Bugs Bunny is 70. [And so is John Lennon.]
Bugs Bunny was originally created in 1938 as a rabbit character based on Daffy Duck and it was called Porkys Hare Hunt. Porkys Hare Hunt appeared in Presto-O Change-O (1939), Hare-Um Scare-Um (1939) and Elmers Candid Camera (1939).
In A Wild Hare (1940), the rabbit says “Whats up, doc?” for the first time, to Elmer Fudd. That’s when the rabbit got a name, first proposed as Jack E. Rabbit, then Bugs Bunny.
Here’s the story of how Bugs Bunny was created, as told by Martha Goldman who worked at the Termite Terrace, Leon Schlesinger’s Studios, in 1939 when Bugs Bunny was created by Ben (Bugs) Hardaway.
From sigall