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| The 1930s Warner Bros. logo. |
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| Bosko character model. |
Bosko, a young “Negro
boy”, was conceived by Harman while he was still working for Walt Disney
Studios as a way to capitalize on the new “talkie” craze in cinema. He was
meant to serve as a version of
Al Jolson’s character
from
The Jazz Singer (1927)
while being neither human nor animal. Bosko’s appearance was based
on
Felix the Cat,
but his personality was taken from the popular blackface characters in minstrel
and vaudeville at the time. With Ising’s help, he produced a short pilot
cartoon in 1929 called
Bosko, the
Talk-Ink Kid. The short showcased their ability to animate and
synchronize to sound and became the first in history to feature synchronized
speech. Bosko was voiced mostly by
Carman Maxwell with
Johnny Murray
taking over for three years in 1930.
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| Title card for the Bosko cartoon with Bosko and Honey. |
At WB, Bosko became
the lead character for the cartoon series
Looney Tunes
beginning in 1930. He had a girlfriend named
Honey (
Rochelle
Hudson) and kept company with orphaned cat,
Wilber.
Over the course of 39 cartoons, one of which wasn’t released, the stories
favored music, singing and dancing over any real semblance of a plot. Audiences
were enamored with talking cartoons and the shorts had a large library of music
to play with. With the success of
Looney
Tunes, Schlesinger sold another series to WB called
Merrie Melodies.
Melodies, a play on
Silly Symphonies. was pitched as
advertising for the studio’s films by using their soundtracks and animating to
them. The concept was soon expanded to also include the rest of WB’s musical
library in the same manner as
Tunes.
Launching in 1931,
Melodies proved to
be as popular as
Tunes, although it
did so without any recurring character. In 1932, the
Melodies short
It’s Got Me
Again! was the first
animation to be nominated for an
Academy Award, and by 1934 the series was
produced in color.
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| Buddy, the new star of Looney Tunes. |
In 1933, Harman and
Ising left WB over a budget dispute with Schlesinger and took all their
creations with them, having held onto their rights. Schlesinger had to
negotiate to keep the use of the
Melodies
name and the ending tag-line, “So long, folks!” (which would be replaced in
1936 with the
Tunes slogan of “That’s
all, folks!”). Desperate to maintain his contract with WB, Shlesinger hired
animator
Tom
Palmer away from Disney and had him create a new star:
Buddy,
who was described by animator
Bob Clampett as “Bosko
in whiteface.” WB rejected the first two Buddy cartoons, resulting in Palmer
being replaced by
Friz Freleng. Freleng was
tasked to re-edit the shorts into a single entry called
Buddy’s Day Out.
Buddy (
Jack
Carr), like Bosko, was accompanied by a flapper girlfriend named
Cookie
(
Bernice
Hansen) and his dog, Towser.
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| Porky Pig and Beans the Cat. |
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| The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies titles over the recognizable bullseye background. |
In 1936,
Melodies
began using the familiar bulls-eye opening and closing titles, which
Tunes would adopt in 1942. By 1937,
Tunes gained its recognizable opening
theme of “
The Merry-Go-Round Broke
Down” by
Cliff Friend and
Dave Franklin,
while
Melodies’ was “
Merrily
We Roll Along” by
Charles Tobias,
Murray
Mencher and
Eddie Cantor.
In 1943,
Tunes
began to be produced in color once Disney’s exclusive rights to the
Technicolor
process expired. By 1944,
Tunes and
Melodies became virtually
indistinguishable, especially when characters began to cross over, ending their
alleged “exclusive” status to one series or the other. That same year,
Schlesinger sold his interest in the studio to WB and retired. WB would
continue producing the shorts until 1969 when they would shut down their
animation
studios for a second time (the first being in 1963) and outsource
all future production to
DePatie-Freleng
Enterprises. 1969 was also the last new
Melodies short,
Injun Trouble,
as the studio focused on producing strictly
Tunes
from then on.
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| Ad for CBS' 1981 Saturday morning schedule, featuring Looney Tunes. |
In the 60s, the shorts began airing in syndication on
television, although many of them were edited over time to remove what had
become more questionable content as society’s views changed; namely portrayals considered
racist and particularly violent gags. Other edits included new opening and
closing title sequences and Melodies being
given Tunes’ title song. While it was
the name of the series of shorts, Looney Tunes became the designation for the
cast of characters it produced and is how they are collectively known. And, while dozens of characters have emerged from these
shorts, there is an elite grouping that has managed to keep their popularity as
well as transcend the various forms of media:
Bugs Bunny is a highly intelligent, wise-cracking,
carrot-chewing rabbit whose popularity led to him becoming the official mascot
of WB. His first official appearance was credited as
A Wild Hare (1940) by
Tex Avery, although
Bugs prototypes did appear in four shorts prior until various directors had him
redesigned into the version we know today (however, it took two shorts
following
Hare for the new design to
stick). Mel Blanc’s initial voice for Bugs was closer to his portrayal of
Woody
Woodpecker until settling into a New York accent.
