Mel Blanc, the voice behind Bugs Bunny and countless other cartoons from Looney Tunes, was involved in a near-catastrophic car accident driving along Sunset Boulevard in January 1961. After falling into a coma, he was unresponsive for weeks.
After around 14 days, a doctor tried a new approach: Addressing Blanc as his famed character.
According to Blanc's son, Noel, who recounted the story to Radio Lab, Blanc responded “What’s up doc?”
During his recovery, Warner Brothers had a one-of-a-kind "Bugs Bunny Oscar" statue created and gifted it to Blanc. The statue depicts the famed rabbit in a similar pose to the Oscar trophy from the Academy Awards.
First acquired from the Mel Blanc estate sale in the 1990s, the statue sold at Heritage Auctions this weekend for $21,000.
Past sales of authentic Oscars have sold for more than $500,000, such as the Academy Award given to Orson Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz for Best Original Screenplay, which fetched $645,000 in July 2023.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.