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
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