Bugs Bunny Animation Cel: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Animation cel of the cartoon character Bugs Bunny. The gray rabbit is drawn with white feet and gloves, standing in full upright position, gesturing with his right hand. He is wearing a blue vest, red bowtie, yellow jacket, and a blue-banded straw hat.

Tex Avery gave birth to Bugs Bunny in an award-winning cartoon he produced for Warner Brothers in 1940 called The Wild Hare. Initially known as Jack E. Rabbit, Bugs later received his better-known name from another Warner Brothers director of the same name. Though the rabbit received his name from Ben “Bugs” Hardaway, he received his ornery personality from Tex Avery. During the Second World War, Bugs Bunny became more popular than Disney or MGM short subjects. But Bugs received his widest audience through the medium of television, both through syndication and distribution of earlier cartoons and through The Bugs Bunny Show, appearing from 1960 to the late 1990s.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1960s
• maker: Warner Brothers
• Object Name: cel, animation
• Physical Description: acetate (overall material)
• Physical Description: paint, acrylic (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 9 in x 11 1/2 in; 22.86 cm x 29.21 cm
• place made: United States: California
• general subject association: Motion Pictures
• general subject association: Television
• Subject: Animation
• Subject: Cartoon Characters
• ID Number: 1985.0247.04
• accession number: 1985.0247
• catalog number: 1985.0247.04
• Credit Line: Gift of Mel J. Blanc
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.