Coordinates	52°55′7″N22°5′7″N
Name	Gremlins
Caption	Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
Director	Joe Dante
Producer	Steven Spielberg (exec.)Michael Finnell
Writer	Chris Columbus
Starring	Hoyt AxtonZach GalliganPhoebe CatesFrances Lee McCainCorey Feldman
Music	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	John Hora
Editing	Tina Hirsch
Studio	Amblin Entertainment
Distributor	Warner Bros.
Released	August 30, 1985 (re-release)
Runtime	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11 million
Gross	$153,083,102
Followed by

Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature called a mogwai as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel, , released in 1990. In contrast to the lighter sequel, the original Gremlins opts for more black comedy, which is balanced against a Christmas-time setting. Both films were the center of large merchandising campaigns.

Steven Spielberg was the film's executive producer, and the screenplay written by Chris Columbus. The film stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the mogwai. Gremlins was a commercial success and received positive reviews from critics. However, the film was also heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences. In response to this, and to similar complaints about other films, Steven Spielberg suggested that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) reform its rating system, which it did within two months of the film's release. This was the PG-13 rating which was also caused by the complaints of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Plot

Randall "Rand" Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is an inventor who is struggling to market his unusual and problem-plagued home appliances, including the handheld "Bathroom Buddy". While searching for a Christmas present for his teenage son Billy (Zach Galligan) in an old antique store in Chinatown, Randy comes across a small furry creature called a Mogwai which he tries to buy for his son. The owner of the store, Mr. Wing (Keye Luke) (referred to as just "Grandfather" in this film, although his name is revealed in the second film), refuses to sell the Mogwai to Rand on the grounds that owning the Mogwai is too great a responsibility. As Rand is leaving the store, Mr. Wing's grandson (John Louie) tells Rand to meet him outside, where he sells Rand the creature because Mr. Wing was in need of money. The grandson reminds Rand to follow three important instructions: never expose the Mogwai to bright lights (especially sunlight, which will kill it), don't get it wet, and never feed it after midnight. Rand takes the Mogwai -- giving it the name "Gizmo" -- to his family home in the town of Kingston Falls.

The next afternoon back at home, Billy is late for work as a teller at the local bank, as his car won't start. As a result, he and his dog Barney run to work. Right as Billy gets situated at his teller window and hides Barney under the counter, the coldhearted local realtor Mrs. Deagle (Polly Holliday), who is in the midst of taking people's leases away (including the local tavern's), comes in to chew him out for Barney destroying her snowman, and because of this, she wants to kill the dog slowly. When Barney hears Mrs. Deagle talking about killing him herself, he jumps out from under the counter to give her a panic attack, almost getting Billy fired. Later that evening, Rand finally comes home, and introduces Billy to Gizmo.

Billy and Gizmo quickly bond. After a glass of water is accidentally spilled on Gizmo, five more Mogwai spawn from Gizmo's back. The five creatures seem much more mischievous than Gizmo. The asexual reproduction seems to take a lot of energy out of Gizmo, as well as make him sick, but Billy, excited by the chance to sell the new Mogwai, doesn't notice. One of the creatures, who is named Stripe due to his white quiff of hair, seems quite menacing and acts as the leader to the other Mogwai. Billy takes Gizmo to his science teacher, Mr. Hanson, and shows his teacher how a drop of water causes a new Mogwai to be spawned. After Billy takes Gizmo home, Mr. Hanson keeps the sixth Mogwai in the school science lab, where he conducts tests on the creature. Back at Billy's house, the increasingly evil-seeming Mogwai sever the wires on the clock, thus tricking Billy into feeding them after midnight. After feeding, they become encased in cocoons. At the school, the sixth Mogwai eats some food left by Mr. Hanson early in the morning, and it too becomes encased in a cocoon.

Later, while Billy is out, the Mogwai hatch from their cocoons, and they are now reptilian-like creatures with sharp teeth and claws, aptly named "Gremlins" by Billy. While not exactly evil, the Gremlins are menacing and destructive in their quest to have fun. After the Gremlins attack Mrs. Peltzer, she kills three of them (blowing one up in a microwave, grinding another in a smoothie machine, and stabbing the third to death with a kitchen knife) and the fourth is decapitated by Billy. The fifth Gremlin, Stripe, escapes through a window of the Peltzer house. Stripe escapes to a nearby swimming pool at the local YMCA and jumps into the water spawning a huge number of Gremlins, who go on a rampage across the town, with numerous casualties. Among them are Mr. and Mrs. Futterman, the local policemen, and Mrs. Deagle who is launched out of a window on a malfunctioning stair lift. Billy and Gizmo rescue Billy's girlfriend Kate Beringer (Phoebe Cates) when the Gremlins overrun the town's tavern.

The three of them escape to the bank, which has already been attacked. Inside the bank, Kate laments on how Christmas has been ruined again (her father previously dying while attempting to come down a chimney dressed as Santa Claus). The Gremlins' rampage falls silent when they head to the cinema to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, even singing along with the Dwarfs. Billy, Kate and Gizmo sneak backstage and ignite the gasworks to destroy the cinema, killing all of the Gremlins.

Stripe, having left the cinema to look for food, survives and is chased by Billy into the local Montgomery Ward department store until he confronts him in a conservatory. Stripe leaps into a water fountain and begins spawning, until Gizmo opens a blind, dazzling Stripe with sunlight, causing him to rot away and die. Billy, Kate and Rand (who has been at an inventor's convention) witness his passing. Later, as the Peltzer family recuperate from the rampage, Mr. Wing arrives to collect Gizmo, proclaiming that the western world is not ready for Mogwai. As a form of apology, Rand gives Mr. Wing a unique ash tray, and Mr. Wing leaves with Gizmo. Before he leaves, Gizmo says goodbye to Billy and Mr. Wing says that perhaps someday Billy might be ready for the responsibility of having Gizmo and until that day, Gizmo will be waiting. Rand ends the film warning viewers that if their electrical systems break, then there "just might be a Gremlin in your house".

Cast

Zach Galligan as Billy Peltzer

Phoebe Cates as Kate Beringer

Hoyt Axton as Rand Peltzer

Frances Lee McCain as Lynn Peltzer

Corey Feldman as Pete Fountaine

Keye Luke as Mr. Wing

John Louie as Mr. Wing's grandson

Dick Miller as Murray Futterman

Jackie Joseph as Sheila Futterman

Polly Holiday as Mrs. Deagle

Judge Reinhold as Gerald Hopkins

Chuck Jones as Mr. Jones

Robby the Robot - Himself (uncredited)

Voices

Howie Mandel - Gizmo (voice)

Frank Welker - Stripe (voice)

Marvin Miller - Robby the Robot (voice, uncredited)

Gremlin Vocal Effects provided by Bob Bergen, Peter Cullen, Mark Dodson, Bob Holt, Fred Newman, Michael Sheehan, Frank Welker, and Michael Winslow

Cameos

Steven Spielberg - Man in Electric Wheelchair

Tom Bergeron - TV News Reporter

Jerry Goldsmith - Man in Phone Booth

William Schallert - Father Bartlett

Production

Background

Gremlins was produced at a time when combining horror and comedy was becoming increasingly popular. Ghostbusters, released the same weekend as Gremlins, and the comic strip The Far Side also followed this trend. According to Professor Noël Carroll, the new genre emphasized sudden shifts between humorous and horrific scenes, and/or drawing laughs with plot elements that have been traditionally used to scare. The theme was also drawn from older films and television programs, such as the film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) and the 1960s TV series, The Addams Family and The Munsters.

