Foghorn Leghorn

For the cartoon of the same name starring this character, see The Foghorn Leghorn.
Foghorn Leghorn
Looney Tunes character
First appearance Walky Talky Hawky (August 31, 1946)
Created by Robert McKimson
Warren Foster
Voiced by Mel Blanc (1946–1983, 1989)
Joe Alaskey (1986–2006)[1]
Jeff Bergman (1990–1993, 2002, 2011–present)
Greg Burson (1991–2003)
Billy West (1995)
Bill Farmer (1996–2008)
Frank Gorshin (1996–1997)
Scott Innes (2009)
(see below)
Information
Species Leghorn rooster
Gender Male
Significant other(s) Miss Prissy
Nationality American

Foghorn J. Leghorn is a character that appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons for Warner Bros. Pictures. He was created by Robert McKimson and writer Warren Foster, and starred in 28 cartoons from 1946 to 1963 in the Golden Age of American Animation. All 28 of these cartoons were directed by McKimson.

Inspiration

The character of Foghorn Leghorn was directly inspired by the popular character of Senator Claghorn, a blustery Southern politician played by Kenny Delmar who was a regular character on The Fred Allen Show, a popular radio show of the 1940s. The rooster adopted many of Claghorn's catch phrases, such as "That's a joke, ah say, that's a joke, son." Delmar had based the character of Claghorn upon a Texas rancher who was fond of saying this.[2]

A leghorn is a breed of chicken, and foghorn describes the character's loud, overbearing voice.

According to Leonard Maltin the character's voice was also patterned after a hard-of-hearing West Coast-only radio character from the 1930s, known simply as The Sheriff, on a radio program called Blue Monday Jamboree.[3] The voice has similarities to that of another Mel Blanc voice: Yosemite Sam (a strictly Friz Freleng character); and even more similar to a proto-Sam character in Stage Door Cartoon.

Biography

Foghorn Leghorn[4] is depicted as a large, anthropomorphic white adult Leghorn rooster with a stereotypically Southern accent, a "good ol' boy" speaking style, and a penchant for mischief. The first half of his name is a joke about him being loud and obnoxious, while the second half refers to a breed of chicken (a white leghorn). He first appeared in 1946 in a Henery Hawk film titled Walky Talky Hawky. All of the motion picture Foghorn Leghorn cartoons were directed by Robert McKimson, and the rooster vies with the Tasmanian Devil as the most popular character associated with the director.

Many of the gags involved Foghorn and a canine nemesis (formally known as The Barnyard Dawg within Warner today, though on early model sheets his name is given as George P. Dog) engaging in one-upmanship through a series of pranks. Unlike other Looney Tunes rivalries—with the notable exception of the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner series—Foghorn is often the initial aggressor out of self-amusement and subsequently on the 'losing' end of gags (although the dog sometimes initiates). However it ends, the formula for how it begins is usually the same. Foghorn, humming "Camptown Races" to himself and carrying a wooden fencepost, sneaks up on Dawg while he is sleeping. Foghorn then pulls the Dawg up by his hindquarters and uses the fencepost to give him a thorough spanking. Dawg, now angry, chases after Foghorn barking angrily but can only go as far as the rope he is tied to can stretch. Thus, when the rope becomes taut and he cannot move, he is either yanked back or stopped. In the latter case, he keeps barking at Foghorn who tells him, "Ah, shaddap!" and does something to Dawg to force him to stop. This gag was passed down to the Leghorns' grandson in Feather Bluster, where Foghorn was puzzled as to why the kid was behaving that way and the Dog was all too happy to remind him: "Ain't nothin' wrong with 'im, Foggy, 'cept that he takes after you."

Foghorn was joined in a few episodes by a weasel called 'Bill' who initially attempted to eat him but ended up joining forces to outwit the aforementioned canine.

Other recurring themes throughout the cartoons included the attempts of the diminutive Henery Hawk to catch and eat Foghorn, and the rooster's efforts to woo the widowed hen Miss Prissy, often by babysitting her bookish son, Egghead, Jr..

Foghorn's voice was created by Mel Blanc and was later performed by Jeff Bergman, Joe Alaskey, Bill Farmer, Greg Burson, Jeff Bennett, and Frank Gorshin.[5]

Cartoon appearances

Shorts (1946–63)
All of the 28 shorts from 1946–1963 were directed by Robert McKimson.

