Honey Bunny

Honey Bunny is a female rabbit cartoon character, designed by Robert McKimson as the girlfriend of Bugs Bunny for merchandising purposes in the late 1950s. Officially, she is considered a member of the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes characters, even though she has never appeared in a single animated short; her appearances have been limited solely to promotional and ancillary merchandising items. (Though Bugs did meet the occasional female rabbit in some of the cartoons, Honey was not among them.)

Appearances

Honey Bunny was a semi-regular fixture in the series of Looney Tunes comic books published by Gold Key throughout the 1960s and 1970s, usually co-starring with Bugs Bunny. Their relationship through the comics was somewhat variable at times; while they were often depicted as a dating couple, there were times when their relationship could be decidedly un-romantic and even adversarial if a particular story demanded it.

Honey's appearance also varied considerably over time. In her earliest appearances, she was drawn to a very "Bugs Bunny-like" model which made her look little different from Bugs himself, aside from her clothing; the trademark red bow between her ears was often the only clear distinguishing feature between them. Gold Key briefly gave her a "dye job" for some issues of the comic, changing her fur color from Bugs' medium gray to a pale tan to help readers differentiate between the two characters, even though this did not conform to Warner Bros. official style sheets for the character.

Eventually, however, Honey was redesigned to a more visibly feminine model. While she still shared Bugs' basic coloration and design, her facial features (primarily her mouth and muzzle) and tail-tuft were made a bit smaller to give them a softer, more delicate appearance, her eyes were made a little larger and drawn with more prominent feminine eyelashes, and her female curves were given a bit more emphasis. This later version, which began appearing in the early 1970s, became the new "official" model and was used frequently in various Looney Tunes merchandise throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Honey Bunny also appeared in the "Bugs Bunny" NES game.

Decline

The release of the 1996 film "Space Jam" introduced a new female rabbit character, Lola Bunny, who almost completely supplanted Honey as both a merchandising figure and Bugs' sweetheart; during the time the movie was in the theaters, and for some time thereafter, Lola appeared on practically every merchandising item released by Warners or its licensees, whether or not they were tied-in to the movie or not, while Honey seemed all but forgotten.

However, Lola's popularity soon began to wane as well since "Space Jam", having met with mixed reviews at the box office, did not generate the kind of audience enthusiasm that would've led to further animated appearances for the character. Honey began to reappear around 1998–1999, particularly on items sold via the (now defunct) Warner Brothers Studio Stores, and for a time the two characters coexisted; however, with the closure of the WB Studio Store chain in 2001 and the subsequent general reduction in Looney Tunes merchandise, Honey has once again faded from view, and seems unlikely to return to prominence any time in the near future.