The notion of gremlins was first conceived during World War II, when mechanical failures in aircraft were jokingly blamed on the small monsters. The term "gremlins" also entered popular culture as children's author Roald Dahl published a book called The Gremlins in 1943, based on the mischievous creatures. Joe Dante had read The Gremlins, and claimed that the book was of some influence to his film. In 1983, Dante publicly distanced his work from earlier films, explaining, "Our gremlins are somewhat different - they're sort of green and they have big mouths and they smile a lot and they do incredibly, really nasty things to people and enjoy it all the while".

Initial stages

The story of Gremlins was conceived by Chris Columbus. As Columbus explained, his inspiration came from his loft, when at night "what sounded like a platoon of mice would come out and to hear them skittering around in the blackness was really creepy". He then wrote the original screenplay as a "writing sample" to show potential employers that he had writing abilities. The story was not actually intended to be filmed until Steven Spielberg took an interest in turning it into a film. in which Kate reveals in a speech that her father died at Christmas when he dressed as Santa Claus and broke his neck while climbing down the family's chimney. After the film was completed, the speech proved to be controversial, and studio executives insisted upon its removal, because they felt it was too ambiguous as to whether it was supposed to be funny or sad. Dante stubbornly refused to take the scene out, saying it represented the film as a whole, which had a combination of horrific and comedic elements. Spielberg did not like the scene but, despite his creative control, he viewed Gremlins as Dante's project and allowed him to leave it in. Conversely, Leonard Maltin disapproved of the film, and his view was made clear in remarks he made on the television show Entertainment Tonight. He called the film "icky" and "gross". He later wrote that despite being set in a "picture-postcard town" and blending the feel of It's a Wonderful Life (a clip of which appears in Gremlins) with that of The Blob, the film is "negated by too-vivid violence and mayhem"; giving the film two out of four stars. Maltin actually made a tongue-in-cheek appearance in Gremlins 2, repeating his criticisms of the original on film, as an in-joke, before being throttled by the creatures; he later gave the second film a more positive rating, three out of four stars.

While some critics criticized the film's depictions of violence and greed - such as death scenes, Kate's speech, and the gremlins' gluttony - for lacking comic value, scholar Charlotte Miller instead interpreted these as a satire of "some characteristics of Western civilization", suggesting that Westerners may take too much satisfaction from violence. Gremlins can also be interpreted as a statement against technology, in that some characters, such as Billy's father, are overly dependent on it. In contrast, Mr. Wing is shown to have a strong distaste for television. Kirkpatrick Sale also interpreted Gremlins as an anti-technology film in his book Rebels Against the Future. Another scholar suggested that the film is meant to express a number of observations of society by having the gremlin characters shift in what they are meant to represent. At different times, they are depicted as teenagers, the wealthy establishment, or fans of Disney films.

Another scholar drew a connection between the microwave scene and urban legends about pets dying in microwave ovens. He described the portrayal of this urban legend in the film as successful, but that meant it seemed terrible. This is indeed a scene that is thought of as being one of the film's most violent depictions; with even Roger Ebert expressing some fear in his review that the film might encourage children to try similar things with their pets. In 2002, another critic wrote that in hindsight, Gremlins has "corny special effects" and that the film will tend to appeal to children more so than to adults; he also said the acting was dull.

Despite the initial mixed criticism, Gremlins has continued to receive critical praise over the years. It currently holds a 78% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984.

Box office

Financially, Gremlins was a commercial success. It was produced on a budget of $11,000,000, making it more expensive than Spielberg had originally intended, but still relatively cheap for its time. In contrast to this, other advertisements concentrated on Gizmo, overlooked the gremlins and made the film look similar to Spielberg's earlier family film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

Gremlins was released into US theatres on June 8, 1984, the same day as Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters. Gremlins ranked second, with $12.5 million in its first weekend, $1.1 million less than Ghostbusters. By the end of its American screenings on November 29, it had grossed $148,168,459 domestically. This made it the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, behind Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In August 1984, it opened in Argentina and Spain, and in October it premiered in West Germany. Screenings began in Mexico, Australia and much of the rest of Europe in December. As Gremlins had an international audience, different versions of the film were made to overcome cultural barriers. Mandel learned to speak his few intelligible lines, such as "Bright light!", in various languages, including German. Regional music and humor were also incorporated into foreign language versions. Dante credited this work as being one of the factors which helped to make Gremlins a worldwide success. The film was released on DVD in 1997, and again in 1999. On August 20, 2002, a "special edition" DVD was released, which featured cast and filmmakers' commentary and deleted scenes. A Blu-ray edition was released on December 1, 2009.

Allegations of racism

Since its release, some people have criticized Gremlins as being culturally insensitive. Some observers have commented that the film presents gremlins as African Americans,

Merchandising

With its commercial themes, particularly the perceived cuteness of the character Gizmo, Gremlins became the center of considerable merchandising. Due to this, it became part of a rising trend in film, which had received a boost from Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. A product placement deal with fast food chain Hardee's also led to a series of five book-and-cassette/45 records adaptations of the film's story.

The film was also the basis for a novel of the same name by George Gipe, published by Avon Books in June 1984. The novel offered an origin for mogwai and gremlins as a prologue. Supposedly, mogwai were created as gentle, contemplative creatures by a scientist on an alien world. However, it was discovered that their physiology was unstable, and under "certain circumstances", alluding to the three rules that were given in the film, mogwai would change into creatures that the novel referred to as "mischievous". This origin is unique to the novel but is referred to in the novelization of Gremlins 2 by David Bischoff. No definitive origin for mogwai or gremlins is given in either Gremlins film.

Several video games based on the film have also been produced. At the time of the film's release, an interactive fiction game based on scenes from the film titled Gremlins — The Adventure (1985) was released for various home computers, including the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro, the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. The game was written by Brian Howarth for Adventure Soft and was text based, with full colour illustrations on some formats. In addition, the game Gremlins was released for the Atari 2600, while a far superior version appeared on the Atari 5200. In the 2000s, more games were released; Gremlins: Unleashed! was released on Game Boy in 2001. The game was about Gizmo trying to catch Stripe and thirty other gremlins, while the gremlins also try to turn Gizmo into a gremlin. Both Gizmo and Stripe are playable characters in the game. Gremlins: Stripe Versus Gizmo, with both Gizmo and Stripe as playable characters, was released in 2002.

In addition to this, Gremlins brand breakfast cereal was produced by Ralston for a few years concurrent to and after the first film was released in 1984. The front of the cereal box featured Gizmo, and inside were decals of the malevolent gremlins, including Stripe.