  1. Walky Talky Hawky (1946)
  2. Crowing Pains (1947)
  3. The Foghorn Leghorn (1948)
  4. Henhouse Henery (1949)
  5. The Leghorn Blows at Midnight (1950)
  6. A Fractured Leghorn (1950)
  7. Leghorn Swoggled (1951)
  8. Lovelorn Leghorn (1951)
  9. Sock-a-Doodle-Do (1952)
  10. The Egg-Cited Rooster (1952)
  11. Plop Goes the Weasel (1953)
  12. Of Rice and Hen (1953)
  13. Little Boy Boo (1954)
  14. Feather Dusted (1955)
  15. All Fowled Up (1955)
  16. Weasel Stop (1956)
  17. The High and the Flighty (1956)
  18. Raw! Raw! Rooster! (1956)
  19. Fox Terror (1957)
  20. Feather Bluster (1958)
  21. Weasel While You Work (1958)
  22. A Broken Leghorn (1959)
  23. Crockett-Doodle-Do (1960)
  24. The Dixie Fryer (1960)
  25. Strangled Eggs (1961)
  26. The Slick Chick (1962)
  27. Mother Was a Rooster (1962)
  28. Banty Raids (1963)

Miscellaneous

  1. False Hare (cameo appearance, starring Bugs Bunny) (1964)
  2. The Yolk's on You (1980)
  3. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (cameo appearance)
  4. Superior Duck (cameo appearance) (1996), voiced by Frank Gorshin
  5. Space Jam (1996) voiced by Bill Farmer
  6. Pullet Surprise (1997) voiced by Frank Gorshin
  7. Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000) voiced by Jeff Bennett
  8. Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) voiced by Jeff Bennett
  9. Cock-A-Doodle Duel (2004) voiced by Jeff Bennett
  10. GEICO commercial (2011) voiced by Jeff Bennett

Later appearances

Foghorn Leghorn and George P. Dog (Barnyard Dog) in The Egg-Cited Rooster (1952).

Voice actors

In other media

  1. 1980s – Appeared in several Oscar Mayer hot dog commercials. One features an animated Foghorn Leghorn, with an animated hot dog on a bun, on a live-action beach, asking a child what he likes on his roasted Oscar Mayer hot dog. Asked whether he likes it with lots of ketchup or corn relish ("A dog's best friend" according to Foghorn), the kid says he likes his hot dog "with friends", and is now sitting next to a girl, who is also eating an Oscar Mayer hot dog without a bun. Foghorn Leghorn remarks, "I'm starting to feel a little roasted myself". Another one features Foghorn Leghorn instructing a live-action child on the correct way to put fixings on a hot dog, including corn relish. The kid starts eating his own hot dog before Foghorn finishes demonstrating on another hot dog. It ends with Foghorn saying, "I say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks."
  2. In 1980s–1990s Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials,[7] Foghorn is voiced by Joe Alaskey. The film Space Jam contains a reference to this ad campaign; when Foghorn is torched by a Monstar during the ToonSquad/Monstars basketball game, Foghorn says, "Did you order Original Recipe or Extra Crispy?"
  3. Much like Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn had appeared in a GEICO commercial in 2011 (voiced by Jeff Bennett). Here, he is providing narration for an e-book, but motor-mouths as well as ad-libbing constantly and ends up getting clubbed by Henery Hawk off-screen.
  4. He appears in Eminem's music video for the song "Role Model," where he is beaten up by a cartoon version of Eminem.
  5. In an episode of Home Improvement, Tim says that "Samuel Foghorn Leghorn", was a famous American. His older brother, Jeff, states that Foghorn Leghorn was "one smart chicken".
  6. Foghorn Leghorn (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) made an appearance in an episode of Family Guy when he approached Colonel Sanders and explained that he was walking by and noticed the aroma of "eleven herbs and spices". Sanders decapitates Foghorn and the body is running around. The disembodied head says, "Look at that boy! Looks like a chicken with his head...wait a minute", and pauses when he realizes it was himself.
  7. He appeared in the video games Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2, Bugs Bunny: Crazy Castle 3, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Looney Tunes: Space Race, and The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/commercials/KFC/Foghorn-Leghorn/
  2. ↑ ""It's a joke, Son!"", AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, 1, University of California Press, 1971, p. 1190, ISBN 9780520215214
  3. ↑ Scott, Keith (2008). The Origin of Foghorn Leghorn, cartoonresearch.com
  4. ↑ Foghorn Leghorn (character). Internet Movie Database
  5. ↑ Pullet Surprise (1997). imdb.com
  6. ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/game/nintendo-ds/looney-tunes-cartoon-conductor/credits
  7. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of mice and magic: a history of American animated cartoons. New American Library. ISBN 978-0-452-25993-5.
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  1. Foghorn Leghorn at the Internet Movie Database
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