Bugs Bunny Takes Control of the Cartoon Network

What’s up, doc?

“June Bugs 2001,” a 49-hour marathon of Bugs Bunny cartoons airing on the Cartoon Network.

The marathon, which kicks off today and continues until midnight Sunday, will run the cartoons in chronological order, from Bugs’ first appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt” to his most recent starring vehicle, 1997’s “From Hare to Eternity.” These cartoons highlight the talents of such legendary Warner Bros. animators-directors as Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett and Tex Avery and feature such beloved Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies creations as Elmer Fudd, Gossamer, Cecil Turtle, Marvin the Martian, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Yosemite Sam.

Of course, it was the late Mel Blanc who gave Bugs and the majority of these cartoon characters their distinctive voices.

“June Bugs 2001” includes 176 Bugs Bunny cartoons. New to the Cartoon Network are 55 vintage Bugs shorts including “Bonanza Bunny,” “West Hare,” “The Hasty Hare” and “Mad as Mars Hare.”

Mike Lazzo, senior vice president of programming and production for the Cartoon Network, recently discussed the June Bugs celebration.

Question: What was the genesis of the June Bugs festival?

Answer: We started the Cartoon Network with many of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, the Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoons and the Tom and Jerry cartoons. What we would do was kind of cull through our inventory and look for characters we felt we could do weekend-type marathons with. Bugs Bunny was such a natural. We felt our first opportunity [to do the marathon was] in the summer when our viewing levels are so much higher. We would use a major character to kick the summer off. We felt we couldn’t do any better than Bugs Bunny who has always been in the top three of the most popular characters.

Q: Who are the other two?

A: Mickey Mouse and Tom and Jerry.

Q: How many Bugs Bunny cartoons did you start with?

A: I believe we had 55 of them. We just programmed one right after the other and now eight years later, we have in our inventory 176 Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Q: Is June Bugs your highest-rated marathon?

A: I think for the first three years it was the highest-rated stunt [programming]. Now, many of the originals that we make make it up to those levels. In prime time, we average a million or a million and a half viewers.

The great thing this year is that we have finally rejoined all the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons in one place. Previously, you could find Bugs Bunny cartoons on ABC on Saturday mornings or you could find them on syndicated TV. Now, they have all come back to Warner Bros. and the Cartoon Network, and this year we will have the right to show every single one of them. We actually got these cartoons back in October, but we decided not to air the Bugs Bunny cartoons until we came up to our June Bugs. So we will premiere 55 new Bugs Bunnys over the course of the weekend.

Q: Are most of these 55 familiar to fans?

A: Fans certainly will remember many of these cartoons because they have been airing on TV for 30 years. But to see them all collected like this and to devote three days of a network to any one program or any one character is something exceptional. It has to be something people want to see over and over. Bugs Bunny is one of those characters that America has always responded to.

Q: Why?

A: He feels timeless. I think that is due to the beautiful animation that is in all of the Bugs Bunny cartoons and the fact that he is such a durable character. America watches Bugs Bunny cartoons and says that is who I want to be--the eternal optimist. The person who is just minding their own business when some kind of adversarial situation occurs and through their quick-wittedness and self-confidence they are able to overcome it. The way he deals with it makes us laugh.

Q: Airing the cartoons chronologically, viewers will get a chance to see how Bugs has evolved over the years.

A: It’s really a time capsule of a 60-year period. It’s funny to sit and watch the early Bugs Bunnys and see that he was very much a rabbit. He acted like a rabbit, he looked like a rabbit. Over time, he became more human. He became taller, more sophisticated, more gentlemanly. He went from kind of a crazy rabbit to almost a sophisticated Cary Grant-type figure. That is wonderful to watch unfold in seven-minute by seven-minute increments.

Q: Cartoon Network was originally going to show 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons that have been out of circulation because of racial stereotyping. But they have been pulled from the schedule. Would you discuss that decision?

A: It was initially decided we wanted to air every single Bugs Bunny cartoon ever made and we were going to show these cartoons at 3 in the morning with disclaimers. But as we started looking at these cartoons and talking with each other internally, we decided the best thing to do was to do one of these “Toonhead” documentary specials about these cartoons and explain them in context to people so there are no misunderstandings.

Q: Do you have a favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon?

A: Oh golly, I have a lot. If I had to pick one to be stuck on a desert island with, I would probably pick “What’s Opera, Doc?” I love music and it is such a great musical cartoon.

* “June Bugs 2001” begins today at 11 p.m. and continues through midnight Sunday on the Cartoon Network.