Legacy

Along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, also rated PG, Gremlins was one of two films in 1984 to influence the MPAA to create the PG-13 rating, with Red Dawn being the first film given the new rating in August 1984. but it is believed to have been the inspiration for, or at least similar to, several later unrelated films about small monsters. These include Critters, Ghoulies, Hobgoblins, Beasties, Kamillions, Spookies, and Munchies. Many of these films were not critical successes, and Hobgoblins was lampooned on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Both Critters and Ghoulies actually began development before Gremlins. The anime Pet Shop of Horrors has also been compared to Gremlins. The tongue-in-cheek Christmas-themed horror film parodies Gremlins.

There were rumors that the talking doll Furby was so similar to the character Gizmo that Warner Bros. was considering a lawsuit in 1998, but Warner representatives replied that this was not true. (A Gizmo version of Furby was later produced.) In music, the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai are named after the film's creatures, although the guitarist of the band, Stuart Braithwaite, comments that "it has no significant meaning and we always intended on getting a better one, but like a lot of other things we never got round to it". In a recent poll, The Nostalgia Critic placed Gremlins as number 7 on his list of the Top 11 Next Best Christmas Specials.

References

External links

Gremlins Online! - Regularly updated fan site

Gremlins Wiki

Gremlins in the Mix - Article on Gremlins and genre-blending

April 27, 1982, Second Draft screenplay by Christopher Columbus

Category:1980s comedy films Category:1980s horror films Category:1984 films Category:Amblin Entertainment films Category:American black comedy films Category:American comedy horror films Category:Black comedy Category:Christmas films Category:Films based on urban legends Category:Films directed by Joe Dante Category:Films featuring puppetry Category:Films produced by Steven Spielberg Category:Monster movies Category:Warner Bros. films

Coordinates	52°55′7″N22°5′7″N
Name	Hulk Hogan
Names	The Super Destroyer
Height	Hollywood, California (as Hollywood Hogan)
Resides	Tampa, Florida (born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

He also spoke extensively on his payment, and his concerns of not being a top priority to Vince McMahon, despite the fact that he felt he was the company's biggest draw:

Hogan's last WWE appearance to date occurred on December 10, 2007 on the WWE Raw 15th anniversary. He saved Hornswoggle from being attacked by The Great Khali.

Memphis Wrestling and PMG Clash of Legends (2007)

After a brief fall out with McMahon and WWE, Hogan was lured to Memphis Wrestling with the proposal of wrestling Jerry "The King" Lawler. The match had been promoted on Memphis Wrestling Prime Time for several months. On April 12, 2007, however, Lawler announced in a news conference that WWE had barred him from wrestling Hogan on the basis that NBC performers (including Lawler, on the basis of co-hosting the NBC-owned USA Network's WWE Raw and his appearances on the biannual WWE Saturday Night's Main Event) are contractually prohibited from appearing on VH1, the channel on which Hogan Knows Best airs. Lawler was replaced with Paul Wight.

in 2009.]] On November 21, 24, 26, and 28, Hogan performed with a group of wrestlers across Australia in a tour titled Hulkamania: Let the Battle Begin. The main event was a rematch between Hogan and Ric Flair. Hogan defeated Flair in all four matches. It was the first time Hogan had performed in Australia.

On December 5, 2009, Hogan announced on UFC's The Ultimate Fighter that he would be making his official TNA debut on January 4, 2010, in a special live three hour Monday night edition of TNA Impact!. Carter revealed Hogan's role in the company in an interview with The UK Sun stating when his job came to question, "he is involved with everything from looking at the talent to how we shoot the show". On the January 4, 2010 Impact!, Hogan debuted after a motorcade arrival reuniting briefly with former nWo partners Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman, the latter two of whom made their returns to the company. He, however, rejected to join their renewed pairing stating, "it's a different time" before Bischoff appeared to clarify he and Hogan would "flip the company upside down" and everyone would have to earn their spot. Hogan developed a feud with TNA Founder, Jeff Jarrett during Jarrett's triumphant speech of the company's success, confronting him and noting that Carter saved the company he almost made collapse and claimed Jarrett had to (kayfabe) earn his spot in TNA like the rest. At TNA Genesis on January 17, Hogan and Bischoff revealed a newly renovated TNA Impact! Zone and opposed the use of the 6 sided ring for the traditional squared circle. On the February 18 edition of Impact! Hogan took Abyss under his wing, gave him his Hall of Fame ring and said that it would make him a god of wrestling. The following week Hogan announced that he would be making his in-ring TNA debut on the March 8 Monday night edition of Impact! in a tag team match, where he and Abyss face A.J. Styles and Ric Flair. On the March 8 Monday night edition of Impact! Hogan and Abyss defeated Styles and Flair, when Abyss pinned Styles. Afterwards, the returning Jeff Hardy saved Hogan and Abyss from a beatdown at the hands of Styles, Flair and Desmond Wolfe. On the June 17 edition of Impact! Hogan's alliance with Abyss came to an abrupt end, when Abyss turned heel. Abyss later claimed that he was controlled by some entity, that was coming to TNA. The next months Hogan worked with Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe against Sting and Kevin Nash, who claimed that they knew that Hogan and Bischoff were up to something. During this time Abyss went on a rampage, attacking Rob Van Dam to the point that he was forced to vacate the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and eventually put his hands on TNA president Dixie Carter, which led to her signing the paperwork, presented by Bischoff, that would have Abyss fired from TNA following his match with Van Dam at Bound for Glory. Hogan was set to wrestle with Jarrett and Joe against Sting, Nash and D'Angelo Dinero at Bound for Glory, but was forced to miss the event due to a back surgery. However, he would make a surprise appearance at the end of the event, turning heel, helping Jeff Hardy win the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship and aligning himself with Hardy, Bischoff, Abyss and Jarrett. On the following edition of Impact! it was revealed that Bischoff had tricked Carter and the paperwork she had signed a week earlier, were not to release Abyss, but to turn the company over to him and Hogan. Meanwhile, Bischoff's and Hogan's new stable, now known as Immortal, formed an alliance with Ric Flair's Fortune. Dixie Carter returned on the November 25 edition of Reaction, informing Hogan and Bischoff that a judge had filed an injunction against the two on her behalf over not having signatory authority, indefinitely suspending Hogan from TNA. During his time away from TNA, Bollea underwent a potentially career–ending spinal fusion surgery on December 21, 2010.

Other media

Television and movie roles

at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park]] Hulk Hogan's crossover popularity led to several television and movie roles. Early in his career Bollea played the part of Thunderlips in Rocky III (1982). He also appeared in No Holds Barred (1989), before starring in the family films Suburban Commando (1991), Mr. Nanny (1993), Santa with Muscles (1996), and (1998). He starred in his own television series, Thunder in Paradise, in 1994. He is the star of The Ultimate Weapon (1997), in which Brutus Beefcake also appears in a cameo.

Bollea also starred in a pair of television movies, originally intended as a pilot for an ongoing series for TNT, produced by Eric Bischoff. The movies, Shadow Warriors: Assault on Devil's Island and Shadow Warriors: Hunt for The Death Merchant, starred Hogan alongside Carl Weathers and Shannon Tweed as a freelance mercenary team. In 1995, he appeared on TBN's Kids Against Crime.

