Ain’t just any other bunny !

Nikhil Salvi — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 11:00:09 +0000

What makes Bugs Bunny so special?

When growing up, there are certain characters, moreover cartoon characters who get deeply etched within our hearts. These characters give us aspirational goals, and remember when one such personality, rose to undying fame. Stealing our hearts with his suave style, smart and funny but he wasn’t any man, he was a bunny. Bugs Bunny!

Although calling Bugs Bunny a cartoon doesn’t seem fair at all. He doesn’t really behave like any other cartoon character.

Don’t you think he’s different from the rest?

Bugs bunny got his own show in 1960 and it ran for 30 years straight. Bugs’ fame wasn’t just limited to having his image on mugs and beach balls.

He was the first cartoon character to get his own star on Hollywood Boulevard on 21st December, 1985. That day was announced as ‘Bugs Bunny Day’ by the Mayor of Los Angeles, that doesn’t happen to just another cartoon character. Bugs first appeared on screen at the time of the Depression Period when seeing a rabbit on screen made people hang on to their seats with wide eyes and enjoy the ride. In those dark glum days, this ‘cartoon character’ came to their rescue with his bright personality ready to brighten up their days with their own smiles. Bugs was also voted ‘Best puppet or Cartoon character” in People Magazine’s 1985 national poll. Most celebrities these days don’t reach that epitome of fame, but a ‘cartoon character’ did! You know a market research was held to know the popular choice of people of media figures both real and imaginary in 1976. It turned out the only person Bugs came after was Abraham Lincoln! Can you believe that?

What made Bugs what he is today was that the creators, writers, directors and even the voice of Bugs all of them believed themselves to be Bugs Bunny. They walked, talked, acted, thought and behaved like him. Some of them even danced like him to see how it would work out. It wasn’t just any other character for them, it was an integral part of them, inseparable.

Even a government can’t hold their position for that long, could you call him just another cartoon character?

Bugs Bunny was just an idea after all but it became so real that he became just another person in each one of their lives. As well as that of the worldwide audience that Bugs catered to. So much so, that the ‘Bugs Bunny Specials’, won the most popular in the entire short subject field in USA and Canada and held it’s position for sixteen years straight.

The personality of Bugs wasn’t one that could be captured. It was different enough to keep your entertained and to keep your eyes locked onto the screens. It wasn’t vague, Bugs held on to his nonchalant, laid back, carrot chewing, too cool for you attitude for 7 minutes at a time for a long stretch of 50 years!

Unlike other cartoon characters he wasn’t just running here and there, or falling down to make people laugh. There was logic behind every move he made. From using his ears to express himself to shape shifting into different characters within seconds and how seamlessly done. Everyone wanted to be Bugs, the smartest one in the room who’s still effortlessly cool. He’s quick-witted, funny, and wicked but only cruel to those who cause him trouble. All this and much more, we can’t really limit Bugs’ greatness to just another cartoon character now, can we? Close your eyes and think about Bugs, he’ll be right around the corner chilling and he’d look at you and say “What’s up, Doc?”

Who’s speaking, doc?

Nikhil Salvi — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 06:25:29 +0000

Funny Animated Characters can be Superheroes too !

Remember as kids we would laugh and sometimes imitate the wacky voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester? It was because of a grown man behind the bunny, the duck, the cat and thousands of other characters which he enhanced with his voice. It all came out of one legendary person, Mel Blanc aka “The Man of 1000 Voices”.

He practically became one of them. Bugs’ voice, Blanc said, grew out of his impression of the character as a smart, endlessly resourceful maverick, a very urban rabbit despite his residency in rural holes. His inputs made a huge impact on what Bugs eventually turned out to be. Mel said “I thought, when we were working on how Bugs would talk, which accent sounds the toughest – Brooklyn or the Bronx? I couldn’t make up my mind, so I made his voice a combination of both.” Blanc would instantly embody the facial expressions of whatever character he was voicing. He actually lived these characters. And the characters lived him. One of them also saved him. It was our hero, Bugs Bunny.

When one night at Sunset Boulevard’s Deadman Curve, Mel Blanc met with an accident that crushed his Aston Martin and himself inside it. The chances of him surviving were a million to one. That’s when the address “Bugs Bunny, Hollywood, USA” received fifteen thousand cards and letters, gifts of pennies, nickels, sticks of gum and carrots. Thousands of people praying for Bugs Bunny to get well soon. It’s weird, isn’t it? People don’t even love humans as much as they loved a cartoon character. Maybe that’s the magic of animation and creating new characters. The voice of Bugs Bunny was heard, and it was heard well alright!

After about 3 weeks of Mel being in a coma, his neurosurgeon got an idea. He knew the affection Mel had for Bugs, he said “How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?”. It was like a miracle waiting to happen, that’s when a bleak but extremely familiar voice said “Eh, just fine, Doc, How are you?”. A human who was suffering, close to his death and there’s a fictitious character who was being his hero was trying to save him. Bugs eventually won, Mel survived.

Mel Blanc was the voice to Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Pepe Le Pew, Yosemite Sam, Mr. Spacely, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzalez,The Tasmanian Devil, Barney Rubble, Dino the Dinosaur, Heathcliff and so many more but the love for one saved him and it was our dear Bugs. This is the power of animation. Mel Blanc is said to be one of the first voice actors and he is also the first voice actor to get screen credit which he funnily enough received after being denied a raise by his studio boss Leon Schlesinger.