Bugs Bunny, master tactician and trickster extraordinaire, continually finds himself in a predicament and makes his way out through an unforeseen path: he never assumes the role of victim. Rather, he remains fluid, shifting the very terms of engagement, burrowing out...
[more]Bugs Bunny, master tactician and trickster extraordinaire, continually finds himself in a predicament and makes his way out through an unforeseen path: he never assumes the role of victim. Rather, he remains fluid, shifting the very terms of engagement, burrowing out of his hole, so to speak, to reappear as someone else -- or somewhere else. Often, he turns the very tools of his demise against his aggressor. In the classic "The Fresh Hare," Porky Pig corners the rabbit with a shotgun. Bugs, always cool under pressure, quietly takes the hat from Porky's head, places it on his own, and assumes the role of Porky's commander. Later, Bugs plays the role of Porky's gun, sound effects and all. At another juncture, Bugs disappears into the snow, but rather than leaving the imprint of a rabbit, his mark is that of a shapely woman -- thereby throwing Porky off the trail. When he's cornered by a whole platoon of soldiers, Bugs breaks into song and soon everyone's joined in (Jim Carrey as the Mask uses the same trick). Bugs teaches us how to disrupt power's hegemony; freedom, he tells us, lies in finding different, unforeseen, and impossible paths out of one's constraints.
Bugs was born in 1940, a creation of Ben Hardaway, and was further refined and directed by Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, and given voice by Mel Blanc. The rabbit's been nominated for three Academy Awards and won the Oscar in 1958 for his role in "Knightly Knight Bugs." He's starred in four movies and 175 shorts.
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