Honey Bunny the Nips" (1944), a shapely robotic female rabbit used as a bait for Bugs by Gossamer's creator in the cartoon "Hair-Raising Hare" (1946), Daisy Lou (who bears a strong resemblance to Honey Bunny's eventual character design from the 1970s-1990s) in the above-mentioned cartoon "Hare Splitter" (1948), Witch Hazel (who is transformed into an attractive female rabbit) in the cartoon "Bewitched Bunny" (1954), and Millicent (an overweight rabbit) in the cartoon "Rabbit Romeo" (1957). Mama Bear, in "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears" (1944); Penelope Pussycat, in "Carrotblanca" (1995); and Elmer Fudd, in "Bugs' Bonnets" (1956) and "Rabbit of Seville" (1950),
Development of Bugs Bunny and of the character. A model sheet by Charlie Thorson describes this prototype character as "Bugs' Bunny" (note the apostrophe) but in most of the cartoons the character is unnamed. Virgil Ross, the animator for "A Wild Hare" describes how the character came to be named in the interview published by "Animato!" magazine #19. Mel Blanc often told the story of the creation of the character and its name. He suggested that the character be named after the character's initial director, Ben "Bugs" Hardaway. Blanc's own book, "That's Not All Folks" published by Warner Books in 1988, describes the "tough