Development of Bugs Bunny Development of Bugs Bunny A prototypical version of Bugs Bunny appeared in four cartoon shorts before making his first official appearance in Tex Avery's "A Wild Hare". While this prototype version is commonly referred to as "Happy Rabbit", animation historian David Gerstein disputes this, saying that the only usage of the term was from Mel Blanc himself; the name "Bugs Bunny" was used as early as August 1939, in the Motion Picture Herald, in a review for the short "Hare-um Scare-um". Several published first person accounts, encyclopedic references, and Warner Bros.' own published material describe the inception of the name
Bugs Bunny He would not appear in new material on-screen again until "Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals" aired in 1976. From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, Bugs was featured in various animated specials for network television, such as "Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet", "Bugs Bunny's Easter Special", "Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales," and "Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over". Bugs also starred in several theatrical compilation features during this time, including the United Artists distributed documentary "" (1975) and Warner Bros.' own releases: "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie" (1979), "The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" (1981), "" (1982),