Line #22 YMMV/BugsBunny


1	* AccidentalInnuendo: In ''WesternAnimation/InvasionOfTheBunnySnatchers'', Bugs sticks the Nudnik copies into a burlap sack, but the exact dialogue when he starts:
2	-->"Get in the sack, EvilTwin. I've got plans for you."
3	* AluminumChristmasTrees: Bugs' catchphrases and speech tics are actually based around the hip slang of TheForties -- but modern audiences assume they're unique to him.
4	* AudienceAlienatingEra: Robert [=McKimson's=] shorts from the late 1950s are seen as this for Bugs' classic run, due to generally suffering from mediocre animation, unoriginal stories and uninspired gags. [=McKimson=] by his own admission had a difficult time working with Chuck Jones' revised characterization of Bugs and considered him too suave and reserved to utilize properly. It also didn't help that after the cartoon studio's brief shutdown in 1953 (a victim of Jack Warner's demand that the studio pivot to 3D that was rapidly abandoned when the gimmick turned out to be a dud), unlike Jones and Freling, [=McKimson=] didn't get his entire old unit back (in fact, his first shorts after the reopening he had to do the entire animation himself). ''WesternAnimation/PreHystericalHare'' in particular is widely considered to be Bugs' worst cartoon, due to suffering all the aforementioned problems, plus a bland stock music score and Dave Barry's ''terrible'' voicing of Elmer Fudd. Fortunately, [=McKimson's=] shorts would improve in the early 1960s, after his long-time story artist Tedd Pierce left the studio, and John W. Dunn became story artist for all three units.
5	* AwardSnub: Bugs' debut cartoon, "WesternAnimation/AWildHare", was nominated for an Oscar in 1941 for best animated short, alongside the [=MGM=] cartoon, "WesternAnimation/PussGetsTheBoot" (which featured the debut of WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry). Both cartoons lost to the long since forgotten, and rather schmalzy cartoon, "The Milky Way". While the cat and mouse duo would go on to win several Oscars during their theatrical run, it took Bugs 18 years to finally win the award with "WesternAnimation/KnightyKnightBugs". It ended up being the only one he would ever win.
6	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
7	** Bugs Bunny himself. He's very popular for being the wittiest KarmicTrickster in animation, but some fans find him annoying for being a smug smartass InvincibleHero and actively root for his enemies, even though they have no chance of winning.
8	** Cecil Turtle can bring divisive opinions. Some believe giving Bugs ATasteOfDefeat helped make him avoid InvincibleHero status and thus retain the audience's interest while others believe his victories over Bugs were unearned and want to see him [[LaserguidedKarma getting punished for it]].
9	* BrokenBase: While almost everybody agrees that the Bugs from 1945 through 1954 is awesome, there tends to be debate over his characterization in earlier and later cartoons:
10	** The 1940-1944 Bugs: A hilarious [[ThePrankster prankster]] or an outright bully who torments people for no reason other than personal pleasure?
11	** The 1955-1964 Bugs: A lovable protagonist or calm and easygoing to the point of being a FlatCharacter?
12	* CharacterRerailment: Some of Bugs' entries in the early 60s reverted him slightly to his earlier more hyperactive persona. According to director Creator/RobertMckimson this was deliberate, as some of the creative team thought Bugs had become too reserved and bland.
13	* FairForItsDay: The satire on confederate sympathizers in "Southern Fried Rabbit" still holds up, despite being yet another Golden Age cartoon to feature some unfortunate racial stereotyping. Though Bugs' "slave" disguise avoids the always-uncomfortable {{blackface}} (he looks more like a normal rabbit in a summer coat), it's [[DistinctionWithoutADifference still a white actor doing a comical impression of a black slave]]. However, Sam is still depicted as an idiot for acting like the Civil War never ended and Bugs using said disguise to bust him for beating slaves by [[ItMakesSenseInContext leaving and re-entering dressed as Abraham Lincoln]] (who tells Sam to "look me up at my [[{{Pun}} Gettysburg address]].") is played for such absurdity that [[CrossesTheLineTwice it's hard to find it offensive]].
