Monday, June 12, 2006

Bugs Bunny Model Sheets

Here's some Bugs Bunny model sheets to go along with those Elmer Fudd models. I love the Tex Avery unit's model sheet, though when I think of Bugs I picture Bob McKimson's design used in Clampett's cartoons.

Not quite Bugs yet

Almost

From Tex Avery's A Wild Hare

Bob McKimson's design and redesign

at

6 comments:

  1. JohnK6/13/2006 9:26 PM

    Hey Kevin,
    these are great posts!

    Those 2 first McKimson Bugs Bunny sheets happened like this:

    McKimson did the first one and Clampett wasn't totally happy with it. He wanted a more appealing looking rabbit with more contrasts in the design (less egg-shaped head) so he sketched over top of the first drawings and made bugs' head more angular and made his cheeks stick out on the sides.

    Then McKimson polished it up and that resulted in the best looking Bugs ever. The model sheet was then used by all the crews for a while.The best Bugs cartoons were made from about 1942-1946.

    Note how the later McKimson nodel-the one with all heads, lost all the appeal of the previous model sheet he did for Clampett. He made bugs' eyes smaller, his cranium smaller and gave him a big fat jaw and lower lip.This is how he drew every charcter in his own cartoons, with "bully" proportions.

    This Bugs was more like a cave rabbit, a thug, rather than a mischievious teenager as he was portrayed in the Clampett cartoons.

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  2. Kevin Langley6/14/2006 12:46 AM

    Thanks for the background info John. I love McKimson's animation but I have no use for his Bugs cartoons. Even that later design isn't as bad as it would get. Friz Freleng's late 50's Bugs in just horrendous looking (and not funny.) You'll be happy I'm working on scanning a couple of things for a Clampett related post.

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  3. Anonymous6/14/2006 6:51 PM

    I think Clampett put his name over the "A Wild Hare" modelsheet at one point so it read "CLAMPETT'S RABBIT MODEL".

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  4. Thad6/15/2006 2:35 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. antikewl6/15/2006 5:36 PM

    Thanks for these and all the other recent ones Kevin! :)

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  6. Ross Irving1/11/2008 8:06 PM

    The 1948 model sheet for McKimson's unit seems to fit most with the cartoon "Hot Cross Bunny". I watched the cartoon today and noticed a lot of poses Bugs did that were similar to this sheet. Really neat stuff.

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