Pete Puma

Pete Puma
Species:	Puma
Gender:	Male
Debut appearance:	"Rabbit's Kin" (15 November 1952)
Created by:	Robert McKimson
Portrayed by:	Stan Freberg (1952–2010) Joe Alaskey (1990–1991) John Kassir (2011–2020) Jess Harnell (2015) Stephen Stanton (2021–present)

Pete Puma is a character from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts.

Origin

Bugs asking Pete who he is looking for

Pete made his debut on 15 November 1952 in "Rabbit's Kin", a Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Robert McKimson. He is often vividly remembered by cartoon fans, especially for his bizarre, inhaled, almost wheezing laugh (based on comedian Frank Fontaine's "Crazy Guggenheim" character). His inhaled chortling sound is "Ihhhhhhhh!" In "Rabbit's Kin", Pete is chasing a young rabbit named "Shorty", who asks Bugs Bunny for help. Bugs is eager to oblige, and subjects Pete to some of his trademark pranks.

Pete Puma's voice was used (though not by Freberg) in two Sylvester cartoons titled "Trick or Tweet" and "Mouse and Garden" in 1959 and 1960 respectively for Sam Cat.

Stan Freberg provides commentary for "Rabbit's Kin" on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, but spends most of his time simply repeating Pete Puma's lines in the Pete Puma voice instead of providing any real insight on the creative process.

Pete Puma appears as a mountain lion named Rocky in the Elmer Fudd cartoon "What's My Lion?", although he is not the same character.

Pete Puma later made occasional appearances in Tiny Toon Adventures, mostly as the Acme Looniversity janitor, sometimes as a firefighter, and as a chef/cook of the Acme Acres Country Club.

Pete Puma appeared in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode "Good Bird Hunting". where he fights with Sylvester to eat Tweety.

Pete Puma had multiple roles in The Looney Tunes Show, such as being a zookeeper, a past friend of Daffy's, working at Pizzarriba, being on a bowling team, etc.

Pete Puma first appears in New Looney Tunes in the two-part episode "Tweet Team" as one of Sylvester's minions. He makes multiple appearances afterwards alongside Sylvester and Claude Cat in episodes such as "DarkBat" and "Puppy's Got Claws", where they form a feline comedy trio.

Pete Puma appeared in the Looney Tunes Cartoons episodes "Puma Problems" and "Bottoms Up", once again paired with Bugs Bunny.

Appearances

Cartoons

• "Rabbit's Kin" (1952)
• "What's My Lion?" (1961)
• "Carrotblanca" (1995, cameo)
• "Pullet Surprise" (1997)

In other media

The films:

• Space Jam (cameo)
• Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (cameo)
• Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
• Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run

Tiny Toon Adventures episodes:

• "Citizen Max"
• "Looniversity Daze"
• "Who Bopped Bugs Bunny?"
• "Viewer Mail Day"
• "Going Places"

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode:

• "Good Bird Hunting"

The Looney Tunes Show episodes:

• "Reunion"
• "Devil Dog"
• "To Bowl Or Not To Bowl"
• "Sunday Night Slice"
• "Working Duck"
• "The Muh-Muh-Muh-Murder" (cameo)
• "Point, Laser Point" (cameo in Merrie Melodies)
• "Bobcats on Three!" (cameo)
• "You've Got Hate Mail" (cameo)
• "A Christmas Carol" (cameo)
• "Dear John" (in Merrie Melodies)
• "Spread Those Wings and Fly" (cameo)
• "The Grand Old Duck of York" (cameo)
• "Best Friends Redux" (mentioned)
• "Super Rabbit" (in Merrie Melodies)

New Looney Tunes episodes:

• "Tweet Team"
• "DarkBat"
• "Puppy's Got Claws"
• "CinderPorker"
• "King Bugs and the Island of Lunacy"
• "It Paint All It's Cracked Up to Be"
• "The Loonies"
• "The Legend of Burrito Monday"

Looney Tunes Cartoons shorts:

• "Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!" (cameo)
• S1E22a "Puma Problems"
• S4E10b "Bottoms Up"

Bugs Bunny Builders episodes:

• "Tweety-Go-Round" (cameo)

Gallery

Pete Puma with Foghorn Leghorn

Pete as a firefighter in Tiny Toon Adventures

Pete as a chef with Buster Bunny

Cameo appearance in Space Jam

Design for The Looney Tunes Show

Pete Puma with Daffy & Marvin

Pete as a zookeeper in "Devil Dog"

New Looney Tunes

Pete with Sylvester & Claude

Looney Tunes Cartoons

Model sheet for Looney Tunes Cartoons