14	* FandomRivalry: Bugs and WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse have been the face of two competing animation studios for decades and several pieces of satirical media have depicted the two as enemies... [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit even though they've been known to parachute jump together]].
15	* FountainOfMemes: Bugs has always been very quotable, but the internet also helped a lot in bringing his visual gags and expressions to light, "Big Chungus" being the standout, but far from the only one.
16	* HarsherInHindsight: In "WesternAnimation/FallingHare", Bugs narrowly stops the Gremlin from crashing into a pair of identical twin skyscrapers by flying in between them. Not sixty years later...
17	* HilariousInHindsight:
18	** In "Rebel Rabbit", Bugs literally detaches Florida from the United States and lets it drift away into the ocean. The clip of Bugs sawing away at the Florida-Georgia border is now used to varying degrees of irony when discussing things that (supposedly) happen OnlyInFlorida.
19	** Bugs interrupting the Oscar ceremony in "What's Cookin' Doc" [[Music/KanyeWest might remind you of]] [[InterruptingMeme certain memes]]...
20	** "WesternAnimation/BullyForBugs" features Bugs attempting to burrow to the Coachella Valley for "the Big Carrot Festival" before he misses his left turn at Albuquerque and ends up in Spain. 50 years later, making a pilgrimage to a music festival in the Coachella Valley would become an annual occurrence for a lot of people.
21	* IAmNotShazam: A slight one for some people on the younger side of the spectrum who may not know who Bugs Bunny is. No, his name is not Big Chungus.
22	* MemeticBadass: Big Chungus. His ''[[InsistentTerminology thicc]]''ness [[BigFun is part of his badass]].
23	* MemeticMolester: Thanks to WebAnimation/MeatCanyon's video, "[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o-HmYLtnQIY Wabbit Season]]", Bugs Bunny is depicted as a tragic rapist struggling to reform and be a better person. The video has since been [[MissingEpisode taken down]] by Warner Bros, who filed a copyright claim. [=MeatCanyon=] disputed it, but [=YouTube=] sided with Warner Bros.
24	* MemeticMutation:
25	** "What's up, doc?" has officially been a part of the American vernacular for close to a century. "Of course you realize, this means war" to a lesser extent.
26	** The scene in "Rebel Rabbit" where Bugs saws Florida off from the rest of the United States has become a popular reaction GIF for OnlyInFlorida stories online.
27	** This gem from "[[WesternAnimation/WabbitTwouble Wabbit Twouble]]" shows up a lot, the overweight Bugs usually posted as a gag known as "big chungus".
28	---> '''Bugs:''' ''(turns overweight as he makes fun of Elmer)'' That'll howd them, awwight! Hehehehehehehehehe! ''(turns back to normal)'' Phooey!
29	* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: Bugs' signature gag of [[{{Crossdresser}} crossdressing]] to fool his opponents trying to hunt him down was, at the time, seen as just a bog standard joke with no real societal impact. However, current-day members of the LGBTQIA+ community, notably those who're UsefulNotes/{{transgender}}, non-binary, or genderfluid, like to consider Bugs a personal icon of theirs, given that despite those he fools being shocked by the fact that he's not a woman, Bugs himself never has any issue with having to crossdress, often times genuinely liking it (especially in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', where he sees himself crossdressed as beautiful). Amplified by a number of Twitter messages citing an interview Chuck Jones gave, in which he [[https://mediachomp.com/bugs-bunny-is-genderfluid-its-canon/ essentially described Bugs as genderfluid]].
30	* NewerThanTheyThink: Bugs Bunny was created after WesternAnimation/PorkyPig, WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck and WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd (not counting prototypes).
31	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: Bugs' "What's up, doc?" was meant as CasualDangerDialogue as he was being hunted. Now that it's simply a common American saying, it's hardly seen as anything special.
32	* ParodyDisplacement:
33	** How many modern viewers -- hell, how many viewers ''period'' -- recognize that some of Bugs' most popular traits were lifted directly from Groucho Marx (carrot = cigar, "Of course you realize, this means war!")?