Charlie
Thorson, one of Bugs’ designers, had wrote “Bugs’ Bunny” on his
model sheets after director
Ben “Bugs” Hardaway (one
of Woody’s co-creators, incidentally), and press material would come to adopt
that as Bugs’ official name.
Daffy Duck is a glory-seeker who is jealous of the
attention and fame Bugs gets over him (since, in reality, Bugs DID replace
Daffy as WB’s biggest star). First appearing as a bit player in
Porky’s Duck Hunt (1937) by Tex Avery, audiences were
taken with the assertive and combative protagonist. Initially resembling a real
duck, Daffy was altered over time into a more anthropomorphic form. Daffy was
originally zany and insane, bouncing all over the place. He was gradually toned
down, portrayed as good or villainous as a role required, with varying levels
of narcissism. For a time, he was paired up with Porky as his rival, and later
his straight man, until settling into the rivalry with Bugs. Also portrayed by
Blanc, he was given a lisp due to his belief that the large mandible would make
it hard for Daffy to pronounce certain words. The voice was the only constant
in Daffy’s evolution, with the lisp steadily gaining more prominence.
Porky Pig was the original Looney Tune, first appearing
in 1935’s I Haven’t Got a Hat by Friz
Freleng and named after the nicknames of two of Freleng’s childhood classmates:
“Porky” and “Piggy”. Porky evolved from a shy little boy to a fat adult to a
slimmer, sweeter-looking, cuter young adult. After a brief stint as an
antagonist, Porky became an innocent traveler of the world taking in all its
wonders, serving as the straight man for more wacky and zany characters such as
Daffy. Porky’s stutter was incorporated into the character when Joe Dougherty
was cast in the role as he had a stutter himself. However, his inability to
control that stutter started making his recording sessions expensive,
necessitating his replacement with Blanc. Blanc kept the stutter, but used it
for comedic effect; typically by using it to give Porky trouble with a simple
word and forcing him to replace it with a more complicated one. Porky’s most
prominent role was appearing at the end of many shorts, bursting out of a drum
and saying the tagline “Th-th-that’s all, folks!”
Elmer Fudd is a
hapless huntsman who most often goes after Bugs with a double-barrel shotgun.
However, depending who you ask, Elmer didn’t start out as Elmer. He appeared as
Egghead in
Egghead Rides Again (1937)
by Tex Avery; sporting a bulbous nose, an egg-shaped head with a bowl haircut,
and eccentric clothing. In fact, the name “Elmer Fudd” first appeared on the
side of a scooter Egghead rode in
A Feud There Was (1938). Eventually, Egghead began a
design transition in
Chuck Jones’
Elmer’s Candid Camera (1940) that gave way to his more
familiar appearance in
A Wild Hare;
with a slimmer body, rounder bald head, smaller nose, and always wearing
hunting gear (unless the plot provided him some other occupation). Initially
voiced by
Danny Webb in an
imitation of
Joe Penner, he was
eventually replaced by
Arthur Q. Bryan who
introduced Elmer’s milk-sop voice and penchant to replace the “r” and “l” in
words when he spoke with a “w” sound. In fact, for a brief time in the early
40s, Elmer was rendered fatter after Bryan’s appearance, but the change proved
unpopular with audiences and the slimmer Elmer returned for good. Beginning in
the 1970s, Blanc, who had performed the role sporadically during Bryan’s
tenure, would permanently assume the character until his death.
Yosemite Sam
is the other prominent male human Looney Tune and the anti-Elmer; exhibiting a fierier
temper and violent tendencies, especially towards Bugs. First appearing in
Hare Trigger (1945) by Friz Freleng, after an early
version appeared the year before in
Stage Door Cartoon,
Sam is defined by his diminutive height and long red mustache and is often
depicted as a cowboy (although he has had other professions when the need
arose). Freleng created Sam to be a more worthy adversary for Bugs, exhibiting
slightly more intelligence than Elmer but still managing to be a dimwit. Blanc
had a hard time coming up with a voice for Sam, until he was inspired by an
incident of road rage to try yelling at the top of his lungs. The bigger voice
fit Sam, but left Blanc sore, necessitating recording all his lines at the end
of a session. Unable to continue performing the role in his advancing years,
Blanc handed it off to
Joe Alaskey, making it
one of the rare instances where a character Blanc originated was done by
someone else within his lifetime.
Sylvester is a
black and white cat determined to catch and devour one
Tweety
Bird, created by Friz Freleng and Bob Clampett. From 1941-44,
prototypes of Sylvester appeared before he made his first official appearance
in 1945’s
Life With Feathers.
In 1950, Sylvester gained the additional role of father when his son,
Sylvester Jr.,
was introduced in
Pop ‘im Pop! and was taught in the ways of being a
mouser. Blanc used a variation of Daffy’s voice for Sylvester, but without the
post-edit speeding up of his recording. Blanc also voiced Sylvester Jr. A
frequent gag involved saliva flying out of Sylvester’s mouth as he talked,
sometimes drenching anyone nearby.
