Birthday Special: 7 things you need to know about Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny, one of the most beloved cartoon in the world is celebrating his 75th birthday today. The mischievous rabbit has been around for over seven decades. But there may be some chunks of trivia you may have not known about the clowning rabbit.

So understated are seven of them. 

1. How Bugs Bunny came out to be Bugs Bunny

The character who came to be known as Bugs Bunny first made an appearance in Porky's Hare Hunt in 1938, but did not have a name. Gradually, the bunny made a number of appearances in cartoons directed by Ben Hardaway, whose nickname was "Bugs". On the model sheet, they jotted "Bugs' Bunny." In Elmer's Pet Rabbit, when they added a title card to name the character officially, they simply removed the apostrophe. And that is how the character officially became Bugs Bunny. 

2. Bugs Bunny was the first animated cartoon on a US Stamp

In 1997, Bugs Bunny was seen on a commemorative US postage stamp. It however proved to be a controversial appearance, since Bugs was the first animated cartoon character that was honoured with a US stamp. A number of collectors were worried that Bugs had commercialised, what had been, till that time, a project that honoured historical figures. Others were surprised as well that the postal service didn't select the iconic Mickey Mouse to be the first cartoon. The stamp however came out to be greatly successful and led the people to like the recent stamp sheets of Pixar. 

3. How did the carrot chewing sound came to be

When Mel Blanc was doing the voice for Bugs Bunny, he was supposed to make the sound of eating a carrot. Though they had tried all kinds of things that would sound like a carrot like chewing celery, nothing else sounded exactly like a carrot except a carrot. Which is why Blanc chewed real carrots and spit them out when he was done reading his lines. Blanc himself stressed that he was not allergic to carrots. It's just that it was quicker to spit them  out than eating them. 

4. The Carrots of Bugs Bunny came as an inspiration from Clark Gable

One cannot imagine Bugs Bunny not eating carrots. In almost every cartoon, typically when he first makes an appearance, Bugs is seen casually eating a carrot in his hand. And it makes much sense since we know that rabbits love carrots. But this is not the reality. Bugs' habit of carrots actually began as Clark Gable's parody. In Clark Gable's film It Happened One Night, there's a scene where Gable is seen leaning against a fence, talking fast, and eating a carrot. The scene came out to be quite popular at the time, particularly with Friz Freling, animator of Bugs. When Bugs showed his carrot routine for the first time, everybody would have got where it came from. Gradually, the original movie seems to have disappeared, while carrot chewing of Bugs has carried on. 

5. Bugs Bunny is a US Marine

Bugs Bunny is seen wearing a United States Marine Corps dress blue uniform at the end of the 1943 short Super-Rabbit. The Marine Corps was so pleased by his uniform that they made Bugs an honorary private of the corps. Through the entire World War II, they carried on promoting Bugs in the rank till the time he retired as a Master Sergeant. 

6. Bugs Bunny created demands for Roger Rabbit

Bugs Bunny is known to be one of the inhabitants of Toontown in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Because Roger Rabbit was produced by Disney, Warner Bros would only allow bugs to make an appearance if only equal screen time was guaranteed like that of Disney's Mickey Mouse. This is the reason why Bugs Bunny comes in the movie in the same frame as Mickey Mouse and vice versa. 

7. Bugs Bunny has a star on Hollywood walk of fame

Bugs is one of the cartoon stars along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, and Shrek to have a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame