Celebrating the Voice of Bugs Bunny

On this day in 1940 one of my favorite, and probably yours too, cartoon characters made his debut in theaters, Bugs Bunny. Sure, Warner Bros. debuted one of their most beloved cartoon characters, but what was the one thing that set Bugs apart from so many other animated characters that came before and after him? His voice. As I'm sure you know, the late great Mel Blanc was the voice of this waskily wabbit, as he was for so many great cartoon characters for over 50 years, including; Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, Pepe LePew, Yosemite Sam and the list goes on and on. Blanc was said to have over 400 voices in that golden throat and I believe it. Speaking as a guy who makes a living with his voice, this man was my idol.

Mel Blanc died in 1989 but did you know that at one time he credited Bugs Bunny with saving his life? Blanc was involved in a head on car accident in 1961 that left him in a coma for three weeks. After not responding to his own own name for all that time the doctor started to speak to him as if he were Bugs and Blanc started responding in the character's voice. Blanc said he didn't remember any of it but his wife and son swore it was so.

If you would like to get an idea of the overwhelming body of work attributed to this talented man check out his Wikipedia page.

Also watch the video below of a much younger David Letterman interviewing Mel Blanc, and I threw in a few more fantastic examples of one of the greatest voices you've ever loved.