He had written 'Bugs' Bunny' on the model sheet that he drew for Hardaway. Charlie Thorson, lead animator on the film, gave the character a name. This cartoon-the first in which he is depicted as a gray bunny instead of a white one-is also notable as the rabbit's first singing role. The rabbit's third appearance comes in Hare-um Scare-um (1939), directed again by Dalton and Hardaway.

He retained the guttural laugh but was otherwise silent. This version of the rabbit was cool, graceful, and controlled. The rabbit harasses them but is ultimately bested by the bigger of the two dogs. Two dogs, fleeing the local dogcatcher, enter his absent master's house. The rabbit comes back in Prest-O Change-O (1939), directed by Chuck Jones, where he is the pet rabbit of unseen character Sham-Fu the Magician. He was loud, zany with a goofy, guttural laugh. In characterization, he was 'a rural buffoon'. The white rabbit had an oval head and a shapeless body. According to Friz Freleng, Hardaway and Dalton had decided to dress the duck in a rabbit suit. The rabbit character was popular enough with audiences that the Termite Terrace staff decided to use it again. The rabbit introduces himself with the odd expression 'Jiggers, fellers,' and Mel Blanc gave the character a voice and laugh much like those he later used for Woody Woodpecker.

Hare Hunt replaces the little black duck with a small white rabbit. 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. This cartoon has an almost identical plot to Avery's Porky's Duck Hunt (1937), which had introduced Daffy Duck. It was co-directed by Ben 'Bugs' Hardaway and an uncredited Cal Dalton (who was responsible for the initial design of the rabbit). In those days, the stories were often the work of a group who suggested various gags, bounced them around and finalized them in a joint story conference.' A rabbit with some of the personality of Bugs, though looking very different, was originally featured in the film Porky's Hare Hunt, released on April 30, 1938. According to Chase Craig, who wrote and drew the first Bugs Bunny comic Sunday pages and the first Bugs comic book, 'Bugs was not the creation of any one man however, he rather represented the creative talents of perhaps five or six directors and many cartoon writers.

Looney tunes backaroo bugs