Eh, What’s Up Doc?: East Hampton Library Zoom Talk April 1 Will Discuss Bugs Bunny

He may not look a “hare” over 5, but last year, Bugs Bunny turned 80 years old. On Thursday, April 1, (no foolin’) at 6 p.m., East End critic and book reviewer Joan Baum presents “The Wit, Humor and Humanity of Bugs Bunny,” a Zoom talk sponsored by the East Hampton Library.

Honored last year on his birthday by the U.S. Postal Service, Bugs Bunny appears on postage stamps in some of his most iconic poses (those stamps that were created, incidentally, by cartoonist and Sag Harbor native Peter Browngardt). “But why?” many adults may ask, assuming that the “wascally wabbit” (as Elmer Fudd dubbed him) belongs to the world of cartoons for kids.

Not so, says Baum, at least not in the mid-20th century glory days of Warner Bros. animation when highly talented and inventive literary and visual artists banded together to create an evolving, lovable comic character as subversively original as he was distinctively American. Bugs is brash, sharp, satiric, self-reliant, a champion of the underdog and fair play and, not incidentally, a lover of history and the arts, which he parodied with affectionate comic brilliance. He was unique, not only as a heroic character but as a foil to his adversaries — Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, who mysteriously kept coming back for more.

Definitely not a Disney denizen, Bugs Bunny in his golden years knew the dark significance of what World War II had shown, but he also exemplified resilience.

“I’ve just begun to fight!” was one of his mantras.

We might do well in these parlous, pandemic and political times to take to heart Bug’s wacky, sane and determined response to threats and challenges.

To reserve a spot for the talk, email steven@easthamptonlibrary.org or call 631-324-0222 extension. 3.