Development of Bugs Bunny slightly modified again for the 2011 series "The Looney Tunes Show" and yet again for the 2015 series "Wabbit". 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".
Acrobatty Bunny Acrobatty Bunny Acrobatty Bunny is a Warner Bros. cartoon released in 1946 as part of the "Looney Tunes" series, directed by Robert McKimson (his second), and starring Bugs Bunny and Nero the Lion. A circus is being set up just above Bugs' rabbit hole, causing much noise and vibration. The lion cage is set up directly above the hole, and the lion takes deep sniffs (alternatively yanking Bugs towards the hole or throwing him back) to determine that the animal below is Bugs. When the lion (whom Bugs eventually refers to as "Nero") roars again, Bugs comes to the surface