Bollea made cameo appearances in Muppets from Space, (the theatrical cut) and Spy Hard as himself. Hogan was offered the role of Zeus in Little Hercules in 3D on an episode of Hogan Knows Best and was shown during the filming of the movie. He also had a cameo at the end of the movie Little Monsters. Hogan also made two appearances on The A-Team (in 1985 and 1986), and along with Roddy Piper, Hogan lent his voice for a few episodes of the stop-motion animation skit show, Robot Chicken. He guest-starred in a two-part episode of Suddenly Susan in 1999. In 2001, Hogan guest-starred on an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger, playing a reformed criminal now operating a Christian Community Center and helping Walker steer teenagers away from gangs.

Bollea hosted the comeback series of American Gladiators on NBC in 2008. He also hosted and judged the short-lived reality show, Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. Hogan will have a special entitled Finding Hulk Hogan on A&E; on November 17, 2010.

Hogan Knows Best

On July 10, 2005, VH1 premiered a new reality show titled Hogan Knows Best which centers around Hulk Hogan, his then-wife Linda, and their children Brooke and Nick. Set in their home in Clearwater, Florida, the show follows the family in their efforts to fulfill the dreams of their children while still maintaining their sense of closeness. At the show's onset, 16-year-old Brooke is trying to break into the music industry while younger brother Nick (age 14) goes through a series of career aspirations including becoming a professional race car driver and following in his dad's footsteps as a pro wrestler.

As of July 2008, Hogan Knows Best transferred its focus into a new show called Brooke Knows Best which focuses on his daughter's move into a new apartment to continue her pursuit of a music career.

Music and radio

Bollea released a music CD, Hulk Rules, as Hulk Hogan and The Wrestling Boot Band. Also, Green Jellÿ released a single, a duet with Hogan, performing Gary Glitter's classic song "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)". He has also made cameos in several music videos. From her self-named show, Dolly the music video for Dolly Parton's wrestling-themed love song "Headlock on my Heart" features Hogan as "Starlight Starbright". On the show, Parton mentioned that the tabloid Weekly World News had "reported" that she had written a song about her love for a wrestler, and said "if you read in the Weekly World News, it must be true!" In the music video "Pressure" by Belly ft. Ginuwine, Bollea and his daughter Brooke both made brief cameo appearances.

Bollea is a regular guest on Bubba the Love Sponge's radio show. He also served as the best man at Bubba's January 2007 wedding. On Monday March 12, 2010, Bollea hosted his own radio show, titled Hogan Uncensored, on Sirius Satellite Radio's Howard 101.

Endorsements and business ventures

Food industry

Hulk Hogan's Pastamania was a restaurant in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. It was created and financed by Hogan. It opened on the Labor Day weekend of 1995 and was later heavily hyped on World Championship Wrestling's live flagship show WCW Monday Nitro, which actually premiered that September from the mall. The restaurant, which remained in operation for less than a year, featured such dishes as "Hulk-U's" and "Hulk-A-Roos."

In an interview on both the Tonight Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Bollea claimed that the George Foreman Grill was originally offered to him, but he failed to respond in time. George Foreman was called and he chose to endorse the grill instead of a blender which became the Hulk Hogan Thunder Mixer. This claim was validated on an episode of Hogan Knows Best, in which his wife Linda and the family are worried about Hogan's wrestling career and plead with him to take up a career in marketing. Hulk explains about turning down the Foreman grill, and his choice to invest in the shake-mixer instead, saying that whenever he thinks about investing in something "big," he thinks about what happened with the grill and the shake-mixer. However, he has since endorsed a similar product known as "The Hulk Hogan Ultimate Grill."

In 2006, Bollea unveiled his own energy drink, Hogan Energy, distributed by Socko Energy. It was featured in an episode of Hogan Knows Best. His name and likeness are also applied to a line of microwavable hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and chicken sandwiches sold at Wal-Mart called "Hulkster Burgers".

In September 2008, Bollea's net worth was revealed to be over $30 million.

Other

During an interview with The Sun, Bollea claimed to be planning his own federation to compete against Vince McMahon. Bollea says he has raised $40 million of the $80–$100 million goal and his venture is something that will eventually revolutionize the sport of professional wrestling.

In April 2008, Bollea announced that he would be lending his license to video game developer Gameloft to create "Hulkamania Wrestling" for mobile phones. Hogan stated in a press release that the game would be "true to [his] experiences in wrestling" and use his classic wrestling moves like the Doublehand Choke Lift and Strong Clothesline.

Personal life

On December 18, 1983, Bollea married Linda Claridge (born August 24, 1959). They have a daughter Brooke (born May 5, 1988) and a son Nick (born July 27, 1990). Bollea made his personal life the centerpiece of the television show Hogan Knows Best, which includes his wife and two children.

Bollea's 17 year old son Nick was indicted as an adult on November 7, 2007 on four criminal charges. The charges stemmed from an August car accident which seriously injured the passenger in Nick's car, John Graziano. Nick pleaded no contest and was sentenced to eight months in jail on May 9, 2008.

According to an interview in The National Enquirer, Christiane Plante revealed that she had an affair with Hogan in 2007 while the Hogan family was shooting Hogan Knows Best. Plante was 33 years old at the time and had worked with Brooke Hogan on her 2006 album. On November 20, 2007, Linda filed for divorce in Pinellas County, Florida. Hulk told St. Petersburg Times that he was unaware of the filing when the paper called for a comment. The Graziano family's lawyer believed the divorce might have been an attempt to divide the family's assets from a planned civil suit against the Bolleas regarding their son, Nick. After filing for divorce, Linda (48 at the time) began dating Charlie Hill (19 at the time). Hill was a student at Brooke and Nick's high school, one grade above Nick and one grade below Brooke. In November 2008, Linda revealed to the public that she made the decision to end her marriage after finding out about Hulk Hogan's affair.

Bollea was honored as the 2008 King of the Krewe of Bacchus, a New Orleans carnival organization. Hogan visited the Children's Hospital of New Orleans and rode in the parade where he threw doubloons with his likeness. Hogan received the honor in part because meeting Hogan is one of the most requested "wishes" of the terminally ill children benefited by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Bollea has suffered numerous health problems, particularly with his back since retiring as a wrestler following the years of heavy weight training and jolting as a wrestler.

On October 27, 2009, St. Martin's Press released Hulk Hogan's autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring. The wrestler has continued to stay in the news, due to his revelation that he considered suicide in 2007, shortly after his wife filed for divorce.

Bollea has been in a relationship with Jennifer McDaniel since early 2008. The two were engaged in November 2009 and married on December 14, 2010, in Clearwater, Florida.

