Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Thorson is best known as the man who designed and named Bugs Bunny, but in a 10-year career (1935–45) in America's great animation studios he created hundreds of cartoon characters, including Snow White, Elmer Fudd, Little Hiawatha, Sniffles the Mouse, 'Inki and the Mynah', The Lady Known as Lou, and Twinkletoes. The two children's books he wrote were Keeko and Chee-chee and Keeko, stories about the adventures of Keeko, the little Indian (Native American) boy. He died in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1966. Politician Joseph Thorson was his older brother.