'''Bugs Bunny''' is a fictional street-smart anthropomorphic gray rabbit who appears in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated films produced by Warner Bros., and is one of the most recognizable characters, real or imaginary, in the world. According to his biography, he was "born" in 1940 in Brooklyn, New York and the product of many fathers: Ben "Bugs" Hardaway (who created a prototypical version of the character called Happy Rabbit in 1938's "Porky's Hare Hunt"), Bob Clampett, Tex Avery (who developed Bugs' definitive personality in 1940), Robert McKimson (created the definitive Bugs Bunny character design), Chuck Jones, and Friz Freleng. According to Mel Blanc, his original voice actor, his accent is an equal blend of someone from the Bronx and someone from Brooklyn.

Personality

He is noted for his catchphrase of "Eh, (carrot chewing sounds) ... what's up, doc?" and his feuds with Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, Daffy Duck, Witch Hazel, Rocky and Mugsy, Wile E. Coyote and a whole score of others. Almost invariably Bugs comes out the winner in these conflicts because that is in his nature. This is especially obvious in films directed by Chuck Jones, who liked to pit "winners" against "losers". Worrying that audiences would lose sympathy for an aggressor who always won, Jones found the perfect way to make Bugs sympathetic in the films by having the antagonist repeatedly bully, cheat or threaten Bugs in some way. Thus offended, Bugs would often drawl "Of course you realize, 'DIS means war!" (a line which Jones noted was taken from Groucho Marx) and the audience gives Bugs silent permission to inflict his havoc, having earned his right to retaliate and/or defend himself. Other directors like Friz Freleng had Bugs go out of his way to help others in trouble, again creating an acceptable circumstance for his mischief. When Bugs meets other characters who are also "winners", however, like Cecil the Turtle in ''Tortoise Beats Hare'', or, in World War II, the Gremlin of ''Falling Hare'', his record is rather dismal; his overconfidence tends to work against him.

Bugs Bunny has some similarities to figures from mythology and folklore, such as Br'er Rabbit or Anansi, and might be seen as sort of modern trickster. From this perspective, his repeated deceptive cross-dressing as a female may make sense, as it is clearly intended to dupe his hapless victims into indiscretions or conduct that would not otherwise occur. http://www.mindspring.com/~karen.anne.taylor/bugs.html

"Bugs" or "Bugsy" as a nickname means "crazy".

A suggested early influence

A number of animation historians believe Bugs Bunny to have been influenced by an earlier Disney

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