34	** More than Groucho, it's pretty clear that the Warner animation crew had ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight'' in the back of their mind all throughout creating the characterization for Bugs. Peter Warne (Creator/ClarkGable) has a Bugs-like knack for using [[TheTrickster Trickster]] tactics to get out of jams. In one scene he pretends to be a gangster and talks about someone named Bugs Dooley. And one supporting character (played by Roscoe Karns) has a VerbalTic of calling people "Doc". Bugs's love of carrots even came from the film's famous hitchhiking scene.
35	** As for Bugs himself, how many people [[CommonKnowledge do you think believe that rabbits love carrots]] because of him?[[note]]Rabbits do not eat carrots as part of their diet in the wild, actually, preferring wild grasses, hay and alfalfa. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/pets-health/9353529/Carrots-are-bad-for-rabbits-RSPCA-says.html warns]] that giving a rabbit a steady diet of carrots will cause tooth decay and digestive health problems. One as an occasional treat is fine, but rabbits are not built to live on carrots.[[/note]]
36	* PopCultureHoliday: April 30th is Bugs Bunny Day, celebrating the character's first unofficial appearance in 1938's "Porky's Hare Hunt." However, his first official appearance is ''WesternAnimation/AWildHare,'' which is July 27th, 1940. While Bugs Bunny Day is regarded as April 30th, Bugs' official birthday is celebrated on July 27th, as evidenced by Creator/{{Boomerang}} holding a Bugs Bunny Birthday Marathon on July 27th, 2020 and Bugs referring to July 27th as his birthday in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow.''
37	* ShipToShipCombat: The two most debated Bugs-related pairings are [[OfficialCouple Bugs/Lola]] and [[FoeYayShipping Bugs/Daffy]], depending on your tastes.
38	* SophomoreSlump: The second official Bugs cartoon, "Elmer's Pet Rabbit" is commonly regarded as one of the worst in the series, owing to Bugs' ''extreme'' {{Jerkass}} behavior, OffModel use of yellow-colored gloves, a voice that doesn't sound anywhere close to his iconic semi-Brooklyn accent, as well as the sloppy timing that Creator/ChuckJones' earlier efforts suffered from.
39	* UglyCute: Witch Hazel in "Bewitched Bunny". Her reaction to Bugs finding Hansel and Gretel ("Call it a ''weakness''.") is almost {{Moe}}.
40	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
41	** An example self-admitted by the creators themselves. Creator/FrizFreleng was convinced Elmer Fudd was such an incompetent pushover that Bugs came off as bullying him, so he created the far more belligerent Yosemite Sam to rectify this.
42	** And then it started to lean too much the opposite way, with Bugs becoming so laid back it became hard for writers to even put the focus on him anymore and essentially made him a HeroAntagonist in his own series (Creator/RobertMckimson even stated outright he thought Bugs had no personality during the fifties). Finding the middle ground was apparently very difficult, though given his popularity, they must have gotten it right for the audience a good few points.
43	* ValuesDissonance:
44	** "WesternAnimation/AllThisAndRabbitStew", and most infamously, "WesternAnimation/BugsBunnyNipsTheNips". The latter even got the first "Golden Age of Looney Tunes" laserdisc set recalled when it was included on it, replacing it with ''Racketeer Rabbit''. It also got the 7th Golden Age VHS release (Bugs Bunny By Each Director) recalled, as well as the five tape box-set that included that volume. If you can find an unaltered copy of that laserdisc set with the Nips cartoon on it, you've got a nice collector's item on your hands.
45	** Other shorts like "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" aren't as derogatory as those two shorts, but still feature stereotypes that absolutely would not be allowed today.
46	* ValuesResonance: In "Southern Fried Rabbit", Yosemite Sam is a prideful Confederate soldier convinced the Civil War had never ended. Bugs tells him it ended "almost 90 years ago" and that he should move on. Sam's attitudes aren't too far off from Confederate enthusiasts' today, and the short very much puts him in the wrong for his beliefs. Despite some racial stereotyping – for instance, Bugs in a ([[PaperThinDisguise very obvious]]) blackface disguise to goad Sam into "whipping slaves" – the gags set up the idea of Confederate sympathizers as looking foolish for their beliefs.

Context YMMV / BugsBunny