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The original star character of the Warner Bros. cartoon studio, created by Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising as the studio's answer to Mickey Mouse. While Bosko had little to no personality, he was fairly popular during the early 30's. He later migrated with his creators to MGM in 1933, where he made a few more appearances (complete with a full on redesign into a black kid) in their Happy Harmonies cartoons before being abandoned altogether. He managed to make one last appearance in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Fields of Honey", although he was redesigned to have dog ears, obviously due to the stir it would cause seeing a cartoon caricature of a black person in today's society.
Debut: "Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (1929)" (1929), Harman-Ising
Voiced By: Carman "Max" Maxwell (1929-1930), Johnny Murray (1930-1933), Billie Thomas (1937-1938), Don Messick (1990)
Tropes:
A shameless Mickey Mouse clone made by former Disney employee Rudolph Ising to be the headlining star of the Merrie Melodies series. Appearance and personality was nearly indistinguishable from Mickey, although Foxy was noticeably more aggressive. Only lasted for three shorts, as Walt Disney quickly got wind of the ripoff and personally asked Rudy to stop using him. However, he made a brief return in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Two-Tone Town".
Debut: Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (1931), Ising
Voiced By: Johnny Murray (1931), Rob Paulsen (1992)
Tropes:
- Art Evolution: His Tiny Toons appearance completely redesigned him to look less like a Mickey Mouse clone.
- Captain Ersatz: As mentioned already, he is one of the most blatant attempts at ripping off of Mickey Mouse ever done.
- The Everyman: Foxy was a gallopin', beer guzzling gaucho in his first short, a trolley driver in the next (although that was All Just a Dream) and a traffic cop in his final short.
- Flat Character: Like the character he ripped off in the first place, he's a fairly scrappy character but otherwise devoid of any distinctive personality traits.
- Mocky Mouse: The first and probably most obvious one in history.
- Named by the Adaptation: While Foxy's name is mentioned briefly in "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile", his girlfriend Roxy is never named on-screen in their cartoons. She got her official names years later in their appearance in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Two-Tone Town". An interview with Rudy Ising also leads credence that his girlfriend was originally meant to be named Fluffynote , making it a case of Adaptational Name Change as well.
- Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: Reportedly, Walt Disney only needed to make one phone call telling the animators to cease and desist.
- Retraux: The Tiny Toons episode he and Roxy appear in serves as a throwback to cartoons from The Golden Age of Animation, right down to everything being Deliberately Monchrome.
- Unexplained Recovery: He is shown as being fine in a Tiny Toons episode that aired just shy of sixty-one years after the Cruel Twist Ending of "One More Time" appeared to have Dropped a Bridge on Him.
A Captain Ersatz of Foxy after legal issues forced the former character into early retirement. Like all of Harman and Ising's characters, he was nondescript in personality. He made two appearances in the Merrie Melodies series, in "You Don't Know What You're Doin'" and "Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land". On another note, another character appeared a few years later that was also called Piggy in the Friz Freleng cartoon Pigs Is Pigs and "At Your Service, Madame" although that character was a gluttonous little kid who had nothing in common with this earlier character.
Debut: "You Dont Know What Youre Doin" (1931), Ising
Voiced By: Carman "Max" Maxwell or Johnny Murray
- Captain Ersatz: Of Foxy.
- Composite Character: Hampton from Tiny Toon Adventures would incorporate the Friz Freleng Piggy's gluttony while still portraying him as a younger counterpart of Porky.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: After being the main heroic character of At Your Service, Madame where he leads a rescue of his mother from a swindler posing as a lover, Piggy becomes the Villain Protagonist of his next and final appearance in Pigs is Pigs. Whereas in the former short he was devoted to his family, in the latter he gleefully eats all their food at dinnertime forcing them to go hungry.
- Villainous Glutton: In Pigs Is Pigs, Piggy causes most of the trouble himself thanks to his greed for food and is not very sympathetic.
