940 (the one to the right is from 1941). Trade papers reported Leon Schlesinger was rushing “Elmer’s Pet Rabbit” through production and had four other Bugs cartoons in development. Bugs eventually got his own series of “Bugs Bunny Specials,” though title animation on the cartoons themselves placed them with the rest of the Merrie Melodies.

Bugs’ exposure hit new heights in 1956 when Associated Artists Productions bought the TV rights to a pile of pre-1948 Warners cartoons and put the wabbit in practically every American home where a child could control the channel knob (the deal was signed March 1st between Warners and PRM, Inc., a shell company of AAP).

In keeping with 1940 practice, credits on “A Wild Hare” are sparce (but are now happily restored and available for all to see). Virgil Ross received the only animation credit, but experts today know that Bob McKimson and Sid Sutherland were among the artists under Avery’s eye at the time. Johnny Johnsen, who joined Avery at MGM, handled the backgrounds with nary a mention. And while at this point the studio didn’t give voice credits, C.E. Butterfield’s radio column published by the Associated Press dated September 17, 1940 reveals that “two of Al Pearce’s gang provided voices—Arthur Q. Bryan for the hunter and Mel Blanc for the hare.”

There are certainly greater Bugs Bunny cartoons than this one, but the relationship between Bugs and Elmer Fudd was instantly solidified by Avery and Hogan, providing a solid base to be adapted and parodied for years to come.