Shed a Tear: 34 Percent of Americans Don't Know Bugs Bunny

Knowing about the easy money that awaits actors and actresses in the land of animation (Renee Zellweger, get back on this), there isn't anything very out of the ordinary about the Vulture report that Mike Myers will voice Pepé Le Pew. After all, Myers has made untold millions doing similar duties on the four Shrek films, and hopping -- or slinking, as Pepé does -- into the world of Looney Tunes for Warner Bros. will at least give him some extra spending money. And, hey, that Le Pew is part of an iconic group of cartoon characters probably doesn't hurt Myers' interest either. Though about that last part...

Consider this disconcerting fact about the entire Looney Tunes franchise, and, by proxy, America: According to E-Poll Market Research data, "more Americans over the age of 13 can recognize Mike Myers (68 percent) than can recognize Bugs Bunny (66 percent) or Daffy Duck (56 percent)."

First of all: Seriously? And second: Seriously? Bugs Bunny is as American as apple pie (if not Shrek); you're telling me that if you pulled 100 people at random and showed them a picture, 34 would have no idea what they were looking at? And don't even get me started on the fact that Bugs Bunny should be more recognizable to people over the age of 13 than under -- after all, when was the last time you saw a kid playing with a Bugs Bunny doll?

Anyway, if that many people have trouble identifying Bugs, hope for box office millions from Pepé Le Pew has to immediately get called into question. (That he's French is obviously a demerit, too, here in the land of Freedom Fries.) This wasn't designed to be one of those, "Throw another log on the fire of the apocalypse" posts, but if the bunny ears fit...

· Mike Myers to Voice Pepé Le Pew [Vulture]