- This article is about the character from "Egghead Rides Again". For the similar character from "Little Red Walking Hood" that is often confused as Egghead, see Elmer Fudd#Early appearances.
- Not to be confused with Egghead Jr., a chick character.
Egghead is a character in Looney Tunes created by Tex Avery. Egghead was the fourth recurring character created for Leon Schlesinger's Merrie Melodies series, which had previously contained only one-shot characters, and the first after Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising's departure to MGM.
History[]
Throughout the late-1930s, Avery used Egghead in most of the character's pictures such as "Egghead Rides Again" and "Daffy Duck and Egghead", while Ben Hardaway, Cal Howard, and Cal Dalton used Egghead in only two cartoons such as "A-Lad-In Bagdad", and "Count Me Out". Egghead was slated to appear in "Confederate Honey" and presumably "The Hardship of Miles Standish", but when Friz Freleng returned and took over Dalton's and Hardaway's director roles, Egghead was scrapped and the recently-finalized Elmer Fudd was used.[2]
Egghead debuted in the 1937 cartoon "Egghead Rides Again". He initially was depicted as having a bulbous nose, and an egg-shaped head, upon which he was bald in his first appearance and had a Moe Howard haircut only in three cartoons such as, "Daffy Duck and Egghead", "A-Lad-In Bagdad", and "Count Me Out". His voice, laugh, and mannerisms were very much like those of Joe Penner, except in his first appearance in "Egghead Rides Again" where his voice and mannerisms were much more like those of Daffy Duck.
Confusion with Elmer Fudd[]
- Main article: Elmer Fudd#Early appearances
It is often confused by documentaries (including ToonHeads), fans, and even Warner Media that Egghead was a predecessor Elmer Fudd, and that he and Elmer in Avery's cartoons starting with "Little Red Walking Hood" were the same individual. However, animation historian Michael Barrier was one of the first to expose the true relation of Elmer to Egghead, stating that the man in "Little Red Walking Hood" is Elmer Fudd, showing Egghead as a separate character. Further approving this theory is the similar character with the name "Elmer" shown on the model sheets for "Little Red Walking Hood", the lobby card for "The Isle of Pingo Pongo", in the cartoon "A Feud There Was", and promotional material at the time.[2] Additionally, the early Elmer Fudd was only used by Avery, whilst Egghead was inherited by Hardaway and Dalton.
Further confusing the matter is that in post-Golden Age media, Egghead is depicted as the early Elmer Fudd design instead of his design where he had hair in "Daffy Duck and Egghead", bearing Elmer Fudd's clothes and derby hat from Avery's cartoons. In official listings of cartoons in DVD/Blu-ray sets by Warner Media, Elmer's early cartoons from "Little Red Walking Hood" to "Believe It or Else" are often mistaken as those of Egghead. But, recently, sets like Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 list Elmer and Egghead as separate characters in the descriptions on the back of their cases.
Filmography[]
Shorts[]
"Egghead Rides Again" (1937)- "Daffy Duck & Egghead" (1938)
- "A-Lad-In Bagdad" (1938)
- "Count Me Out" (1938)
In other media[]
- Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988) - cameo
- Histeria! episode "Music" - cameo
- Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003) - cameo
- Looney Tunes Cartoons ("Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!") (2020) - cameo
Gallery[]
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References[]