“One who was quiet and soft-spoken, but whose actions were incredibly destructive and legitimately dangerous” (Chuck Jones’ description)
“A bowling ball wearing a spittoon” (Bugs Bunny’s description)
Home: Mars
Mission: To blow up the Earth because it blocks his view of Venus
Trying for more than two millennia
Wears a Roman soldier’s uniform, with old-fashioned basketball shoes
Created by Chuck Jones
Debuted July 24, 1948 in Haredevil Hare
Spacecraft: The Martian Maggot
Favorite Weapons: Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator and the ACME Disintegration Pistol
Commanding Officer: General E.M.C. Squared
Often accompanied by his dog “K-9”
Other Accomplices: Instant Martians (activated by adding drops of water) and his niece Marcia
Unnamed in the original, but called Commander of Flying Saucer X-2 in The Hasty Hair (1952)
According to Don Markstein’s Toonopedia, Marvin got his name in The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)
First voiced by Mel Blanc, who gave him a nasal-like voice, but later adopted an accent
Notable Quotes
Where’s the kaboom?
There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!”
Isn’t that lovely?
This makes me very angry, very angry indeed
Click for sounds quotes by Marvin
Consistently foiled by Bugs Bunny, but also battled Daffy Duck in Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (trailer below)
Also appeared in Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniascs, Space Jam, Futurama, Drawn Together, Looney Tunes Back in Action, A Looney Tunes Christmas, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, South Park, The Simpsons, Weird Science, ABC Evening News, MetLife commercial, video games (Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo, and PlayStation), and on the launch patch for the Spirit Mars Rover.
Enjoy Hasty Hare (1952)
Enjoyed this thanks Frank…
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Bulldog,
Cheers for your enjoyment of this series!
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Reblogged this on cftc10.
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Loved the way Bugs Bunny deactivated the KABOOM. 😀 I so enjoyed watching these cartoons when I was a kid. Great to see these characters again, Frank. Have a fantastic weekend.
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Paradise,
Bugs has got to be the most calm, cool, collected of the cartoon characters … seldom frazzled. Glad to rekindle your memories.
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What wonderful, wonderful light relief, are your pages 🙂
Thank you so much, Frank!
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Eyes,
Thanks for the high praise … and I enjoy the Saturday Morning Classics!
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How fun. Another great character. I’ve never heard that bugs bunny description. I’ll never look at a bowling ball the same way again. Have a great weekend.
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Mobius,
I imagine Bugs said that in a particular short, but I’m not which one. Glad you enjoyed this one.
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“It’s a wonderful day in the neighbourhood……” Mr. Rogers.
“Thanks for the memories……” Bob Hope.
In appreciation…..Raye
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Raye,
Now there are two great lines from classics! Glad you enjoyed them.
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Gosh, Frank, I’d forgotten this early role of Paul Ryan’s!
I do love Marvin and your Saturday morning “Ons” Have a good weekend!
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Elyse,
LOL … but that’s an insult to Marvin! 🙂
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Love my Saturday morning cartoons at your place, Frank!
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Lynn,
Many thanks for the kind words!
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Ohy friend Cindi does the best Marvin the Martian ever! U would wet your pants laughing! Love this little guy
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Kellie,
Cheers to Cindi …. tell her we want her on YouTube.
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oh I will tell her…
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Marvin was always up there with the Roadrunner, as being my favorite WB charachters
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Hansi,
And coming from one with your sense of humor, that’s quite the praise.
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Very funny, Frank! Bugs was the best and all his friends, too!
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Hood,
Bugs is a classic character … and one that I have yet to honor here. His will take a lot of work.
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😆
His mission is just priceless!!!!
🙂
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Marina,
He is a wonderful character in many ways.
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I’m all agog!
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LouAnn,
Agog over Marvin is a good thing.
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We watched a ton of Bugs Bunny, so I have no idea why I’m not more familiar with Marvin. Thanks for the cartoons today, Frank! 🙂
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Maddie,
Oh my … and you missed Marvin? Then again, better late than never.
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Bugs is a favorite and the Martian episodes were great. One of the beauties of having a child was getting to watch cartoons without feeling guilty!
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Renee,
Cheers that you’ve had a second chance to renew classic cartoon cartoons as Marvin and Bugs!
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My children all love Marvin. I would have commented about thirty minutes ago, but we have been watching associated videos since…
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Red,
Cheers to your kids loving Marvin … and I imagine a few others.
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Marvin!! I have a miniature of Marvin, one of those bits of whimsy scattered around the house. Marvin was one of my favorites when I was a child because I was pretty sure I must have come from another planet (I never did quite fit in). “Where’s the kaboom?” cracks me up every time. I don’t remember seeing Marvin in the Animaniac cartoons (I learned to love the Animaniacs with my youngest son). Thank you, Frank, for reminding me of Marvin. I’ll have to seek him out. He’s hiding around here somewhere…
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Robin,
Thanks for sharing the news of your Marvin miniature. … now I hope you can find it! “Where’s the kaboom?” is priceless! Glad you enjoyed this one.
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Another excellent cartoon post Frank! Marvin was definitely one of the more offbeat hapless WB characters destined to be foiled by Bugs, a sort of uber modern Elmer Fudd. Yet another wonderful Chuck Jones contribution. During the 2010 US Open Tennis tournament here in NYC, my friend, Milton, thought that Rafael Nadal’s tennis wardrobe was directly influenced by Marvin-style fashion:
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Lame,
One thing I’ve learned is that Milton can deliver some interesting descriptions! Marvin seemed to have a bit better focus in his combats with Bugs. As soon as I saw Marvin was a Chuck Jones creation, I knew you would love it.
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Chuck Jones is by far my favorite WB animator Frank.
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… and thus a reason why a post on him is on my list for who knows when.
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I’m looking forward to that one Frank!
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🙂
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I quote Marvin more often than I do Nietzsche or Einstein, but then, I quote George W. more often too. Desperately trying to be taken seriously but, as Lame says, hapless and humorous. 🙂
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Archon,
Given those names, you have quite the range of people you quote. Here’s one just for you.
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I don’t remember Marvin at all. That’s curious to me. But the 1952 Bugs Bunny was fun for many reasons. That’s the year I was born, so it seemed kind of a sentimental journey in a way, but I had forgotten how elaborate the opening credits for these cartoons was back in those days. The artists were given such credit and it also created a sense of anticipation for what was to come. I’m sure now those few seconds have been given over to commercials. This was delightful!
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Debra,
Wow. … you not knowing this one surprises me. I wonder if your granddaughters know him, Nonetheless, the animators are the time were outstanding!
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I remember this one!
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GFB,
Cheers for me getting one right!
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Keep em comng Frank – I’m on a roll now.
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delightful. 😀
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Thank you, Sunshine.
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you’re welcome, Frank. 🙂
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not a great fan of marvin, but i can’t not love anything by chuck jones.
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Rich,
Good praise for Mr. Jones, … and it’s OK not to like all characters.
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