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“ | Don't ever call me doll. | „ |
~ Lola Bunny in Space Jam. |
“ | Hey, Bun Bun. | „ |
~ Lola's catchphrase and her common greeting towards Bugs in the Looney Tunes show. |
Lola Bunny is a major character of the Looney Tunes franchise and the main protagonist of Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run. She first appeared in Space Jam, in which she is the tritagonist.
She is an updated version of Honey Bunny, Bugs Bunny's girlfriend that appeared in comics, theater shows, and merchandise from 1966. Lola is an anthropomorphic rabbit and has been established as having a romantic involvement with Bugs, as well as being his main love interest and girlfriend. She has tan fur, blonde bangs, and wears a purple rubber band on both ears like a ponytail. She has aqua colored eyes and she is 3'2" tall.
Lola's basketball skills get her a spot on the Tune Squad, in which the Looney Tunes characters battle the Nerdlucks / Monstars for their freedom, with help from Michael Jordan.
In most of her appearances, she was voiced by Kath Soucie, who also voiced Phil, Lil and Betty DeVille from Rugrats, Maddie from Danny Phantom, Dexter's Mom from Dexter's Laboratory, Kanga from the Winnie the Pooh franchise, Fifi La Fume in Tiny Toon Adventures and young Nick Wilde from Zootopia. Britt McKillip (who also voices the Peppermint Girl from Barbie in the Nutcracker, Chelsie O'Reilly from Kelly Dream Club, Princess Melody from Barbie as Rapunzel, Princess Janessa from Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses, and Princess Rita from Barbie as The Island Princess) voiced her in Baby Looney Tunes and Baby Looney Tunes' Eggs-traordinary Adventure, while Kristin Wiig (who also voiced Ruffnut in the How to Train Your Dragon movies, Lucy Wilde in the Despicable Me franchise, Brenda in Sausage Party and played Erin Gilbert in Ghostbusters (2016)) voiced Lola in The Looney Tunes Show. She was voiced by Rachel Ramras in Scooby Doo & Looney Tunes Cartoon Universe: Adventure and Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run, and by Carla Delaney in Daffy Duck Dance Off, and by Zendaya in the Space Jam sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy, who also voiced Meechee in Smallfoot, and played Anne Wheeler in The Greatest Showman, Zoey Stevens in Zapped, K.C. Cooper in K.C. Undercover, and Rocky Blue in Shake It Up.
Debut
- Main article: Lola Bunny (Space Jam)
Lola's first appearance and only major role was in Space Jam, in which she was voiced by Kath Soucie.
Lola's impressive basketball skills got her a spot on the Tune Squad, in which the Looney Tunes characters battled the villainous Monstars for their freedom, with help from basketball legend Michael Jordan.
The Tune Squad was victorious and Lola kindled a romance with Bugs.
Though she had turned down his earlier advances, she saw him in a new light after he heroically saved her from injury by shoving her out of the path of Pound, one of the Monstars, who tried to squash her with a belly-flop, getting himself painfully squashed in the process.
According to author Kevin Sandler, Lola's personality is a combination of the Hawksian woman, tomboy, and femme fatale archetypes.
Other Appearances
Despite rumors at the time of the release of Space Jam that she would take a place among the other major Looney Tunes stars, Lola had been all but invisible to the public eye.
But there were some rumors of a few original Looney tunes shorts that resembles to Lola even though they're just Best for Last concepts as variants.
"Bugs Bunny nips the nips" as the Hawaiian rabbit who appear at the end after Bugs bunny defeated All the Japs and sumo wrestler on that island when he decided to stay and chase her.
"A Hare grows in Manhattan" as Lola Beverly (which some younger fans mistaken her last name for bunny) who's actually an off screen character who came to interview Bugs Bunny's life story in New York,
Hare splitter as Daisy Lou (at least that's what the L O would stand for) who's been fight over by bugs and his rival casbah but at the end she chose bugs after casbah assaulted her by mistake then later dumped him .
Hold the Lion, please as Mrs Bugs bunny when after Bugs trick Leo lion with a prank call, his wife arrives.then she appears at the end when she says "who wears the pants in this family?"
A-lad-in his lamp at the end of this short Bugs Bunny grants one positive wish from the genie which happens to be multiple Arabian female rabbits.
Rabbit Romeo as Millicent unlike other concepts she's overweight and appeared alongside Elmer after being rejected by bugs due to her weight.
Bewitched bunny as Witch hazel at the end before she almost cooked bugs. he managed to save himself by using an emergency potion to turn her into a yellow female rabbit after that they walked together.
