Editing Bugs Bunny (section)

===Official debut===
[[Image:FirstBugs.jpg|thumb|Bugs' first appearance in ''[[A Wild Hare]]'' (1940)]]
While ''[[Porky's Hare Hunt]]'' was the first Warner Bros. cartoon to feature what would become Bugs Bunny, ''[[A Wild Hare]]'', directed by [[Tex Avery]] and released on July 27, 1940, is widely considered to be the first official Bugs Bunny cartoon.<ref name="Adamson"/><ref>[[Michael Barrier (historian)|Barrier, Michael]] (2003), [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195167295 ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107054433/http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195167295 |date=November 7, 2015 }}, Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-516729-0}}</ref> It is the first film where both Elmer Fudd and Bugs, both redesigned by [[Bob Givens]], are shown in their fully developed forms as hunter and tormentor, respectively; the first in which [[Mel Blanc]] uses what became Bugs' standard voice; and the first in which Bugs uses his catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?"<ref name="Avery">{{Cite book|last=Adamson|first=Joe|title=Tex Avery: King of Cartoons|location=[[New York City]]|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=1975|isbn=0-306-80248-1}}</ref> ''A Wild Hare'' was a huge success in theaters and received an [[Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Animated Short Film|Best Cartoon Short Subject]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0148142.html |title=1940 academy awards |access-date=September 20, 2007 |archive-date=October 27, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027131607/http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0148142.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

For the film, Avery asked Givens to remodel the rabbit. The result had a closer resemblance to Max Hare. He had a more elongated body, stood more erect, and looked more poised. If Thorson's rabbit looked like an infant, Givens' version looked like an adolescent.<ref name="Walz">Walz (1998), p. 49-67</ref> Blanc gave Bugs the voice of a city slicker. The rabbit was as audacious as he had been in ''Hare-um Scare-um'' and as cool and collected as in ''Prest-O Change-O''.<ref name="Barrier2"/>

Immediately following on ''A Wild Hare'', [[Bob Clampett]]'s ''[[Patient Porky]]'' (1940) features a [[cameo appearance]] by Bugs, announcing to the audience that 750 rabbits have been born. The gag uses Bugs' ''Wild Hare'' visual design, but his goofier pre-''Wild Hare'' voice characterization.

The second full-fledged role for the mature Bugs, [[Chuck Jones]]' ''[[Elmer's Pet Rabbit]]'' (1941), is the first to use Bugs' name on-screen: it appears in a title card, "featuring Bugs Bunny," at the start of the film (which was edited in following the success of ''A Wild Hare''). However, Bugs' voice and personality in this cartoon is noticeably different, and his design was slightly altered as well; Bugs' visual design is based on the earlier version in ''Candid Camera'' and ''A Wild Hare'', but with yellow gloves, as seen in ''Hare-Um Scare-Um'', and no buck teeth, has a lower-pitched voice and a more aggressive, arrogant and thuggish personality instead of a fun-loving personality. After ''Pet Rabbit'', however, subsequent Bugs appearances returned to normal: the ''Wild Hare'' visual design and personality returned, and Blanc re-used the ''Wild Hare'' voice characterization.

''[[Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt]]'' (1941), directed by [[Friz Freleng]], became the second Bugs Bunny cartoon to receive an Academy Award nomination.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0148172.html |title=1941 academy awards |access-date=February 10, 2013 |archive-date=January 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130223725/http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0148172.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The fact that it did not win the award was later spoofed somewhat in ''[[What's Cookin' Doc?]]'' (1944), in which Bugs demands a recount (claiming to be a victim of "[[Sabotage|sa-bo-TAH-gee]]") after losing the Oscar to [[James Cagney]] and presents a clip from ''Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt'' to prove his point.<ref name="Globat Login">{{cite web|url=http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/1944.html|title=Globat Login|access-date=January 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211112058/http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/1944.html|archive-date=February 11, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>