Filmography

In wrestling

at WrestleMania XIX]]

Finishing moves

Axe Bomber – Japan

Running leg drop

* Belly to back suplex

Big boot

* "Luscious" Johnny Valiant

Nicknames

"The Hulkster"

* MSG Tag League Tournament (1982, 1983) – with Antonio Inoki

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum

*Class of 2003

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

* PWI Comeback of the Year (1994, 2002)

* PWI Feud of the Year (1986) vs. Paul Orndorff

* PWI Match of the Year (1985) with Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff at WrestleMania

* PWI Match of the Year (1988) vs. André the Giant at The Main Event

* PWI Match of the Year (1990) vs. The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI

* PWI Match of the Year (2002) vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X8

* PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1996, 1998)

PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1983, 1999)

* PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1985, 1989, 1990)

* PWI Wrestler of the Year (1987, 1991, 1994)

PWI ranked him #1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991

PWI ranked him #1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

PWI ranked him #57 of the Top 100 Tag Teams of the "PWI Years" with Randy Savage in 2003

Southeastern Championship Wrestling

NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (1 time)

Most Outstanding Forienger (1983)

World Championship Wrestling

WCW World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Edge

WWF/E Championship (6 times)

Royal Rumble (1990, 1991)

WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)

References

Notes

External links

HulkHogan.com (Official Website)

Professional wrestling record for Hulk Hogan from The Internet Wrestling Database

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Profile

WWE Hall of Fame Profile

TNA Profile

Official Twitter

Category:1953 births Category:American film actors Category:American professional wrestlers Category:American professional wrestlers of Italian descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Augusta, Georgia Category:People from Miami, Florida Category:People from Tampa, Florida Category:Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Category:WWE Hall of Fame Category:Actors from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Actors from Florida Category:Living people

Coordinates	52°55′7″N22°5′7″N
Name	Bugs Bunny
Caption	Bugs Bunny as seen today
First	Prototype: Porky's Hare Hunt Official: A Wild Hare
Creator	Ben Hardaway (prototype),Tex Avery (official character and early visual design),Bob Clampett (final visual design)
Voice	Mel Blanc (1940–1989),others (see below)

Bugs Bunny is an American fictional character who starred in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1944. Bugs starred in 163 shorts in the Golden Age of American animation, and made cameos in three others along with a few appearances in non-animated films.

According to Bugs Bunny: 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare, he was born in 1940 in Brooklyn, New York in a warren under Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was actually created by many animators and staff, including Tex Avery, who directed A Wild Hare, Bugs Bunny's debut, and Robert McKimson, who created the definitive Bugs Bunny character design. According to Mel Blanc, the character's original voice actor, Bugs Bunny has a Flatbush accent. His catchphrase is a casual "Eh...what's up, doc?", usually said while chewing a carrot. Other popular phrases include "Of course you realize, this means war", "Ain't I a stinker?", "What a maroon!" (a twist on "moron"), "What a !", and "I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque." He is the most prominent of the Looney Tunes characters as his calm, flippant endeared him to American audiences during and after World War II. He is a mascot of the Looney Tunes series, and Warner Brothers in general.

History

The unnamed, prototype Warner Bros. rabbit

An unnamed rabbit with some of the personality of Bugs, though looking very different, first appears in the cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt, released on April 30, 1938. Co-directed by Ben Hardaway and an uncredited Cal Dalton (who was responsible for the initial design of the rabbit), this short has an almost identical plot to Tex Avery's 1937 cartoon Porky's Duck Hunt, which had introduced Daffy Duck. Porky Pig is again cast as a hunter tracking a silly prey less interested in escape than in driving his pursuer insane. The latter short replaces the little black duck with a small white rabbit. The rabbit introduces himself with the odd expression "Jiggers, fellers", and Mel Blanc gave the rabbit a voice and laugh almost like that he would later use for Woody Woodpecker. This cartoon also first uses the famous Groucho Marx line, "Of course you realize, this means war!" This rabbit was so popular with its audience that the Schlesinger staff decided to use it again.

The rabbit appears again in 1939's Prest-O Change-O, directed by Chuck Jones, where he is the pet rabbit of unseen character Sham-Fu the Magician. Two dogs, fleeing the local dogcatcher, enter his absent master's house. The rabbit harasses them, but is ultimately bested by the bigger of the two dogs.

His third appearance is in another 1939 cartoon, Hare-um Scare-um, directed by Dalton and Hardaway. This short, the first where he is depicted as a gray bunny instead of a white one, is also notable for the rabbit's first singing role. Charlie Thorson, lead animator on the short, gave the character a name. He had written "Bugs' Bunny" on the model sheet that he drew for Hardaway, implying that he considered the rabbit model sheet to be Hardaway's property. In promotional material for the short, including a surviving 1939 presskit, the name on the model sheet was altered to become the rabbit's own name: "Bugs" Bunny (quotation marks only used at the very beginning). In his later years, Mel Blanc stated that a proposed name was "Happy Rabbit".

In Chuck Jones' Elmer's Candid Camera the rabbit first meets Elmer Fudd. This rabbit looks more like the present-day Bugs, taller and with a similar face. This rabbit, however, speaks with a rural drawl. The early version of Elmer is also different from the present-day one, much fatter and taller, although Arthur Q. Bryan's voice is the same as it would be later. In Robert Clampett's 1940 Patient Porky, a similar rabbit appears to trick the audience into thinking that 750 rabbits have been born.

Bugs Bunny emerges

A Wild Hare, directed by Tex Avery and released on July 27, 1940, is the first cartoon where both Elmer Fudd and Bugs are shown in their fully developed forms as hunter and tormentor. In this cartoon Mel Blanc first uses what would become the standard voice of Bugs. And Bugs first emerges from his rabbit hole to ask Elmer, "What's up, Doc?" Animation historian Joe Adamson counts A Wild Hare as the first "official" Bugs Bunny short.

Bugs's second appearance in Jones's Elmer's Pet Rabbit introduces the audience to the name Bugs Bunny, which until then had only been used among the Termite Terrace employees. It was also the first short where he received billing under his now-famous name, but the card, "featuring Bugs Bunny", was just slapped on the end of the completed short's opening titles when A Wild Hare proved an unexpected success. The rabbit here is in look and voice identical to the one in Jones' earlier Elmer's Candid Camera.

Bugs in his Wild Hare likeness appeared in five more shorts during 1941. Tortoise Beats Hare, directed by Tex Avery, features the first appearance of Cecil Turtle; Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt, is the first Bugs Bunny short directed by Friz Freleng; All This and Rabbit Stew, directed by Avery, has Bugs tracked by a little African-American hunter (based heavily on racial stereotypes); The Heckling Hare was the final Bugs short Avery worked on before being fired (Avery and producer Schlesinger vehemently disagreed over the ending gag of The Heckling Hare, and Avery refused to compromise his creative principles) and leaving for MGM; and Wabbit Twouble, the first Bugs short directed by Robert Clampett. Wabbit Twouble was also the first of five Bugs shorts to feature a chubbier remodel of Elmer Fudd, a short-lived attempt to have Fudd more closely resemble his voice actor, comedian Arthur Q. Bryan.

