Foghorn Leghorn is an anthropomorphic leghorn rooster appearing in Warner Bros. cartoons. Foghorn is a large, anthropomorphic adult rooster with a red head, long red tailfeathers, and yellow talons with short yellow claws. He has a Virginian accent, a "good ol' boy" speaking style, and a penchant for mischief. He has a knack of saying, "I say" as a form of interjection in his speech.
Foghorn Leghorn was directly inspired by the popular character Senator Claghorn, a blustery Southern politician played by Kenny Delmar who was a regular character in The Fred Allen Show, a popular radio show of the 1940s.[3] All of the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons in the Golden Age were directed by Robert McKimson, and the rooster vies with the Tasmanian Devil as the most popular character associated with the director.
History[]
Golden Age[]
Foghorn debuted in 1946 in "Walky Talky Hawky". 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, in a radio program called Blue Monday Jamboree.[4]
Many of the gimmicks involve Foghorn and Barnyard Dawg engaging in one-upmanship through a series of pranks. Unlike other Looney Tunes rivalries, Foghorn is often the initial aggressor out of self-amusement and subsequently on the "losing" end of gimmicks. However, in his and Dawg's debut, it's revealed that the Dawg is the one who started their unstoppable fight.
Most commonly, Leghorn's taking up a plank of wood, while ambling along humming "Camptown Races", coming to the sleeping Barnyard with his front half inside his doghouse, picking up his tail and rapidly whacking (almost always with eight strokes) his exposed rear end. Occasionally, Foghorn sings the song, but replaces "Camptown ladies sing this song..." with "Lump-teen-dozen and a-doo-dah day...". He does not sing any other part of the song, reverting to humming after the DOO-Dah's. Barnyard would give chase, usually with his leash still attached to his collar, until the leash stretched tautly and his barking was replaced by an anguished shriek.
At times, when the dog would continue to bark, he would also yell, "AAAAAAAHHH, shaddap!" In rare cases, Barnyard starts the series of pranks; as such it is somewhat difficult to tell who started the feud. This gag was passed down to Leghorn's grandson in "Feather Bluster", where Foghorn was puzzled as to why the youngster was behaving that way and Barnyard was all too happy to remind him: "Ain't nothin' wrong with 'im, Foggy, 'ceptin' that he takes after you."
Other recurring themes throughout the cartoons included the attempts of the diminutive Henery Hawk or weasel 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.).
He made his final starring role in the 1963 cartoon "Banty Raids", where he takes on a young beatnik rooster who wants a "hot chick." His final appearance in the Golden Age overall was as a cameo in Bugs Bunny's final Golden Age cartoon, "False Hare", at the ending where the Big Bad Wolf suggests creating a chicken club, where Foghorn appears and mentions if someone mentioned his name.
Post-Golden Age[]
A toddler version of Foghorn made appearances in short music videos of Baby Looney Tunes. He starred in only one episode of the show, in which he was trying to fit in with a gang of cool roosters and employed the help of Tweety and his friends before Lola Bunny suggested to just be himself, which came in handy when Barnyard Dawg chased the cool roosters.
Foghorn Leghorn made numerous appearances in Tiny Toon Adventures in numerous roles as Acme Looniversity's Professor of Hound Teasing, Baseball Coach and an obnoxiously loud Librarian. Foghorn appeared in an episode of The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries entitled "Family Circles" and was voiced by Billy West. The rooster appeared in two Chuck Jones shorts of the 1990s, "Superior Duck" (1996) and "Pullet Surprise" (1997), voiced on both occasions by Frank Gorshin. He was part of the Toon Squad team in Space Jam, and was a croupier at Sam's casino in Looney Tunes Back in Action. In addition, Foghorn appeared in commercials for KFC, McDonald's, and GEICO. A character named Mr. Leghorn, based on Foghorn himself, made a pair of appearances in Loonatics Unleashed.
In The Looney Tunes Show, Foghorn is the CEO of Enormocorp. In Bugs Bunny Builders, he is the Mayor of Looneyburg.
In 2024, Foghorn Leghorn became the subject of an internet meme in which he lectures anime characters.[5]
Notes[]
- A leghorn is a breed of chicken, and foghorn refers to the character's loud, overbearing voice.
Filmography[]
- Main article: List of Foghorn Leghorn cartoons
Voice actors[]
- Mel Blanc: 1946-89
- Jeff Bergman: Tiny Toon Adventures, The Plucky Duck Show, The 1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Awards Show Special, The Looney Tunes Show (speaking voice), Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run, New Looney Tunes, Looney Tunes Cartoons, Bugs Bunny Builders, Tiny Toons Looniversity[6]
- Greg Burson: Tiny Toon Adventures, Taz-Mania, "Carrotblanca"
- Joe Alaskey: The Toonite Show Starring Bugs Bunny;[7] Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
- Frank Gorshin: "Superior Duck", "Pullet Surprise"
- Bill Farmer: Space Jam, Looney Tunes Racing, Looney Tunes: Space Race, Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor[8]
- Billy West: The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, Histeria![9]
- Jeff Bennett: Tweety's High-Flying Adventure, Looney Tunes Back in Action, Ani-Mayhem[10]
- Damon Jones: The Looney Tunes Show (singing voice)
- Eric Bauza: Space Jam: A New Legacy[11]
- Scott McNeil: Baby Looney Tunes
- Jeff Bennett: Tweety's High-Flying Adventure, Sprint commercial, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Looney Tunes: Back in Action: The Video Game, "Cock-a-Doodle Duel", A Looney Tunes Sing-A-Long Christmas, Ani-Mayhem, GEICO commercial
- Maurice LaMarche: Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal
Gallery[]
- Main article: Foghorn Leghorn/Gallery
References[]
- ↑ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Looney-Tunes-World-of-Mayhem/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjReMdMVYwo/
- ↑ , ""It's a joke, Son!"", AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, vol. 1, University of California Press, 1971, ISBN 9780520215214, at 1190
- ↑ Scott, Keith (2008). The Origin of Foghorn Leghorn, cartoonresearch.com
- ↑ https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2024-04-26/looney-tunes-foghorn-voice-actor-eric-bauza-takes-part-in-anime-memes/.210224
- ↑ https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/1298931-tiny-toons-looniversity-cast-revealed-max-cartoon-network-series?amp
- ↑ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/rides-attractions/The-Toonite-Show-Starring-Bugs-Bunny/
- ↑ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Looney-Tunes-Cartoon-Conductor/
- ↑ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Histeria/Foghorn-Leghorn/
- ↑ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/rides-attractions/Ani-Mayhem/
- ↑ complex