Bugs Bunny - Looney Tunes : 1997

1997-May-22  Warner Bros Studios, Burbank CA

The Bug Bunny stamp was issued to honor him and make him the USPS “ambassador to youth” and encourage children to take up stamp collecting as a hobby as part of its Stampers youth program.

Stamp design manager Terrence McCaffrey looked at over 150 different sketches from Warner Bros. Studios during the stamp design process.  The actual stamp design was done by Warner Bros. under the supervision of McCaffrey.

Bugs Bunny was created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger Productions) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films, produced by Warner Bros. Early iterations of the character first appeared in Ben Hardaway's Porky's Hare Hunt (1938) and subsequent shorts before Bugs's definitive character traits debuted in Tex Avery's A Wild Hare (1940). Bob Givens, Chuck Jones, and Robert McKimson are credited for defining Bugs's visual design.

Bugs Bunny commemorative postmark

Richard Maurizio - Super-Rabbit

2019.05.18 East Coast Comic Con, Secaucus, NJ

Richard Maurizio is a veteran artist who has produced work for Warner Bros, turner Entertainment, Universal Studios, Sony Signatures and Archie Comics

His credits include development of educational and children's books, along with production of a Tom & Jerry comic strip for 5-years. He has provided work for Looney Tunes, The Animaniacs, Underdog, Thunder Agents, Jetta, The Munsters, Godzilla sketch cards and the Wizard of Oz licensed productions

When I meet an artist like Maurizio, my mind swirls with possibilities, since I enjoy all of the characters he has worked with, how can I pick one. He offered to do Bugs Bunny and we discussed a few of the possible Bugs characterizations. It was his idea to go with the older Bob Clampett styled Super Rabbit from the 1943 Merrie Melodies animated short

Brendan Shaw - Baseball Bugs

2019-04-06 New Jersey Collectors Fest 2, Secaucus, NJ

I had been looking for someone to draw a baseball Bugs, so we discussed the possibilities. I suggested a robot pitching arm, or throwing a Dragon Ball. Brendan liked the idea of the Dragon Ball. 

If you ever saw the cartoon "Baseball Bugs", Bugs Bunny faces the Gashouse Gorillas single-handed. One of my favorite scenes is when Bugs, as the pitcher turns to the audience and says "Watch me paste this pathetic palooka with a powerful paralyzing perfect pachydermas percussion pitch!"

In another time and place bugs could have throw a Dragon Ball pitch, and the look on his face says "Dare Me!"

Richard Laslo "Cel King" - Bugs Bunny

2016.05.14 Lehigh Valley Comic Con, Schenksville, Pa

Richard "Cel King" Laslo began his career in 1973 and has worked for many companies in the animation industry. A traditional animation cel painter and cel restoration, inker, graphic illustrator and photographer, Laslo worked for Warner Brothers, Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Marvel (Spider-Man cartoons) and others

For Warner he animated TV cartoons including "Bug's 50th Birthday", Blooper Bunny", Lunar Tunes, "Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers" drawing Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, marvin the Martian, K9, Road Runner, Taz, Tweetie and others..

TV commercials he has worked on include Tony the Tiger, CBS & ABC Sports, National Geographic and  many others...

In 2012 he worked with Disney, creating a 2-minute animated presentation with over 30 Disney character, all hand painted...

Lasso animated 3 famous illustrative books for DMI Productions: "Danny and the Dinosaur", "Baby's Bedtime Stories" and "Baby's Morningtime Stories"