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: Superstar of Bugs Bunny, claiming that he used Clark Gable's carrot-eating scene in "It Happened One Night" as inspiration for the character. (Although he never made the claim in "Bugs Bunny: Superstar" itself, Clampett further took credit for drawing the model sheet for the first Porky Pig cartoon "I Haven't Got a Hat" (1935), even though it was actually drawn by Friz Freleng.) Subsequently, Chuck Jones pointedly left out Clampett's name in the 1979 compilation film "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie" when Bugs discusses his "fathers" (i.e. Jones and other Warner's directors). Although Chuck Jones opted to not contribute to "Bugs