World War II

By 1942, Bugs had become the number one star of Merrie Melodies. The series had originally been intended only for one-shot characters in shorts after several early attempts to introduce characters (Foxy, Goopy Geer and Piggy) failed under Harman–Ising. (In 1937, under Schlesinger, it had started introducing newer characters.) Bugs' 1942 shorts included Friz Freleng's The Wabbit Who Came to Supper, and the Robert Clampett shorts The Wacky Wabbit and Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid (which introduced Beaky Buzzard). Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid shows a slight redesign of Bugs, with less-prominent front teeth and a rounder head. The character was reworked by Robert McKimson, then an animator in Robert Clampett's unit. The redesign at first was only used in the shorts created by Clampett's unit, but in time it would be taken up by the other directors, with Freleng and Frank Tashlin the first. When McKimson was himself promoted to director, he created yet another version, with more slanted eyes, longer teeth and a much larger mouth. He used this version until 1949 (as did Art Davis for the one Bugs Bunny cartoon he directed) when he started using the version he had designed for Clampett. Jones would come up with his own slight modification, and the voice had slight variations between the units.

Bugs became more popular during World War II because of his free and easy attitude, and 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. In company with cartoon studios such as Disney and Famous Studios, Warners put its characters against the period's biggest enemies, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and the Japanese. The 1944 short Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips features Bugs at odds with a group of Japanese soldiers. This cartoon has since been pulled from distribution due to its racial stereotypes. He also faces off against Herman Goering and Hitler in Herr Meets Hare, which introduced his well-known reference to Albuquerque as he mistakenly winds up in the Black Forest of 'Joimany' instead of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Since Bugs' debut in A Wild Hare, he had appeared only in color Merrie Melodie cartoons (making him one of the few recurring characters created for that series in the Leon Schlesinger era prior to the full conversion to color), alongside Elmer's prototype Egghead, Inki, Sniffles, and Elmer himself—who was heard but not seen in the 1942 Looney Tunes cartoon Nutty News, and made his first formal appearance in that series in 1943's To Duck or Not to Duck. While he made a cameo appearance in the 1943 Porky and Daffy cartoon Porky Pig's Feat this was his only appearance in a black-and-white Looney Tune cartoon. He did not star in a cartoon in the Looney Tunes series until that series made its complete conversion to only color cartoons beginning with 1944 releases. Buckaroo Bugs was Bugs' first cartoon in the Looney Tunes series, and was also the last WB cartoon to credit Leon Schlesinger.

Among his most notable civilian shorts during this period are Bob Clampett's Tortoise Wins by a Hare (a sequel to 1941's Tortoise Beats Hare); A Corny Concerto, a spoof of Disney's Fantasia'); Falling Hare; What's Cookin' Doc?; Chuck Jones's Superman parody Super-Rabbit'; and Freleng's Little Red Riding Rabbit. The 1944 short Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears introduces Jones' The Three Bears characters.

At the end of the cartoon Super-Rabbit, Bugs appears wearing a United States Marine Corps dress blue uniform. As a result, the Marine Corps made Bugs an honorary Marine Master Sergeant. From 1943 to 1946, Bugs was the official mascot of Kingman Army Air Field, 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.

In 1944, Bugs Bunny made a cameo appearance in Jasper Goes Hunting, a short produced by rival studio Paramount Pictures. In this cameo (animated by Robert McKimson, with Mel Blanc providing the voice), Bugs pops out of a rabbit hole, saying his usual catchphrase; Bugs then says, "I must be in the wrong picture" and then goes back in the hole.

A younger version of Bugs is the main character of Baby Looney Tunes, which debuted on Cartoon Network in 2002. In the action comedy Loonatics Unleashed, his definite descendant Ace Bunny is the leader of the Loonatics team and seems to have inherited his ancestor's Brooklyn accent and comic wit.

Bugs has appeared in numerous video games, including the Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle series, Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout, Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Rampage and the similar Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble, Looney Tunes B-Ball, Space Jam, Looney Tunes Racing, , Bugs Bunny Lost in Time, and its sequel, Bugs Bunny and Taz Time Busters, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action and the new video game . Bugs and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang will return to Cartoon Network in 2011 in a brand new show called The Looney Tunes Show, with Jeff Bergman returning to voice both Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

On August 13, 2010, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that they are planning a live-action/CG-animated combo feature film based on the Looney Tunes character.

Personality and catchphrases

Bugs has feuded with Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Willoughby the Dog, Marvin the Martian, Beaky Buzzard, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tasmanian Devil, Cecil Turtle, Charlie Dog, Witch Hazel, Rocky and Mugsy, Wile E. Coyote, the Crusher, Gremlin, Big Bad Wolf, Count Blood Count and a host of others. Bugs almost always wins these conflicts, a plot pattern which recurs in Looney Tunes films directed by Chuck Jones. Concerned that viewers would lose sympathy for an aggressive protagonist who always won, Jones arranged for Bugs to be bullied, cheated, or threatened by the antagonists while minding his own business. He's also been known to break the fourth wall by "communicating" with the audience, either by explaining the situation (ex. "Be with you in a minute, folks!"), describing someone to the audience (ex. "Feisty, ain't they?"), clueing in on the story (ex. "This happens to him all during the picture, folks."), etc.

Bugs will usually try to placate the antagonist and avoid conflict, but when an antagonist pushes him too far, Bugs may address the audience and invoke his catchphrase "Of course you realize this means war!" before he retaliates, and the retaliation will be devastating. This line was taken from Groucho Marx and others in the 1933 film Duck Soup and was also used in the 1935 Marx film A Night at the Opera. Bugs would pay homage to Groucho in other ways, such as occasionally adopting his stooped walk or leering eyebrow-raising (in Hair-Raising Hare, for example) or sometimes with a direct impersonation (as in Slick Hare).

Other directors, such as Friz Freleng, characterized Bugs as altruistic. When Bugs meets other successful characters (such as Cecil Turtle in Tortoise Beats Hare, or, in World War II, the Gremlin of Falling Hare), his overconfidence becomes a disadvantage.

During the 1940s, Bugs was immature and wild, but starting in the 1950s his personality matured and his attitude was less frenetic. Though often shown as highly mischievous and violent, Bugs is never actually malicious, and only acts as such in self-defense against his aggressors; the only cartoon where Bugs ever served as a true villain was Buckaroo Bugs.

Bugs Bunny's nonchalant carrot-chewing standing position, as explained by Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Bob Clampett, originated in a scene in the film It Happened One Night, in which Clark Gable's character leans against a fence, eating carrots rapidly and talking with his mouth full to Claudette Colbert's character. This scene was well known while the film was popular, and viewers at the time likely recognized Bugs Bunny's behavior as satire.

The carrot-chewing scenes are generally followed by Bugs Bunny's most well-known catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?", which was written by director Tex Avery for his first Bugs Bunny short, 1940's A Wild Hare. Avery explained later that it was a common expression in his native Texas and that he did not think much of the phrase. When the short was first screened in theaters, the "What's up, Doc?" scene generated a tremendously positive audience reaction. As a result, the scene became a recurring element in subsequent films and cartoons. The phrase was sometimes modified for a situation. For example, Bugs says "What's up, dogs?" to the antagonists in A Hare Grows in Manhattan, "What's up, Duke?" to the knight in Knight-mare Hare and "What's up, prune-face?" to the aged Elmer in The Old Grey Hare. He might also greet Daffy with "What's up, Duck?" He used one variation, "What's all the hub-bub, bub?" only once, in Falling Hare. Another variation is used in when he greets a lightsaber-wielding Marvin the Martian saying "What's up, Darth?"

