Willoughby (Looney Tunes)
Willoughby is a minor animated cartoon fictional character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. He is a hound dog who is characterized by his below-average intelligence[1] and overall gullibility.
Willoughby | |
---|---|
![]() Willoughby and Bugs Bunny in The Heckling Hare | |
First appearance | Of Fox and Hounds (1940) |
Created by | Tex Avery |
Voiced by | Tex Avery (1940–1941) Kent Rogers (1941–1942) Mel Blanc (1942–1947) Pinto Colvig (1942) Tedd Pierce (1944) Stan Freberg (1952) |
In-universe information | |
Alias | Willoughby Rosebud Laramore Sylvester |
Species | Dog |
Gender | Male |
History
Willoughby first appeared in the 1940 cartoon Of Fox and Hounds. He was created and voiced by Tex Avery.[2][3] According to Chuck Jones, the character was based on Lennie, from Of Mice and Men (of which the title of Of Fox and Hounds is a knockoff). Critic Steven Hartley described this short as lacking in creativity, originality, excitement, and story construction, particularly compared to Avery's seminal earlier work A Wild Hare.[4]
Willoughby later appears in other Warner Brothers animated shorts, including The Heckling Hare (1941),[5] The Crackpot Quail (1941),[6] and Nutty News (1942), as the lead dog of a fox hunting party. A fundamentally similar character, Laramore, appears in To Duck or Not to Duck (1943), albeit with a fully brown coat of fur. Willoughby's brief career was essentially over before the end of World War II.
These dogs were mostly similar character design in Porky's Bear Facts (1941), A Corny Concerto (1943), Hare Ribbin' (1944), The Goofy Gophers (1946), and possibly Inki at the Circus (1947).
Appearances
- Of Fox and Hounds (1940)
- The Crackpot Quail (1941)
- The Heckling Hare (1941)
- Nutty News (1942) (cameo in a B&W cartoon)
- The Hep Cat (1942) (as Rosebud)
- Ding Dog Daddy (1942)
- To Duck or Not to Duck (1943) (as Laramore)
- An Itch in Time (1943)
- Hare Force (1944) (as Sylvester)
- A Horse Fly Fleas (1947) (shaped like the Barnyard Dawg)
- Foxy by Proxy (1952)
In other media
Willoughby was planned to be made as a cameo in the deleted scene "Acme's Funeral" from the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He also appears with other animated characters scared when Casper appears at the funeral.[7]
References
- T. K. Kelly. "Distasteful Toons: the Top 5 Most Offensive Looney Tunes Characters". Top 5. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
- Dave Mackey. "Warner Bros. Cartoon Filmography – 1940 (Of Fox and Hounds)". Dave Mackey Dot Com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2010. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- Eric O. Costello. "Avery, Frederick Bean (Tex) (1908-1980)". Warner Bros. Cartoon Companion. Archived from the original on April 30, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- Steve Hartley (November 2, 2013). "309. Of Fox and Hounds (1940)". Likely Loonie, Mostly Merrie. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- Steve Hartley (May 29, 2014). "334. The Heckling Hare (1941)". Likely Loonie, Mostly Merrie. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- Steve Hartley (March 9, 2014). "317. The Crackpot Quail (1941)". Likely Loonie, Mostly Merrie. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- Hill, Jim. "Storyboards reveal what Marvin Acme's funeral in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" would have looked like". jimhillmedia.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.