Bob Givens

Bob Givens was an American animator, character designer, and layout artist.

He worked for numerous animation studios during his career, including Disney, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Hanna-Barbera, and DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, beginning his career during the 1930s and continuing until the early 2000s. He was a frequent collaborator with director Chuck Jones, working with Jones both at Warner Bros. and Jones' own production company.

After joining Warner Bros. in 1940, where Givens worked mostly under animators Chuck Jones and Tex Avery, Avery asked Givens to redesign a rabbit character previously designed by director Ben Hardaway and character designer Charles Thorson, which Avery thought had potential, but was "too cute" in his existing design. Givens created the first official design for the rabbit, now named Bugs Bunny. Givens' design was subsequently refined by fellow animator Robert McKimson (under whom Givens would frequently work in the decades ahead) two years later.

Givens largely retired from active animation work in the early 2000s, though he continued to teach and give animation talks well into his nineties.

Givens died December 14, 2017, in Burbank, California. He was 99.