Editing Bugs Bunny (section)

===World War II===
[[File:Bugs Bunny's Evolution.PNG|upright=1.6|thumb|left|Evolution of Bugs' design over the years]]
By 1942, Bugs had become the number one star of ''Merrie Melodies''. The series was originally intended only for one-shot characters in films after several early attempts to introduce characters ([[Foxy (cartoon character)|Foxy]], [[Goopy Geer]], and [[Piggy (Merrie Melodies)|Piggy]]) failed under [[Hugh Harman|Harman]]–[[Rudolf Ising|Ising]]. By the mid-1930s, under [[Leon Schlesinger]], ''Merrie Melodies'' started introducing newer characters. ''[[Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid]]'' (1942) shows a slight redesign of Bugs, with less-prominent front teeth and a rounder head. The character was later reworked by [[Robert McKimson]], then an animator in Clampett's unit, for ''[[Tortoise Wins by a Hare]]'' (1943), with more slanted eyes, longer teeth and a much larger mouth. The redesign at first was only used in the films created by Clampett's unit, but in time it was taken up by the other directors, with Freleng and [[Frank Tashlin]] the first. McKimson would use another version of the rabbit by Jean Blanchard until 1949 (as did [[Arthur Davis (animator)|Art Davis]] for the one Bugs Bunny film he directed, ''[[Bowery Bugs]]'') when he started using the version he had designed for Clampett. Jones came up with his own slight modification, and the voice had slight variations between the units.<ref name="Barrier"/> Bugs also made cameos in Avery's final Warner Bros. cartoon, ''[[Crazy Cruise]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lehman|first=Christopher P.|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMWhTUFFuqoC&q=%22any+bonds+today%22+%22bugs+bunny%22+theatrical+cartoon&pg=PA73|title=The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films, 1907–1954|location=Amherst, Massachusetts|publisher=University of Massachusetts Press|page=73|access-date=February 25, 2009 | isbn=978-1-55849-613-2}}</ref>

Since Bugs' fifth appearance in ''A Wild Hare'', he appeared in color ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' films (making him one of the few recurring characters created for the series in the Schlesinger era prior to the full conversion to color), alongside Egghead, [[Inki]], [[Sniffles (Merrie Melodies)|Sniffles]], and [[Elmer Fudd]] (who actually co-existed in 1937 along with Egghead as a separate character). While Bugs made a cameo in ''[[Porky Pig's Feat]]'' (1943), this was his only appearance in a black-and-white ''Looney Tunes'' film. He did not star in a ''Looney Tunes'' film until that series made its complete conversion to only color cartoons beginning in 1944. ''[[Buckaroo Bugs]]'' was Bugs' first film in the ''Looney Tunes'' series and was also the last Warner Bros. cartoon to credit Schlesinger (as he had retired and sold his studio to Warner Bros. that year).<ref name="Globat Login"/>

Bugs' popularity soared during [[World War II]] because of his free and easy attitude, and he began receiving special star billing in his cartoons by 1943. By that time, Warner Bros. had become the most profitable cartoon studio in the United States.<ref>"[http://www.animationusa.com/resources/aboutwb.html Warner Bros. Studio biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524120920/http://www.animationusa.com/resources/aboutwb.html |date=May 24, 2009 }}". ''AnimationUSA.com''. Retrieved July 22, 2008.</ref> In company with cartoon studios such as Disney and [[Famous Studios]], Warners pitted its characters against [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Benito Mussolini]], [[Francisco Franco]], and the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]]. ''[[Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips]]'' (1944) features Bugs at odds with a group of Japanese soldiers. This cartoon has since been pulled from distribution due to its depiction of Japanese people.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} One [[United States Navy|US Navy]] [[propaganda]] film saved from destruction features the voice of Mel Blanc in "Tokyo Woes"<ref>{{Citation|last=Leon Schlessinger|title=Tokyo Woes|url=https://archive.org/details/TokyoWoes|access-date=May 22, 2017}}</ref> (1945) about the propaganda radio host [[Tokyo Rose]]. He also faces off against [[Hermann Göring]] and Hitler in ''[[Herr Meets Hare]]'' (1945), which introduced his well-known reference to [[Albuquerque]] as he mistakenly winds up in the [[Black Forest]] of [[Germany|'Joimany']] instead of [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://blog.bcdb.com/cartoon-day-herr-meets-hare-5572/|title=Herr Meets Hare|publisher=BCDB|date=January 10, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130215142153/http://blog.bcdb.com/cartoon-day-herr-meets-hare-5572/|archive-date=February 15, 2013}}</ref> Bugs also appeared in the 1942 two-minute U.S. [[war bond]]s commercial film ''[[Any Bonds Today?]]'', along with Porky and Elmer.

At the end of ''[[Super-Rabbit]]'' (1943), Bugs appears wearing a [[United States Marine Corps]] dress blue uniform. As a result, the Marine Corps made Bugs an honorary Marine [[master sergeant]].<ref>[[Audio commentary]] by [[Paul Dini]] for ''[[Super-Rabbit]]'' on the ''[[Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3]]'' (2005).</ref> From 1943 to 1946, Bugs was the official mascot of [[Kingman Army Airfield]], [[Kingman, Arizona]], where thousands of aerial gunners were trained during World War II. Some notable trainees included [[Clark Gable]] and [[Charles Bronson]]. Bugs also served as the mascot for 530 Squadron of the 380th Bombardment Group, [[5th Air Force]], [[U.S. Air Force]], which was attached to the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] and operated out of Australia's [[Northern Territory]] from 1943 to 1945, flying [[B-24 Liberator]] bombers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://380th.org/380-History.html |title=History of the 380th Bomb Group |publisher=380th.org |access-date=January 7, 2010 |archive-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731125736/http://380th.org/380-History.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Bugs riding an air delivered torpedo served as the squadron logo for Marine Torpedo/Bomber Squadron 242 in the Second World War. Additionally, Bugs appeared on the nose of B-24J #42-110157, in both the 855th Bomb Squadron of the 491st Bombardment Group (Heavy) and later in the 786th BS of the 466th BG(H), both being part of the 8th Air Force operating out of England.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Bugs-ending.jpg|right|thumb|Bugs (standing in for [[Porky Pig]]) in the closing to ''[[Hare Tonic]]'' (1945) and ''[[Baseball Bugs]]'' (1946).]] -->

In 1944, Bugs Bunny made a cameo appearance in ''[[Jasper Goes Hunting]]'', a [[Puppetoons]] film produced by rival studio [[Paramount Pictures]]. In this cameo (animated by McKimson, with Blanc providing the usual voice), Bugs (after being threatened at gunpoint) pops out of a rabbit hole, saying his usual catchphrase; after hearing the orchestra play the wrong theme song, he realizes "Hey, I'm in the wrong picture!" and then goes back in the hole.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/36556-Jasper_Goes_Hunting.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723161315/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/36556-Jasper_Goes_Hunting.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |title=''Jasper Goes Hunting'' information |publisher=Bcdb.com |access-date=September 20, 2009}}</ref> Bugs also made a cameo in the [[Private Snafu]] short ''[[Gas (1944 film)|Gas]]'', in which he is found stowed away in the titular private's belongings; his only spoken line is his usual catchphrase.

Although it was usually Porky Pig who brought the ''Looney Tunes'' films to a close with his stuttering, "That's all, folks!", Bugs replaced him at the end of ''[[Hare Tonic]]'' and ''[[Baseball Bugs]]'', bursting through a drum just as Porky did, but munching on a carrot and saying, in his Bronx/Brooklyn accent, "And that's the end!"