A happy go lucky pianist with loads of talent and a real crowd stealer. Has an slight resemblance to Goofy, but in this case, Goopy Geer came about a month before Goofy (or, Dippy Dawg as he was known then) appeared in "Mickey's Revue." Only lasted four shorts and was the last attempt of the original Harman and Ising operated animation studio to make an original character. However, he also make a brief comeback along with Foxy in Tiny Toon Adventures "Two-Tone Town".
Debut: Goopy Geer (1932), Ising
Voiced By: Robert Morse (1932)
- Alliterative Name: Goopy Geer
- Captain Ersatz: Averted. Despite whatever impression you'd get from his likeness and name, he predates Goofy's bit player debut (as Dippy Dawg) in Mickey's Revue by a month. Their similarities are purely a coincidence.
- Flat Character: He's giddy and a very talented piano player, but that's about all he has going for him.
An Expy of Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid that was hastily created after Harman and Ising split with Leon's studio and took the rights to Bosko with them. His shorts are noteworthy, if only for being some of the blandest, dullest cartoons to come from that time period. He made a brief comeback in the Animaniacs episode "Warners 65th Anniversary Special", in which he tried to inflict revenge on the Warner siblings, who in their universe, destroyed Buddy's career. (they were brought in to spice up his boring cartoons, via hitting him in the head with a mallet over and over again) Voiced by Jim Cummings in the latter special.
Debut: "Buddys Day Out" (1933), Tom Palmer
Voiced By: Jack Carr (1933-1935), Jim Cummings (1994)
- Achilles in His Tent: At the climax of "Buddy's Bearcats", the Bearcats and the Bruisers are tied 47-47 and Buddy's fans are clamoring for him to come out, while he paces nervously in the bullpen, until Cookie convinces him to step up to bat, whence he hits the winning home run.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the Warners Special, he becomes the Big Bad.
- Bowdlerize: "Buddy's Show Boat", when shown on Nickelodeon, had a scene with coal-shovelers in blackface deleted, along with the scene of the Zulu native imitating Maurice Chevalier being edited to remove his introduction by Buddy as "Chief Saucer Lip".
- Butt-Monkey: In the Animaniacs universe, the Warner Bros. and Sister got their starring roles by starring cartoons consisting of whacking Buddy in the head with a mallet over and over again.
- Composite Character: His girlfriend Cookie was a Captain Ersatz of Honey but with a design similar to Betty Boop.
- Drag Queen: At the end of "Buddy's Beer Garden", Buddy performs in drag as a Mae West caricature.
- Expy: Of Bosko, with a touch of Columbia Cartoons' Scrappy. Bob Clampett even jokingly nicknamed him "Bosko in Whiteface". His girlfriend Cookie, excluding her brief redesign by Jack King, is a blatant Betty Boop knockoff.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Not in the original cartoons, where he had a standard falsetto voice, but definitely in his return in the Warners Special. When disguised, he has the exact same voice as Pete and Jim Cummings' take on Dr. Robotnik.
- Flat Character: Until his comeback, when he got a little more personality.
- Lower-Deck Episode: "Buddy Steps Out" focuses on Buddy's animated portrait and various other Animate Inanimate Objects in Cookie's home while the real Buddy and Cookie are out on a date.
- Stepford Smiler: Prior to him revealing his evil plans in the Warners 65th Anniversary Special.
- Supporting Protagonist: Particularly noticeable in his first short, where he isn't even really the main character; Cookie's baby brother Elmer fills that role, with Buddy's role mostly being limited to saving the day at the end. Aside from that, in many of his shorts he tends to be a bystander who just serves to link musically-based scenes together.
One of several characters made by Friz Freleng in a desperate attempt to reinvigorate their studio, Beans the Cat was meant to be the big star of the studio—only for that position to go to Beans' sidekick, Porky Pig. Beans was initially somewhat popular, likely because he had a rebellious streak that Buddy was sorely lacking, but as that aspect of his personality faded, so did his popularity.
Debut: "I Haven't Got A Hat" (1935), Freleng
Voiced By: Billy Bletcher, Tommy Bond
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He only appeared in 11 shorts (2 of them being cameos) during 1935-1936 before being abandoned completely. While Bosko will later appear in one episode of Tiny Toon Adventures and Buddy in one episode of Animaniacs, Beans ends up being completely forgotten and is never used in modern adaptations.