Several Chuck Jones shorts in the late 1940s and 1950s depict Bugs travelling via cross-country (and, in some cases, intercontinental) tunnel-digging, ending up in places as varied as Mexico (Bully For Bugs, 1953), the Himalayas (The Abominable Snow Rabbit, 1960) and Antarctica (Frigid Hare, 1949) all because he "shoulda taken that left toin at Albukoikee." He first utters that phrase in Herr Meets Hare (1945), when he emerges in the Black Forest, a cartoon seldom seen today due to its blatantly topical subject matter. When Hermann Göring says to Bugs, "There is no Las Vegas in 'Chermany'" and takes a potshot at Bugs, Bugs dives into his hole and says, "Joimany! Yipe!", as Bugs realizes he's behind enemy lines. The confused response to his "left toin" comment also followed a pattern. For example, when he tunnels into Scotland in 1948's My Bunny Lies Over The Sea, while thinking he's heading for the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California, it provides another chance for an ethnic stereotype: "Therrre's no La Brrrea Tarrr Pits in Scotland!" (to which Bugs responds, "Uh...what's up, Mac-doc?"). A couple of late-1950s shorts of this ilk also featured Daffy Duck travelling with Bugs ("Since when is Pismo Beach inside a cave?!").

Bugs Bunny has some similarities to figures from mythology and folklore, such as Br'er Rabbit, Nanabozho, or Anansi, and might be seen as a modern trickster (for example, he repeatedly uses cross-dressing mischievously). Unlike most cartoon characters, however, Bugs Bunny is rarely defeated in his own games of trickery. One exception to this is the short Hare Brush, in which Elmer Fudd ultimately carries the day at the end; however, critics note that in this short, Elmer and Bugs assume each other's personalities—through mental illness and hypnosis, respectively—and it is only by becoming Bugs that Elmer can win. However, Bugs was beaten at his own game. In the short Duck Amuck he torments Daffy Duck as the unseen animator, ending with his line, "Ain't I a stinker?" Bugs feels the same wrath of an unseen animator in the short Rabbit Rampage where he is in turn tormented by Elmer Fudd. At the end of the clip Elmer gleefully exclaims, 'Well, I finally got even with that scwewy wabbit!"

Although it was usually Porky Pig who brought the WB cartoons to a close with his stuttering, "That's all, folks!", Bugs would occasionally appear, bursting through a drum just as Porky did, but munching a carrot and saying in his Bronx-Brooklyn accent, "And dat's de end!"

The name "Bugs" or "Bugsy" as an old-fashioned nickname means "crazy" (or "loopy"). Several famous people from the first half of the twentieth century had that nickname. It is now out of fashion as a nickname, but survives in 1950s-1960s expressions like "you're bugging me", as in "you're driving me crazy".

Bugs wears white gloves, which he is rarely seen without. One example is the episode Long-Haired Hare, where Bugs pretends to be the famed conductor Leopold Stokowski and instructs opera star "Giovanni Jones" to sing and to hold a high note. As Giovanni Jones is turning red with the strain, Bugs slips his left hand out of its glove, leaving the glove hovering in the air in order to command Jones to continue to hold the high note. Bugs then nips down to the mail drop to order, and then to receive, a pair of ear muffs. Bugs puts on the ear defenders and then zips back into the amphitheater and reinserts his hand into his glove as singer Jones is writhing on the stage, still holding that same high note.

Bugs Bunny is also a master of disguise: he can wear any disguise that he wants to confuse his enemies: in Bowery Bugs he uses diver disguises: fakir, gentleman, woman, baker and finally policeman. This ability of disguise makes Bugs famous because we can recognize him while at the same time realizing that his enemies are trapped. Bugs has a certain preference for the female disguise: Taz, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam were fooled by this sexy bunny (woman) and in Hare Trimmed, Sam discovers the real face of "Granny" (Bugs's disguise) in the church where they attempt to get married. for some reason, Daffy Duck and Cecil turtle aren't fooled by the disguises.

Bugs Bunny may also have some mystical potential. In Knight-mare Hare he was able to return to his bunny form (after being transformed into a donkey) by removing his donkey form as if it were a suit. Merlin of Monroe (the wizard) was unable to do the same thing. Later Bugs Bunny defeated the Count Blood Count in a magical spell duel. However, the story was a dream and Bugs Bunny's victory over Count Blood Count was a result of his intellect, not innate magical power.

Rabbit or hare?

The animators throughout Bugs' history have treated the terms rabbit and hare as synonymous. Taxonomically they are not synonymous, being somewhat similar but observably different types of lagomorphs. Hares have much longer ears than rabbits, so Bugs might seem to be of the hare family, yet rabbits live in burrows, like Bugs is seen to do. Many more of the cartoon titles include the word "hare" rather than "rabbit", as "hare" lends itself easily to puns ("hair", "air", etc.)

Within the cartoons, although the term "hare" comes up sometimes, again typically as a pun (for example, Bugs drinking "hare tonic" to "stop falling hare" or being doused with "hare restorer" to bring him back from invisibility), Bugs as well as his antagonists most often refer to the character as a "rabbit". The word "bunny" is of no help in answering this question, as it is a synonym for both young hares and young rabbits.

In Nike commercials with Michael Jordan, Bugs had been referred to as "Hare Jordan."

The opening and closing

In the opening of many of the Bugs Bunny cartoons, the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes rings contain Bugs Bunny's head after the Warner Bros. shield (generally from 1944 and 1949 onward). Others have Bugs Bunny relaxing on top of the Warner Bros. shield: He chews on his carrot, looks angrily at the camera and pulls down the next logo (Merrie Melodies or Looney Tunes) like a window shade (generally on cartoons between 1945 until early 1949). Then he lifts it back up, to now be seen lying on his own name, which then fades into the title of the specific short. In some other cases, the title card sometimes fades to him, already on his name and chewing his carrot then fade to the name of the short. At the finish of Hare Tonic and Baseball Bugs, Bugs breaks out of a drum (like Porky Pig) and says, "And that's the end". Also, at the end of Box Office Bunny, right after Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd run out through the Looney Tunes "That's All Folks!" sequence, Bugs later comes in through the rings and says, "And that's all, folks!". He did the ending for the last time at the end of Space Jam but this time saying "Well, that's all, folks!".

