July 31, 2023 – Theme Week Day 1

Last week, there was a congressional hearing about UFOs. Basically, 3 former military officials testified that the government knows a lot more about UFOs than it’s telling anyone. One witness even said that the U.S. has retrieved what he called “non-human biologics”. So that inspired our theme week this week on Aliens!
We’re starting out with everyone’s favorite cartoon alien, Marvin the Martian. He first appeared in a 1948 Bugs Bunny cartoon called Haredevil Hare, and was in 4 more cartoons produced between 1952 and 1963. His design was based on the style of armor worn by the Roman god Mars, a subtle joke about the character’s home and the planet’s namesake.
In the original shorts, Marvin was never named. He was known only as the “Commander of Flying Saucer X-2”. But in 1979, when there was merchandising interest, he was given the name Marvin. He was first voiced by Mel Blanc, who voiced many other iconic Looney Toon characters. But over the years he’s been played by more than 10 other voice actors.
In 2003, NASA sent the Spirit Rover to Mars, and decided to include Marvin in the mission. He appeared on the actual rover as well as on the mission launch patch. Learn more here.