- This article is about the character. For the cancelled film of the same name, see Pepé Le Pew (film).
Pepé Le Pew is a character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. An anthropomorphic French skunk, Pepé is in search of romance, but his scent, self-delusion, and his overly persistent manner inhibit his efforts. There have been theories that Pepé was based on Maurice Chevalier. However, in the short film Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood, Chuck says Pepé was actually based on himself, but that he was very shy with girls, and Pepé obviously was not. He usually pursues Penelope Pussycat, although he has occasionally mistaken a few other characters such as Sylvester and Claude Cat.
History
Golden Age
Chuck Jones first introduced the character, originally named Stinky, and once called Henry, in the 1945 short "Odor-able Kitty". This differs from later entries in several areas: Pepé spends his time in pursuit of a male cat, who has disguised himself as a skunk with a Limburger scent in order to scare off a bunch of characters mistreating him; in the closing gag, Pepé is revealed to be a philandering, hen-pecked American skunk named Henry with a wife and children. For the remaining cartoons Jones directed, Pepé retained his accent, nationality, and bachelor status throughout.
An antecedent in 1944's "I Got Plenty of Mutton" is a ram called Killer Diller that behaves very much as Pepé later would, pursuing a reluctant female, speaking with a French accent (Mel Blanc used the same voice as he would for Pepé), smothering the female with kisses, constantly turning up in the victim's hiding places, and nonchalantly bouncing after a frantically scrambling target. Chuck Jones, Pepé's creator, wrote that Pepé was based (loosely) on the personality of screenwriter Tedd Pierce, a self-styled "ladies' man" who reportedly always assumed that his infatuations were requited. Jones wrote in his 1989 memoir, Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist, adding, "It was only logical, of course, that Tedd would be in on the beginnings of Pepé Le Pew. … His devotion to women was at times pathetic, at times psychological, but always enthusiastic. Tedd could not really believe that any woman could honestly refuse his honestly stated need for her."[1] In the documentary Chuck Jones Extremes & Inbetweens, Jones says that he also created Pepé because he saw the character as the person he wanted to be as a young man, thinking of himself as "unattractive". Pepé Le Pew was modeled after Charles Boyer's Pépé Le Moko from Algiers, a remake of the 1937 French film Pépé Le Moko.[2] Mel Blanc's voice for the character resembles the one he used for Professor Le Blanc, the harried violin instructor in The Jack Benny Program.
Pepé Le Pew cartoons typically feature the amorous skunk pursuing what he believes is a "female skunk." Usually, however, the supposed female "skunk" is actually a black cat (or another animal painted/wearing black and white) who runs away from Pepé because of either his putrid odor, overly assertive manner, or both, but the skunk won't take "no" for an answer, and hops after her at a leisurely pace.
A running gag often found in the Pepé Le Pew cartoons are instances of the side characters encountering skunks (either Pepé or any cat in skunk disguises, such as Penelope Pussycat) and fleeing away from their putrid odor and/or skunk-like appearances in a comical fashion at the start of the cartoon. Very often, since the Pepé series are set in France beginning with the Academy Award-winning "For Scent-imental Reasons", many of these side characters tend to react to this with exaggerated French accents (and very often, are given minimal dialogue, often nothing more than a repulsed, "Le pew!").
Although Pepé usually mistakes his paramour for a female skunk, in "Past Perfumance", he realizes that his paramour is a cat when her stripe washes off. Undeterred, he proceeds to cover his white stripe with black paint, taking the appearance of a cat before resuming the chase. In some shorts, such as "For Scent-imental Reasons" and "Really Scent", Pepé is pursued in the end instead, usually after having his bad scent removed by excess perfume.
Eddie Selzer, animation producer (and Jones' bitterest foe) at Warner Bros. Cartoons then once profanely commented that no one would laugh at those cartoons. However, this did not keep Selzer from accepting an award for one of Pepé's pictures after "For Scent-imental Reasons" won an Academy Award.[3]
Pepé appeared only in cartoons directed by Jones during the Golden Age, with a notable exception being the Arthur Davis-directed cartoon "Odor of the Day"; in this entry, the theme of romantic pursuit is missing as the skunk (in a nonspeaking role, save for a shared "Gesundheit!" at the finish) vies with Wellington for lodging accommodations on a bitterly cold night. He also made a cameo in the final gag of Friz Freleng's "Dog Pounded", where he mistakes Sylvester as a skunk after the latter uses paint to scare off several bulldogs from his pursuit of Tweety.
