Bugs Bunny made his official debut in Wild Hare, released July 27, 1940. That makes today his offical 85th birthday.

Warner Brothers had done cartoons with a clever, unkind rabbit as early as 1938. The rabbit in  Porky’s Hare Hunt released April 30, 1938, could be considered a proto-Bugs, but the Wascally Wabbit we’ve known and loved all our lives didn’t make his official Hollywood debut until July 27, 1940 in Wild Hare, making Sunday, July 27, 2025, Bugs Bunny’s 85th birthday. He’s still looking pretty good for his age.

Although loved world wide, Bugs is not a nice rabbit. As he himself has admitted in more than one cartoon, “Ain’t I a stinker?”

Author Rebecca McFarland Kyle, author of Fanny and Dice, once pointed out that she, like most of her generation, learned opera from a cross-dressing rabbit.

Between 1940 and 1964, Bugs Bunny appeared in more than 160 short films. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985, one of the few fictional characters to earn this honor.

Over the years, Bugs Bunny has matched wits with mad scientists, witches, wild animals, aliens, game show hosts, hunters, and gremlins. He is almost always victorious.

Is Bugs Bunny the greatest cartoon character in the world?

“In 2002, TV Guide compiled a list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time as part of the magazine’s 50th anniversary. Bugs Bunny was given the honor of number 1. In a CNN broadcast on July 31, 2002, a TV Guide editor talked about the group that created the list. The editor also explained why Bugs pulled top billing: “His stock…has never gone down…Bugs is the best example…of the smart-aleck American comic. He not only is a great cartoon character, he’s a great comedian. He was written well. He was drawn beautifully. He has thrilled and made many generations laugh.”

For years, Bugs Vunny was voiced by the great Mel Blanc. Since 1989, Jeff Bergman has been his primary voice actor. In the movie Space Jam (1996), Billy West voiced Bugs.

Norse mythology has Loki as its trickster. Native American culture has Coyote in the southwest and Raven in the Pacific Northwest as tricksters. West Africa has Anansi. American pop culture has Bugs Bunny as its trickster.

Bugs Bunny has had a long, successful, and dare I say it, iconic career. We wish him a happy birthday and hope he keeps going for another 85 years, so our grandchioldren and great-grandchildren can enjoy his antics as much as we did.