"Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!"
(Hare-Way to the Stars, 1958)
Marvin the Martian wants to blow up the Earth, and he is very polite about it. Small, soft-spoken and dressed in a Roman helmet and a skirt, he is the calmest would-be destroyer in animation. Chuck Jones gave him almost no outward emotion on purpose: Marvin is from Mars, and his mild reactions to disaster are what make him funny. When a plan fails, he does not rage. He sighs and goes back to the drawing board.
| Also known as: | Commander of Flying Saucer X-2 (The Hasty Hare, 1952); unnamed on screen until 1979 |
|---|---|
| Species: | Martian |
| First appearance: | Haredevil Hare (1948) |
| Created by: | Chuck Jones |
| Original voice: | Mel Blanc (1948 to 1986) |
| Signature lines: |
|
| Frequent co-stars: | Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig |
Marvin first appeared in Haredevil Hare (1948), confronting Bugs Bunny on the Moon. He returned in The Hasty Hare (1952), where he is credited only as the commander of a flying saucer, and battled Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953).
He had no on-screen name for three decades. The name “Marvin” was adopted in 1979 for The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, as interest in the character grew. In Hare-Way to the Stars (1958) he explains his goal: Earth blocks his view of Venus, so it has to go.
Jones’s notes describe Marvin as a mysterious figure who arrives from the sky or late at night. His lack of strong character is deliberate, Jones wrote, because he is a Martian. Jones gave him gestures but little passion, which is why his reaction to failure is a mild complaint rather than a tantrum.
For the design, Jones started with the crested helmet of Mars, the Roman god of war, then joked that Marvin could take it off to shine his tennis shoes. Inside the helmet is a black face with angry eyes and no visible mouth. A metal skirt and sneakers complete the look.
Marvin became one of the most merchandised Looney Tunes characters after he was named in 1979. He returned in the Duck Dodgers television series (2003). A feature film starring Mike Myers as Marvin was announced in 2008 but was later removed from release schedules and has not been made. Later voices include Joe Alaskey, Eric Goldberg, Bob Bergen and Eric Bauza.
Marvin is one of those mysterious creatures that comes out of the sky or up the stairs late at night. You don’t know what he thinks, and you don’t want to know. It is not simple happenchance that he appears to have no character. He is a Martian, and you cannot expect to find much personality in there. I gave him a certain amount of gesture, but he expresses little passion; instead of howling with anger and excruciating pain when his plans lie in ruins, he merely and carefully says, “Oh dear, back to the old drawing board.”
Because he is a Martian, I decided that Marvin should be dressed as a Martian. My first step in creating the character was therefore to draw the curiously tufted helmet worn by Mars, the Roman God of War, although Marvin could take his version of the helmet off and shine his tennis shoes with it.
Then I figured, black ants are scary, so I put an ant-black face and a couple of angry eyes inside his helmet. The Martian has no evident mouth, but people are rarely aware of that. I then decided that a metal skirt was suitable wear for a God of War, and–suitable or not–putting tennis shoes on an ant seemed like a good idea, so I gave Marvin a pair of tennis shoes, like a lot of my characters.
– Chuck Jones
Every piece in our Marvin the Martian collection is certified by the Chuck Jones family. Browse originals, limited editions and prints below, or contact our art consultants with any questions.