Tweety is a small yellow bird who often uses his
smarts to outwit and stay ahead of cats who want to eat him, particularly
Sylvester. Created by Bob Clampett in 1942’s
A Tale of Two Kitties,
Tweety was originally a wild, featherless bird named “Orson.” He was also
decidedly more aggressive, maliciously taking down any foes. Once Friz Freleng
took over Tweety’s shorts, he made Tweety cuter and sweeter (although still
with moments of maliciousness), and added yellow feathers. Blanc provided
Tweety’s voice, sped up in post-production. Tweety, like Elmer, features a speech
impediment where certain letters sound like others, most notably in his
catchphrase “I tawt I taw a puddy tat!”
Tasmanian Devil
is a lean, mean, ravenously hungry spinning machine. Taz is ferocious and
dim-witted, always driven by finding more food to feed his never-ending hunger.
He travels by spinning in a tornado-like fashion, which allows him to bore
through almost any surface. Created by Robert McKimson in
Devil May Hare
(1954), Taz’s character traits were based on the real-life animal for which he
was named. However, his appearance featured references to various kinds of
devils; such as his horned hair in regards to the horns the
mythological
Devil is always depicted as having and his spinning modeled after a
dust
devil whirlwind. Taz’s career was almost cut short when head of WB
Edward Selzer
shelved the character, believing him too violent for children. Later studio
head
Jack
Warner had the decision reversed upon receiving tons of requests for
more adventures with the character. However, his popularity would only come
from television appearances as the WB animation studio closed after producing
just five Taz shorts. Blanc provided Taz’s voice through 1983, which mostly
consisted of intelligible sound effects with brief moments of savage-like
dialogue. Taz’s next appearance wouldn’t come until after Blanc’s death.
Pepe Le Pew
is a French skunk always looking for love. Created by Chuck Jones, he loosely
based the character of fellow WB staffer
Tedd Pierce, who was a
self-styled “ladies’ man” that believed his interests were always reciprocated.
As a result, Pepe’s shorts usually featured him chasing after a female skunk
(or another animal who was accidentally given a white stripe to resemble a
skunk), professing his undying love. Also, there’s Pepe’s obliviousness to the
fact that, as a skunk, he stinks. Jones described Pepe as a bit of wish
fulfilment on his part, being that he was always shy with women. Pepe first
appeared as Stinky in
Odor-able Kitty (1945). Blanc based Pepe’s voice on
Charles
Boyer’s Pepe le Moko from
Algiers (1938), which was also a variation on
his “Professor LeBlanc” voice from
The Jack Benny
Program.
Speedy Gonzales
is the fastest mouse in Mexico. Initially created by Robert McKimson for
Cat-Tails for Two (1953), Speedy was more of a
generic-looking mouse character; sporting a crop of black hair, buck-teeth and
a red t-shirt. The name came from a joke about a Mexican man named “Speedy”
because of his tendency for premature ejaculation or quick copulation. Friz
Freleng and
Hawley Pratt redesigned
Speedy in 1955’s
Speedy Gonzales to further resemble a Mexican
archetype, giving him white clothing, a neckerchief, and a sombrero. Originally,
Speedy’s rival was Sylvester, but eventually became Daffy in the 1960s. Blanc
provided the voice, utilizing a Mexican accent and some Spanish phrasing. Over
the years, criticism about Speedy’s embodiment of offensive stereotypes have
resulted in the character’s diminished use, and the lack of rotation of his
shorts on television.
Wile E. Coyote
and the
Road Runner,
debuting in
Fast and Furry-ous (1949), are a pair of rivals created by
Chuck Jones as a parody of the cat-and-mouse series of cartoons. Wile E. always
pursues the extremely fast Road Runner in order to eat him, using a variety of
contraptions and gadgets (which usually malfunction) provided by the
ACME Corporation.
Jones based Wile E.’s appearance on the description of a coyote from
Mark
Twain’s
Roughing It
as an allegory of want, and early model sheets had his name as “Don Coyote”
after
Don Quixote.
Road Runner’s appearance was based on animator
Ken Harris.
Traditionally, Wile E. is always silent, sometimes communicating by holding up
a sign, while Road Runner says only “Beep, Beep!” There have been instances
where Wile E. has talked, voiced originally by Blanc.
Granny is the third
prominent human in the franchise. She is often depicted as the owner of Tweety,
and occasionally Sylvester. After several prototype characters had appeared in
earlier shorts, Granny was formalized in 1950’s
Canary Row by Friz Freleng. She often foils
Sylvester’s plots to get Tweety, although she has made appearances in shorts
without either of them. Initially voiced by Bea Benaderet,
June Foray
assumed the role in 1955 and had been her primary voice for the next six
decades. Despite Granny’s advanced age and sweet nature, she was deceptively
spry and clever.
With the rise of television, the Looney Tunes
gradually made the transition; first in rebroadcasts of their theatrical shorts
in syndicated packages, and eventually in their own all-new programs. And some
of those programs ran on Saturday mornings…
