Happy 78th Birthday to Bugs Bunny

Today we celebrate the 78th Birthday of everyone's favorite Wascally Wabbit. 78 years ago today A Wild Hare was released to theaters. Though some people consider the earlier Porky's Hare Hunt, as the debut of Bugs Bunny, many argue that that rabbit is a different character, and July 27th is accepted as Bugs' birthday. However a 1947 article from Box Office Magazine claims Easter Sunday as the rabbit's birthday. One might think that the article is referring to Porky's Hare Hunt, but that cartoon was released on April 30 and this article is from April 12 and refers to the rabbit's birthday celebration in the past. Easter Sunday is probably chosen because of its association with rabbits. If you wish to see that article click here.

A more touching birthday tribute happened the next year, as a Bugs Bunny birthday party was brought to "crippled kiddies" (as they are refereed to in an article in Boxoffice magazine). Again though the date of the article that talks about this indicates a different birthday for Bugs than the releases of either A Wild Hare or Porky's Hare Hunt. Here is the Boxoffice article about this party.


People just couldn't get Bugs' birthday right. A 1961 article (also from Boxoffice) stated that Bugs recently celebrated his 25th birthday. Well Porky's Hare Hunt was released in 1938 and A Wild Hare was released in 1940. Do the math and figure out what was wrong with this. Anyway to see that article click here.

-Michael J. Ruhland