- Expy: Of Buddy, with a bit of Felix the Cat thrown in as well. He even has a girlfriend named Little Kitty (A parody of Felix's girlfriend's name, Kitty).
- Flat Character: He had at least something resembling a personality when directed by Freleng, or in his sole outing for Tex Avery. Unfortunately, Jack King (who directed most of his shorts) tended to play him as a feline version of Buddy, ensuring that he got eclipsed by Porky.
- Karmic Trickster: In his first couple of shorts.
- Punny Name: He and Porky's names were a play on "Pork N' Beans".
- Wacky Racing: "Alpine Antics" sees him participate in a wacky ski race.
Two puppy twins that were part of Friz's attempt to make a batch of star characters for the studio. They appeared in five cartoons, and were promptly forgotten.
Debut: "I Haven't Got A Hat" (1935), Freleng
Voiced By: Berneice Hansell and Billy Bletcher
- Always Identical Twins: They look identical to each other.
- Art Evolution: Their cameo appearance in Back In Action slightly redesigns them to be chubbier and more in line with the other Looney Tunes characters, as opposed to the rubberhose style they were originally drawn as.
- The Cameo: Despite being absent from the franchise since the mid-1930s, they make a very brief cameo appearance, playing poker with many other of the Looney Tunes dog characters, in the casino scene of Looney Tunes: Back In Action. They also make brief cameos in the ending of an episode of Wabbit, "Splashwater Bugs".
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: They only appear in four shorts.
- Punny Name: Their names are a play on Ham and Eggs.
Debut: "I Haven't Got A Hat" (1935), Freleng
The fourth member of the batch of characters Friz Freleng made for "I Haven't Got a Hat".
- Alliterative Name: Oliver Owl.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He disappears after a few shorts.
- Flat Character: You should know by now that the original shorts went through a LOT of dud characters before we got the stars of today.
- Mouthy Bird: He has a big wide mouth with a small hooked beak-like nose above it.
- The Owl-Knowing One: For all his lack of characterization, he's described as a very competent piano player in his debut, and he seems knowledgeable enough to hold the position of a film director in "Hollywood Capers".
- Species Surname: He is an owl.
Debut: "I Haven't Got A Hat" (1935), Freleng
Voiced By: Berneice Hansell
The fifth member of Friz's group of characters for "I Haven't Got a Hat". Served as a love interest for Beans on one occasion, as well as the daughter of Porky Pig in one short.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappears after a few shorts.
- Flat Character: A Distaff Counterpart to Beans who is also a Flat Character himself.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Looks like Beans with feminine clothes and a pink hat.
Created as an attempt to serve as a comic foil for Porky Pig, Gabby Goat was a short tempered jerk that was essentially the Looney Tunes answer to Donald Duck in terms of character. However, audiences found him too unlikable to be a hit, and in order for his chemistry with Porky to work, the latter character had to be derailed into a bumbling idiot, which was a no go, so Gabby was quickly phased out, with Daffy Duck serving as Porky's more appropriate foil later down the road. (Which is telling when "Porky's Badtime Story" was remade as "Tick Tock Tuckered" years later, with Gabby replaced by Daffy.)
Debut: "Porky and Gabby" (1937), Ub Iwerks
Voiced By: Mel Blanc (1937), Bob Bergen (2018-present)
- Alliterative Name: Gabby Goat.
- The Bus Came Back: Gabby was resurrected after 80 years for appearances in Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production, starting with "Gettin' Your Goat".
- Gender-Blender Name: Nowadays, Gabby is usually considered a female name, short for Gabrielle.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: The Looney Tunes answer to Donald Duck.
- Jerkass: An abrasive, short-tempered jerk who serves as a Foil to Porky.
- Motor Mouth: There's a reason he's called Gabby, after all.
- Shoo Out the New Guy: He only appeared in 3 shorts during the late 1930's, due to being perceived as too unlikable, as mentioned previously. Storyboards for "Porky's Party" reveal he was planned to have a fourth appearance, but he was replaced with a penguin in the final cartoon. It took 80 years for him to make another appearance in the franchise.
