![]() Įgghead has the distinction of being the first recurring character created for Leon Schlesinger's Merrie Melodies series (to be followed by such characters as Sniffles, Inki, and even Bugs Bunny), which had previously contained only one-shot characters, although during the Harman-Ising era, Foxy, Goopy Geer, and Piggy each appeared in a few Merrie Melodies. One animation history suggests that the Egghead character was based on Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoonist and entertainer Robert Ripley, while the name Elmer Fudd might have been a reference to the then-popular hunter Elmer Keith. More recently, he also made a cameo appearance at the end of Looney Tunes: Back in Action and was also given in his own story, which starred him alongside Pete Puma, in the Looney Tunes comic book. ![]() Egghead returned decades later in the compilation film Daffy Duck's Quackbusters. Egghead shifts from having a Moe Howard haircut to being bald, and wears a brown derby, a baggy suit, and a high-collared shirt. ![]() In A Feud There Was (1938), Egghead made his entrance riding a motor scooter with the words "Elmer Fudd, Peacemaker" displayed on the side, the first onscreen use of that name. Egghead continued to make appearances in the Warner cartoons in 1938, such as in The Isle of Pingo Pongo and A-Lad-In Bagdad. However, animation historian Michael Barrier asserts, "The Egghead-Elmer story is actually a little messy, my sense being that most of the people involved, whether they were making the films or publicizing them, not only had trouble telling the characters apart but had no idea why they should bother trying."Įgghead made his second appearance in 1937's Little Red Walking Hood and then in 1938 teamed with Warner Bros.' newest cartoon star Daffy Duck in Daffy Duck & Egghead. Many cartoon historians believe that Egghead evolved into Elmer over a period of a couple of years. Egghead initially was depicted as having a bulbous nose, funny/eccentric clothing, a voice like Joe Penner (provided either by radio mimic Danny Webb or actor Cliff Nazarro) and an egg-shaped head. Tex Avery introduced a new character in his cartoon short Egghead Rides Again, released July 17, 1937. 5 Elmer's Viking Enemies From "Hocus Pocus".An earlier character named Egghead set some of Elmer's aspects before the character's more conspicuous features were set. The best known Elmer Fudd cartoons include Chuck Jones' work What's Opera, Doc? (one of the few times Fudd bested Bugs, though he felt bad about it), the Rossini parody Rabbit of Seville, and the "Hunting Trilogy" of "Rabbit Season/Duck Season" shorts ( Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning, and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!) with Fudd, Bugs Bunny, and Daffy Duck. Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits", as well as his trademark laughter. ![]() He speaks in an unusual way, replacing his Rs and Ls with Ws, so he often refers to Bugs Bunny as a "scwewy" or "wascawwy (rascally) wabbit". His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring himself and other antagonizing characters. cartoon pantheon (second only to Bugs himself). He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. And what could be more terrifying than to say something you feel is funny, only to be met by silence? The laugh is Elmer’s version of “er,” a meaningless verbal gesture that falls into the category of displacement activities.Born In December 1988, Elmer Fudd is a rabbit hunter. Occasionally the little “ha, ha, ha” is delivered as if he expects his audience to laugh with him, but of course nobody responds. The famous nervous laugh–he is really neither laughing nor crying–represents his attempt to buy time as he assesses a situation. He generally sounds as if he is about to cry, a mannerism that is an expression of his constant anxiety. Elmer is more widely known for his voice than for his personality. I just hunt for the sport of it.” In a way, I am excusing him for what he is. This makes it hard for me to identify with with Elmer, but the part of Elmer Fudd that is Chuck Jones comes out when he defends his motive: “I’m a vegetawian. I am, in fact, one of the few men of my age I know who has never done so. It was–and is–a classic practice for a man to dress up like Elmer Fudd and go out to shoot something in the woods. When I was growing up, it was considered quite normal to buy a boy his first BB gun at an early age, soon to be followed by a more lethal. Elmer Fudd is smaller than many of Bugs’s adversaries, but he carries a big gun, which makes even the saddest of wimps dangerous. ![]()
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