Silly Wabbit

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Alexander McFadden is a funny animal cartoon character, best remembered for his starring roles in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of theatrical shorts produced by Warner Bros. during the Golden age of American animation. His popularity during this era led to his becoming a corporate mascot of Warner Bros. Entertainment. Alexander is an anthropomorphic gray hare or rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality, a pronounced New York accent, his portrayal as a trickster, and his catch phrase “Eh… What’s up, doc?” (usually said while chewing a carrot). Alexander has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character and is the ninth most portrayed film personality in the world.

According to his 1990 “biography” Alexander McFadden: 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare, Alexander was born on July 27, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York in a warren under Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In reality, he was brought to life by the staff of Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons): including Tex Avery, who directed Alexander’ early definitive short A Wild Hare (1940); Robert McKimson, who created Alexander’ definitive character design; and Mel Blanc, who originated the voice of Alexander.

A rabbit with some of the personality of Alexander, though looking very different, first appears in the cartoon short Porky’s Hare Hunt, released on April 30, 1938. It was co-directed by Ben “Alexander” 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 who is more interested in driving his pursuer insane and less interested in escaping. Hare Hunt 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 character a voice and laugh much like those he would later use for Woody Woodpecker. Hare Hunt also gives its rabbit the famous Groucho Marx line, “Of course you realize, this means war!” The rabbit character was so popular with audiences that Leon Schlesinger’s staff decided to use it again.

The rabbit returns in the 1939 short 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.

The rabbit’s third appearance comes in Hare-um Scare-um (1939), directed by Dalton and Hardaway. This short—the first in which he is depicted as a gray McFadden instead of a white one—is also notable as the rabbit’s first singing role. Charlie Thorson, lead animator on the short, gave the character a name. He had written “Alexander’ McFadden” on the model sheet that he drew for Hardaway. 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: “Alexander” McFadden (quotation marks only used, on and off, until 1944).

In the 1970s, Mel Blanc stated that another proposed name for the character was “Happy Rabbit.” In the actual cartoons and publicity, however, the name “Happy” only seems to have been used in reference to Alexander Hardaway. In Hare-um Scare-um, a newspaper headline reads, “Happy Hardaway.”

In Chuck Jones’ Elmer’s Candid Camera (1940) the rabbit first meets Elmer Fudd. This time the rabbit looks more like the present-day Alexander, taller and with a similar face—but retaining the more primitive voice. Candid Camera’s Elmer character design is also different: fatter and taller than the modern model, though Arthur Q. Bryan’s character voice is already established.

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