Voice actors

The following are the many voice actors who have voiced the character Bugs Bunny over the last seventy years:

;Mel Blanc :Mel Blanc voiced the character for 49 years, from Bugs' debut in A Wild Hare (1940) until Blanc's death in 1989. Blanc described the voice as a combination of Bronx and Brooklyn accents; however, Tex Avery claimed that he asked Blanc to give the character not a New York accent per se, but a voice like that of actor Frank McHugh, who frequently appeared in supporting roles in the 1930s and whose voice might be described as New York Irish. In Bugs' second cartoon Elmer's Pet Rabbit, Blanc created a completely new voice for Bugs, which sounded like a Jimmy Stewart impression, but the directors decided the previous voice was better. Though his best-known character was the carrot-chomping rabbit, munching on the carrots interrupted the dialogue. Various substitutes, such as celery, were tried, but none of them sounded like a carrot. So for the sake of expedience, he would munch and then spit the carrot bits into a spittoon rather than swallowing them, and continue with the dialogue. One oft-repeated story, possibly originating from , is that he was allergic to carrots and had to spit them out to minimize any allergic reaction — but his autobiography makes no such claim; in fact, in a 1984 interview with Tim Lawson, co-author of The Magic Behind The Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors (University Press of Mississippi, 2004), Blanc emphatically denied being allergic to carrots.

;Jeff Bergman :Jeff Bergman was the first to voice Bugs (and several other Looney Tunes characters) after Mel Blanc died in 1989. He got the job by impressing Warner Bros. higher-ups with a tape of himself re-creating the voices of several of Blanc's characters, including Bugs Bunny. He had rigged the tape player so that he could use a switch to instantly toggle back and forth between the original recording of Blanc and Bergman's recording of the same lines. Upon doing this, it was almost impossible for the producers to tell which voice was Blanc's and which voice was Bergman; thus his vocal ability was established and his career launched.

:Bergman first voiced Bugs during the 1990 Academy Awards and then in Box Office Bunny, a 4-minute Looney Tunes short released in 1990 to commemorate Bugs' fiftieth anniversary. Bergman would next voice Bugs Bunny in the 1991 short (Blooper) Bunny, a Greg Ford-directed cartoon also produced to coincide with Bugs Bunny's fiftieth anniversary. However, the short never received its intended theatrical release and was shelved for years, until Cartoon Network rediscovered it and broadcast it on their channel several years later. Other works for which Bergman provided Bugs' voice include Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers (an obvious parody of the 1950s sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Tiny Toon Adventures (a popular television program of the early nineties that featured the classic Looney Tunes characters as mentors to their younger counterparts) in the first season, and Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (a television special exposing children to dangers of illegal drugs). Bergman would continue to do the voice of Bugs Bunny until 1993. In 2010, for the first time in nearly a decade, Bergman will return to voice Bugs Bunny for Cartoon Network's upcoming series, The Looney Tunes Show.

;Greg Burson :Greg Burson first voiced Bugs in later episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures. He was then given the responsibility of voicing Bugs in 1995's Carrotblanca, a well-received 8-minute Looney Tunes cartoon originally shown in cinemas alongside The Amazing Panda Adventure (US) and The Pebble and the Penguin (non-US); it has since been released on video packaged with older Looney Tunes cartoons and was even included in the special edition DVD release of Casablanca, of which it is both a parody and an homage. Burson next voiced Bugs in the 1996 short From Hare to Eternity; the film is notable for being dedicated to the memory of the then-just deceased Friz Freleng, and for being the final Looney Tunes cartoon that Chuck Jones directed. Greg Burson also provided Bugs' voice in The Bugs and Daffy Show, which ran on Cartoon Network from 1996 to 2003. He died in 2008.

;Billy West :Billy West has been in television since the late 1980s. His first role was for the 1988 revived version of Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil. West's breakthrough role then came almost immediately, as the voice of Stimpy and later Ren in John Kricfalusi's Ren & Stimpy. West has since been the voice talent for close to 120 different characters, including some of the most iconic animated figures in television history. Perhaps West's most notable film work came in the 1996 movie Space Jam. Starring alongside Michael Jordan, West provided the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. West would go on to reprise the roles of Bugs in subsequent Looney Tunes productions, including his cameos on Histeria!, the Kids' WB! promotional spots, and the 2006 Christmas-themed special Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas and the DVD compilations "Reality Check" and "Stranger Than Fiction", along with several Looney Tunes-centric CDs, cartoons, and video games. Billy West is, along with fellow voice artist Joe Alaskey, credited as one of the current successors of Mel Blanc in impersonating the voice of Bugs Bunny.

;Joe Alaskey :Joe Alaskey, like Jeff Bergman, is well-known for his ability to successfully impersonate many Looney Tunes characters. In fact, Alaskey voiced Yosemite Sam in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as original voice actor Mel Blanc had found it too hard on his vocal cords. (This makes Sam one of the few voices created by Blanc to be voiced by someone else during his lifetime.) Joe Alaskey's first performance as Bugs Bunny came in the 2003 feature film Looney Tunes: Back in Action, although he had tested performing the role in a few earlier projects, such as Tweety's High-Flying Adventure. While still best known for providing the voice of Daffy Duck, Alaskey has also gone on to do Bugs' voice in several subsequent productions, including Daffy Duck for President (which was released on The and dedicated to then-just deceased Chuck Jones) and several recent video games and Looney Tunes cartoons, including Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas. Joe Alaskey is, along with fellow voice actor Billy West, credited as one of the current successors of Mel Blanc in impersonating the voice of Bugs Bunny.

;Jess Harnell :Jess Harnell served as the voice of Bugs in the Cartoon Network TV series Baby Looney Tunes.

;Noel Blanc :Noel Blanc, Mel Blanc's son, voiced Bugs for the Tiny Toons special It's a Wonderful Tiny Toon Christmas Special. The elder Blanc claimed in his later years that Noel substituted for Mel in various cartoon studios, including doing Bugs at Warner Bros., while he was recovering from a near-fatal car wreck. Noel can also be seen doing Bugs' voice with his father in the documentary on the making of the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Cameos

Bugs Bunny has had cameo appearances in several cartoons, including two Private SNAFU short.

Patient Porky (1940)

Crazy Cruise (1942)

Porky Pig's Feat (1943, Bugs' only appearance in a black-and-white Looney Tunes short)

Jasper Goes Hunting (1944, for Paramount)

Odor-able Kitty (1945)

The Goofy Gophers (1947, with a sped-up voice)

The Lion's Busy (1950)

Duck Amuck (1953)

(2008, voiced by Joe Alaskey, as one of the forms of The Martian Manhunter)

Current popularity

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. He is tops." Additionally, in Animal Planet's 50 Greatest Movie Animals (2004), Bugs was named #3, behind Mickey Mouse and Toto.

Bugs Bunny's enduring effect on comedic actors also cannot be overestimated. During an interview for Inside the Actors Studio, comedian Dave Chappelle cited Bugs Bunny as one of his earliest influences, praising voice actor Mel Blanc.

According to Time Warner, Bugs Bunny became the current official mascot for Six Flags theme parks beginning with their 45th anniversary.

Awards

Academy Awards

Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)

Academy Award nominations

A Wild Hare (1940)

Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt (1941)

See also

The Golden Age of American animation

List of Bugs Bunny cartoons

Looney Tunes

List of Looney Tunes feature-length films

References

Bibliography

External links

Warner Bros. Studios

Category:Corporate mascots Category:DC Comics titles Category:Dell Comics titles Category:Fictional anthropomorphic characters Category:Fictional characters from New York City Category:Fictional hares and rabbits Category:Gold Key Comics titles Category:Honorary United States Marines Category:Looney Tunes characters Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1940