Lola Bunny is the most famous female character in the Looney Tunes franchise, as well as half of an Official Couple with Bugs Bunny. Although she wasn't created until decades after the shorts' classic era, she's the first new Looney Tune to catch on with the public since Speedy Gonzales, the Tasmanian Devil, and Witch Hazel in The '50s.
Lola was created during the planning stages of the 1996 film Space Jam. The producers wanted to include a major female character who would resonate with (and sell merchandise to) contemporary girls, and none of the existing Looney women fit the bill. They considered using Honey Bunny, who was part of the Expanded Universe but had never appeared in animation; however, the designs were not accepted, with one animator believing that she looked like "Bugs in drag". The creators decided to introduce a new character instead, and so Lola was born.
In Space Jam, Lola is both a confident Action Girl whose basketball skills impress Michael Jordan and a seductive, scantily-clad Ms. Fanservice who is lusted after by several of the male toons, especially Bugs, who quickly makes her his Love Interest. She proved divisive with fans: some enjoyed her strong, sassy You Go, Girl! personality; others complained that she was too overly sexualized, a bit flat, and too Immune to Slapstick to fit in with the other Looney Tunes.
After a few years of blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos, Lola's next major animated role was Baby Looney Tunes, in which she was a budding athlete who was also the smartest and most sensible of the kids. Meanwhile, some fans followed the adult Lola's appearances in the Looney Tunes Comic-Book Adaptation from DC, where she began to make Bugs' Rascally Rabbit and Karmic Trickster traits her own. Lola's next appearance (sort of) was Loonatics Unleashed, an infamous Looney Tunes Spin-Off in which futuristic descendants of the original cast (including Lola's equivalent, Lexi Bunny) became Animesque Superheroes with Darker and Edgier character designs.
Lola's next project gave the blond bunny her biggest makeover yet. In the Animated Sitcom The Looney Tunes Show, she's a scatterbrained Cloudcuckoolander/Talkative Loon who has a crush on Bugs, reversing their relationship in Space Jam. These changes made Lola the object of controversy yet again; fans of the original version disliked her ditzy new personality, while those who welcomed the changes praised this version of Lola for being a full-fledged character rather than a lust object. There were even some viewers who loved both Lolas for what they were.
Lola then got her first starring role in the Direct to Video feature Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run, a Stealth Sequel to The Looney Tunes Show which inserts those versions of the characters into an epic storyline. She's a Genius Ditz who accidentally creates a perfume that makes people invisible, then is pursued (along with her new friend Bugs) by various factions who want the formula.
Lola returned in three shorts for New Looney Tunes, two of which ("Lola Rider" and "Rhoda Derby") have her as the main character. The creative team split the difference between her Space Jam and Looney Tunes Show personas; she's still a bubbly Genki Girl, but she's also a Passionate Sports Girl who can become a Karmic Trickster when provoked.
2021 saw the release of the long-awaited sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy, which brought back the original Lola, but in a modernized, Tamer and Chaster form. In a pre-release interview, director Malcolm D. Lee said that in the first film, Lola was "very sexualized" and he wanted the New Legacy version to be "feminine without being objectified". Accordingly, Lola's proportions and uniform were made more modest — and the internet exploded.
- Another divide of the fandom formed around this change, with some fans
wanting the sexier 90's Lola back, while others defended the new design. However, this conflict became bigger than any of the others involving Lola due to falling into the ongoing narrative of Political Correctness Is Evil; Lee's statement regarding the decision was met with criticism for setting arbitrary standards on what counts as a "true" strong, capable female character (even from those who otherwise agreed with it), and sparked a debate over whether sex appeal — or at least feminine characteristics that are considered sexual in nature — necessarily distracts from (or even harms) a female character's strength, worth, and gravitas. Some mainstream pundits weighed in, and for a few days the issue of Lola's breast size actually got coverage in respectable outlets like Slate
and Newsweek. - There’s also a third camp who favor that they use her Valley Girl character from The Looney Tunes Show or the bubbly but competent Composite Character from New Looney Tunes instead.
- Also, as soon as the fans first heard Zendaya's vocal performance as Lola, they began debating whether or not she was as good as Lola's original voice, Kath Soucie, or even her Looney Tunes Show actress, Kristen Wiig.
Lola's next project was the Edutainment Show Bugs Bunny Builders, which debuted on HBO Max and Cartoon Network's pre-school Cartoonito block in 2022. The series has Bugs, Lola and company running a wacky construction company, and it marks a return to the slapstick humor of the classic Looney Tunes era. Lola (along with Bugs) is the most sensible member of the team, although she has no problem joining in her friends' wacky antics. Lola returned the following year in Tiny Toons Looniversity, in which she was cast as the chef at the school's cafeteria.
Filmography
Movies
- Space Jam (1996) - The film that started it all.
- Tweety's High Flying Adventure (2000) - Lola has a cameo as a newscaster.
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) - She appears on a poster or two.
- Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run (2015) - As noted, this comic adventure is a Stealth Sequel to The Looney Tunes Show.
- Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) - Lola goes into full Action Girl mode.
Television
- Baby Looney Tunes (2002-2005)
- Loonatics Unleashed (more or less) (2005-2007)
- The Looney Tunes Show (2011-2014)
- New Looney Tunes (2015-2019)
- Bugs Bunny Builders (2022- )
- Tiny Toons Looniversity (2023- )
Tropes related to Lola Bunny:
- The Ace: She is introduced as being an explicitly better basketball player than Bugs. She appears to be the most athletic of the Looney Tunes, is one of the more competent, and suffers none of the Amusing Injuries the others do. In addition, everyone notes how attractive she is. In short, she's a skilled, athletic, and beautiful Dude Magnet, and has no apparent flaws. This was one of the problems audiences had with her, as she came off as too overly perfect for a newly introduced character.
