Whether he’s the destabilizing force of Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes’ glory days, or more centered in contemporary reboots that can’t measure up, Bugs Bunny remains a towering cartoon influence.

A few weeks ago, I needed to find a picture of one of the Looney Tunes characters for a story that was going on line. I picked Bugs Bunny, of course, and put his picture on my desktop computer. Dozens ...