- Species Surname: He's a goat.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: Was intended as the Wise Guy to Porky's Straight Man. Later cartoons would show that Porky works off wackier characters better than meaner ones.
An odd little man, with an eccentric dress sense. He appeared in 13 shorts altogether. Along the way, he became "dubbed" Elmer and he is now acknowledged to be the prototype for Elmer Fudd — indeed Elmer would inherit Egghead's dress sense. Egghead would go on to make cameos in Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and Looney Tunes Cartoons, as well as appearances in the comic books.
Debut: Egghead Rides Again (1937), Avery
Voiced By: Mel Blanc, Arthur Q. Bryan, Danny Webb
- Drop-In Character: In most of his appearances, he's used a gag dropping in on the action, but not really contributing to the plot.
- Flat Character: Really doesn't have much of a personality. Since he's only had any actual role in a few of his appearances, this is a given.
- Meaningful Name: His head is shaped, well like an egg.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His voice and mannerisms are borrowed from radio comedian Joe Penner.
Originally created by Ben Hardaway as a Captain Ersatz for Daffy Duck, this rabbit character shares many of the same traits as Daffy, but also serves as a very early prototype for the later, more fleshed out Bugs Bunny. But wheras Bugs was more defensive, Genre Savvy and collected, this wild hare was loaded with motivation and energy and went out causing trouble on sheer principle, although Hare-Um Scare-Um showed us that he could be just as resourceful as the later Bugs. This prototype appeared in five shorts: "Porky's Hare Hunt", "Hare-Um Scare-Um", "Presto Change-o", "Patient Porky" (in the opening) and "Elmer's Candid Camera".
When Hardaway left Warner Bros. for the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, he would later take the traits of this character and use them to create Lantz's biggest star of the 40's, Woody Woodpecker.
Debut: "Porky's Hare Hunt" (1938), Ben Hardaway
Voiced By: Mel Blanc
- Art Evolution: He started off looking like a tiny white rabbit, but by 1939 he had sprouted apricot fur and started looking more like the Bugs we remember.
- Captain Ersatz: Woody Woodpecker is one of this prototype.
- The Cameo:
- Pops up for a gag early in "Patient Porky".
- He makes a blink and you'll miss it cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- He was going to appear in Looney Tunes: Back in Action in the original ending until that ending was scrapped (but can be seen as an extra on the DVD).
- In the Wabbit episode "One Carroter in Search of an Artist", he makes a cameo appearance when the animator redraws Bugs to look like him.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Being an Expy of Daffy Duck's 1930s incarnation, he is naturally this.
- Disguised in Drag: Another trait that successor Bugs would use quite often. "Hare-Um Scare-Um" has him pose as a female dog to put one over on the hunter's pooch.
- Explosive Breeder: His cameo in "Patient Porky" makes light of this, as he changes the hospital's "Today's Births" chalkboard to reflect a sudden increase for rabbits (from 490 to 750).
- Hammerspace: One distinguishing trait this character had was that he could pull objects out of thin air like magic in "Presto Change-O" and "Hare-Um Scare-Um", something that would be integrated into the fully realized Bugs Bunny.
- Jerkass: Especially in "Elmer's Candid Camera", where the Proto-Bugs heckled poor Elmer just because he was taking pictures of wild life. He was probably the reason why Elmer took up hunting in the first place.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: "Presto Change-O" is a rare occasion where he didn't get the last laugh, like he did with his preceding opponents. He harasses the Two Curious Puppies without provocation, but before he can pull a disappearing act at the end of the short, the larger dog manages to grab him and punch his lights out.
- Mad Hatter: In "Hare Um Scare Um", he is unabashably crazy, and proud of it.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He was very small in his first three appearances, but very strong and fast. "Elmer's Candid Camera" brought him up to about as tall as Elmer, however.
- Super-Strength: A mild example, but in Porky's Hare Hunt, he snapped Porky's rifle like a twig.