The rest of the shorts are just Robot Female Rabbits where Bugs thought there real since "Hair Raising Hare, The Grey Hounded Hare and Operation Rabbit". which maybe the reason why she dose not like being refer as "Doll". while others are looney tune holiday specials including Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special and Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet who only appear after the end of those recycling segments where she appears to be a Yellow Female Hare that will soon reanimate to her true appearance. Whether Lola existed before Space Jam or not it was still meant to educate younger but confuse viewers.
In Loonatics Unleashed, her descendant is Lexi Bunny.
However, she has made several appearances in video games (in fact, she even replaced Honey Bunny as the damsel in distress of the Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle series), and she regularly appears in solo stories in the monthly Looney Tunes Comics published by DC Comics.
She made a cameo as the reporter in Tweety's High Flying Adventure, in which she was voiced by an uncredited Kath Soucie.
An infant version of Lola, voiced by Britt McKillip, is among the regular characters of Baby Looney Tunes.
She has appeared in Dating Dos and Don'ts and was also seen in a artwork image of her and Bugs, appearing dressed up for a movie premiere, during the "Bugs Bunny: Ain't He A Stinker?" special feature on "Looney Tunes: The Essential Bugs Bunny" DVD which also featured a short clip from Space Jam where Bugs kissed Lola.
The Looney Tunes Show
Lola is the secondary tritagonist in Cartoon Network's series The Looney Tunes Show. Although her character design in the show is based on her appearance in Space Jam, her personality is different. The modern Lola was written as more sitcom-y (keeping up with the show's tone), in that case making her the dumb blonde-esque character (a bit similar to Phoebe Buffay from Friends). She is extremely talkative (a complete chatterbox), sociable and sweet, but also very eccentric, absent-minded, ditsy and comically unintelligent, similar to Daffy, whom she later becomes friends with. She also has a creepy stalker side, which best manifests in her chronic obsession with Bugs (e.g. breaking into his house, photographing him in the shower) and anything or anyone else she feels the affection to, but is later toned down (although, on a few occasions, she manages to out-pass even Daffy in sociopathic tendencies). She was voiced by Kristen Wiig.
Her debut in the series was in the episode "Members Only", where she and Bugs met at a country club, falling for each other at first sight. While they had their first date, Bugs realised Lola's unbearably chattery and moody nature after a while and repeatedly tried to break up with her, only for Lola to continuously mistake his impressions, culminating with her almost marrying Bugs before dumping him for Pepe Le Pew at the altar, much to his relief.
Lola returned in the episode "Eligible Bachelors", where she auctioned for and won Bugs for $100,000 at a bachelor's charity auction (what happened between her and Pepe since her debut episode is unknown, but she never mentioned him and tells Bugs that she's "back in his life now"). She took Bugs to Paris in hopes that he would fall in love with her. After comical moments such as Lola mistaking the Eiffel Tower for Stonehenge and the Louvre for a mall, and, of course, jabbering without an end, Bugs manages to convince Lola to just take in the surroundings of the city, without talking, and the two successfully seem to rekindle their boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, shown towards the episode end when they kiss by Seine and when, after returning home, Bugs tapes a picture of him and Lola by the Eiffel Tower to the kitchen fridge.
Lola performs her first "Merrie Melody" song with Bugs Bunny during the episode "Peel of Fortune" named "We Are In Love", singing about how her and Bugs' relationship has grown and how they're madly in love with each other (even though Bugs completely disagrees with her and tries to get away from her during the song, which comically fails).
Her next appearance was in the episode "Double Date" in which she ended up falling in love with Daffy Duck while giving him dating advice that he read out loud in front of her. She became a downright stalker later on attempting to make Daffy break up with Tina Russo (an updated version of Melissa Duck). Lola set up a fake date with Bugs to spy on Daffy and sabotage their relationship. Bugs later told her that Daffy was not her boyfriend and that he was her boyfriend, surprising himself and making her fall in love with him again. After becoming friends with Tina, she suggested a double date to Daffy and Tina and they left (without Bugs) with Bugs standing stunned at the spot and saying to himself "What just happened?".
She also appeared in the episode The DMV.
Lola also makes appearances along with other Looney Tunes characters at Six Flags parks.
Lola appears in one episode of Castaras called "Lola Returns", where Lyndsey and John find her at a fair. She appears in two episodes of Castaras Babys as Lyndsey's best friend and Violet's nuisense.
Despite her craziness and obsessive personality, she still is very loyal, good-natured and well-meaning - even if the outcome of her actions might not always have that effect. Although Bugs can't stand her at first, he eventually warms up to her throughout the series, even managing to enjoy her company, and Lola's affection becomes mutual.
Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run
In New York City, Lola Bunny is tired of working for Giovanni Jones at the Acme department store perfume counter. She accidentally damages the store, gets fired and takes a long, awkward ride home in Bugs Bunny's taxi. Arriving in her apartment, her landlord, Speedy, gives her the flower as a gift, unaware it is being watched by the NSA.
General Leghorn sends agent Elmer Fudd to watch the flower, though Lola uses it to create her perfume, which has a side effect of invisibility. Cecil sends his goons to get it, but Lola backs out the window and falls to Bugs' taxi below. General Leghorn puts out a reward of $500,000 for Bugs and Lola, and Yosemite Sam, who was preparing to rob a bank in Times Square, learns of it and apprehends them. However, he refuses to hand them to the NSA or the NYPD until after he gets the money, and a one-sided gunfight ensues. Lola and Bugs escape and slip down a storm drain.
They emerge through a manhole in front of Porky Pig, causing a traffic jam, but Giovanni grabs the perfume. Lola runs after him and gets abducted by Cecil in a van. Bugs jumps in Daffy Duck's taxi and follows them. At a secret location, Cecil and his goons interrogate Lola and leave her to die, but Bugs and Daffy manage to free her. Driving through the streets (and subway tunnels) of New York and running through Central Park, the rabbits make haste to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Daffy envies the ducks in the park and decides to retire.
Having been arrested, Sam steals an NSA car and follows Bugs and Lola to the airport, where she spots Giovanni, and they all board the plane as does Cecil. Bugs retrieves the perfume and, after a fight with Sam over the perfume, he and Lola land in the Atlantic Ocean. The Goofy Gophers pick them up in their yacht, try the perfume, and discover its invisibility property.
They arrive in Paris, and Bugs and Lola spray themselves, subsequently having fun with their invisibility. When it rains, the invisibility wears off and they find themselves caught between Elmer Fudd and Cecil at the Pont des Arts, Fudd holding the Gophers hostage. Cecil and his goons betray and disarm Fudd and the Interpol officers he hired with heat ray pistols, and Bugs tries to throw the bottle into the Seine, but Sam catches it.
They all dogpile on Sam, but are suddenly teleported to a space station over Mars, where Marvin the Martian grabs the bottle. Marvin reveals his plan to make all of Earth invisible, as it "obstructs [his] view of Venus". To do so, he extracts the invisibility part of the potion from the perfume part, but ends up with two identical bottles; one with invisibility and the other without.
Bugs and Lola play switcheroo and end up with both of them, handing Marvin a Joker card. After a chase, Marvin catches them, grabs the bottle and sprays the Earth with perfume, not knowing that Bugs has switched it so Earth doesn't turn invisible. To Marvin's fury, Bugs turns the group and himself invisible, allowing them to escape the Martians. Before they leave, Bugs tosses Marvin the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator, which blows up Mars, leaving Marvin hanging from a root.
The group returns safely to Earth, landing in the Seine. When they accidentally leave the bottle in the spaceship, which sinks, Fudd comes to believe the world is not ready for invisibility, and starts a one-sided chase to arrest Cecil for his complicity in Marvin's plan. Lola bitterly forgives Giovanni for stealing the perfume, and happily continues her relationship with Bugs.
One year later, perfume mogul Pepé Le Pew introduces his newest scent "Lola" and back in New York, Bugs reveals that he still has the invisibility potion, while Daffy has retired to Central Park.
Quotes
- "'Doll'?"
- "On the court, Bugs."
- "Don't ever call me 'doll'."
- "Oh, Bugs. Thank you. That was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
- "Lola Bunny here, with an LNN Tweety Update. That trusty ankle transmitter indicates our globe-trotting canary has successfully navigated the canals of Venice. Venetian locals confirm Tweety has amassed a grand total thus far, of 37 feline paw prints."
Trivia
- Before Zendaya was confirmed to be the voice of Lola in Space Jam: A New Legacy, Kath Soucie was rumored to reprise the role.
- Despite being a new Looney Tunes character since Space Jam, she later became a fan favorite because the franchise has lack of leading females.
- Despite debuting in Space Jam, Lola roughly has around 6 minutes of screen time. However, she does play a pivotal role by being Bugs' love interest.
- Most fans where disappointed because Lola didn't appear in Looney Tunes: Back in Action either as a cameo or a leading character. It is possibly because they only use original Looney Tunes characters instead of newer ones. In the film, Kate Houghton asked Bugs to have a leading female co-star but he didn't mention her specifically.