- Action Girl: In Space Jam, she's a strong, athletic lady who can kick the butt of any toon. And don't ever call her...doll. New Legacy emphasizes this aspect of her character.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Her original character in Space Jam was a Tomboy with a Girly Streak and an exaggerated sex symbol who Bugs had to work to get. In The Looney Tunes Show, she was an energetic Cloudcuckoolander who's excruciatingly infatuated by him. Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production combines both portrayals. In New Legacy, they're more Like Brother and Sister.
- Affirmative Action Girl: Another reason Lola was created for the original Space Jam is that as a strong, athletic young woman, she was believable as a basketball ace. (However, Granny joined her on the court in the sequel.)
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Like Bugs (and most furry Looney Tunes), she doesn't wear shoes. Unlike Bugs, an Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal, she's fully clothed otherwise.
- Berserk Button: "Don't ever call me...doll!"
- Burger Fool: In some of her appearances in DC Comics' Looney Tunes title, she works for Machu Pizza, where she specializes in delivering food to some very unusual customers: aliens, monsters, Fish People, gods and other mythological figures, etc.
- Canon Immigrant: Created for Space Jam, she eventually became this with analogues in Baby Looney Tunes, Loonatics Unleashed, The Looney Tunes Show, the OVA Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run, Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production, Bugs Bunny Builders, and Tiny Toons Looniversity.
- Cousin Oliver: Although not an actual kid, she's pretty much considered a "new kid" compared to the older characters of the classic 1930s/1940s-era cartoons and can sometimes feel shoehorned into the Looney Tunes lineage the same way a Cousin Oliver often is.
- Custom Uniform of Sexy: Lola's basketball uniform in Space Jam is designed to show off her midriff and legs unlike her male peers.
- Damsel in Distress: Lola is this in the 3rd and 4th games of The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle series, as Bugs' job is to rescue her.
- Deuteragonist: She's this to (and the second playable character alongside) Bugs in Looney Tunes: Carrot Crazy on the Game Boy Color, where she fights with a Rolling Pin of Doom and can use both her spinning ears and an umbrella to glide through the air.
- Distaff Counterpart: To Bugs. Subverted in The Looney Tunes Show where, despite being Bugs' girlfriend, she is similar to Daffy Duck without the Jerkass traits.
- Ears as Hair: She ties her ears into a ponytail, as seen in the trope page pic.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Bugs' crush on her in Space Jam.
- Furry Female Mane: She has a tuft of blonde hair on the top of her head.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Lola's first appearance in Space Jam has all the toons (and Michael Jordan) pause momentarily, but Bugs... never quite recovers from seeing her the first time.
- Humanoid Female Animal: Looks more anthropomorphic than Bugs Bunny.
- Iconic Outfit: Her trademark basketball outfit in Space Jam, but was then zigzagged along with other outfits in her later appearances.
- Intrepid Reporter: in Looney Tunes #276, Lola is the star reporter for the Daily Noir.
- Immune to Slapstick: A huge, recurring criticism with Lola's Space Jam debut was that she seldom took part in the Toon Physics or cartoon injuries iconic to the franchise. Later incarnations tried to rectify this to varying degrees, dialing up her wackiness and susceptibility to the hijinks by some order.
- Leg Focus: Most, if not all of Lola's various looks make a point of emphasizing her long, toned legs.
- Ms. Fanservice: The first incarnation. A sexy and athletic Tomboy with an Impossible Hourglass Figure who wears shorts and bares her midriff.
- Official Couple: With Bugs Bunny in most of her appearances. Subverted in Space Jam: A New Legacy given that their relationship is now portrayed as platonic rather than romantic, with a dynamic that’s more or less closer to Like Brother and Sister. Later, when Bugs is near-death after sacrificing himself to help win the game, Lola cradles him in a fashion that’s identical to when he saved her from being squashed by a Monstar. The only difference this time is that they don’t kiss.
- Pantsless Males, Fully-Dressed Females: Unlike most male characters, Lola is never seen wearing anything less than a full outfit (except for shoes) across most appearances. This is especially noticeable when she is placed next to Bugs, who is usually clothed in nothing more than a pair of gloves and his own fur.
- Passionate Sports Girl: A basketball player so talented that even Michael Jordan notes that "the girl's got some skills".
- Righteous Rabbit: She's a heroic rabbit and a heroic character who's one of the good guys.
- Replacement Goldfish: Has completely supplanted poor Honey Bunny, who had been Bugs's love interest in comics and other media for decades.
- The Smurfette Principle: Almost certainly added to the regular Looney Tunes line-up because of this. Before her, the only real major female Looney Tunes characters were Granny, Miss Prissy, Penelope Pussycat, and Witch Hazel.
- Strong Girl, Smart Guy: The Strong Girl to Bugs's Smart Guy. Bugs is known for his wits, but Lola proves to be tougher and better at basketball than him.
- Tamer and Chaster: How Lola is portrayed in Space Jam: A New Legacy.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She's a sassy, no-nonsense woman who is good at basketball and hates being called "doll". However, in attitude and mannerisms, she acts like the typical seductive Femme Fatale and her sex appeal is anything but masculine.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: She wears a purple rubber band on both ears like a ponytail.
- Yellow/Purple Contrast: Her Iconic Outfit consists of a yellow tank top and purple shorts. In a case of
Beam Me Up, Scotty!, this outfit only appears on Daffy Duck; the yellow tank top and purple shorts came from the Happy Meal toys issued in 1996. - You Go, Girl!: She proves to be better at basketball than all the male toons.