Post-Golden Age
Throughout the 1990s, merchandise, including statuettes, apparel, and framed pictures, mostly from the now defunct Warner Brothers studio store, showed Pepé and Penelope as a mutually loving couple.
Pepé makes an appearance at the beginning of the "The Oswald Awards" section of the 1981 compilation movie Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie.
Pepe was supposed to make a cameo in the deleted Marvin Acme's funeral scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Pepé made several cameo appearances on the 1990 series Tiny Toon Adventures as a professor at Acme Looniversity and the mentor to the female skunk character Fifi La Fume. He appeared briefly in "The Looney Beginning" and had a more extended cameo in "It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special". The segment "Out Of Odor" from the episode "Viewer Mail Day" saw character Elmyra disguise herself as Pepé in an attempt to lure Fifi into a trap, only to have Fifi begin aggressively wooing her.
Pepé also makes cameo appearances in the Histeria! episode "When America Was Young" and in the Goodfeathers segment, "We're No Pigeons", on Animaniacs.
In the 1995 animated short "Carrotblanca", a parody/homage of the classic film Casablanca, both Pepé and Penelope appear: Pepé (voiced by Greg Burson) as Captain Renault and Penelope (voiced by Tress MacNeille) as "Kitty Ketty," modeled after Ingrid Bergman performance as Ilsa. Unlike the character's other appearances in cartoons, Penelope (as Kitty) has extensive speaking parts in Carrotblanca.
In the The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries episode "Platinum Wheel of Fortune", Sylvester gets a white stripe on his back and a skunk immediately falls in love with him. This is not Pepé, but his fourth cousin, Pitu Le Pew. He says, "What can I say, Pepé Le Pew is my fourth cousin. It runs in the family". Pepé would later appear in the episode "Is Paris Stinking?", where he pursues Sylvester who is unintentionally dressed in drag.
Pepé would appear once more in Tweety's High-Flying Adventure, falling in love with both Sylvester and Penelope (Sylvester had gotten a white stripe on his back from Penelope as they fought over Tweety), actually showing a preference for Sylvester.
Pepé also appears in Space Jam, where his voice has curiously been changed into an approximation of Maurice Chevalier, as opposed to more traditional vocalization.
Pepé appears in the movie Looney Tunes Back in Action dressed like a police officer, who tries to help D.J. after Kate is kidnapped. Some unused animation of him and Penelope can be seen during the end credits, thus giving viewers a rare glimpse at a deleted scene featuring him.
Pepé also appeared in Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, working in the Lucky Duck Department store, as a more controlled but still quite amorous perfume salesman trying to sell perfume to Penelope. She's still put off by his odor, though after Daffy's rude and aggressive sales pitch, It's the duck she clobbers. Ultimately, Penelope is the one who pulls Pepé into a romantic embrace and under the mistletoe.
In Loonatics Unleashed, a human based on Pepé Le Pew named Pierre Le Pew (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) has appeared as one of the villains of the second season of the show. Additionally, Pepé and Penelope Pussycat appear as cameos in a display of Otto the Odd, in the series. In the episode "The World is My Circus", Lexi Bunny complains that "this Pepé Le Pew look is definitely not me" after being mutated into a skunk-like creature.
A 2009 Valentine's Day-themed AT&T commercial brings Pepé and Penelope's relationship up to date, depicting Penelope not as repulsed by Pepé, but madly in love with him. The commercial begins with Penelope deliberately painting a white stripe on her own back; when her cell phone rings and displays Pepé's picture, Penelope's lovestruck beating heart bulges beneath her chest in a classic cartoon image.[4]
Pepé Le Pew has appeared in the The Looney Tunes Show episode "Members Only" voiced by René Auberjonois. He also made a short cameo appearance with Penelope Pussycat in the Merrie Melodies segment "Cock of the Walk" sung by Foghorn Leghorn. He appeared in his own music video "Skunk Funk" in the 16th episode "That's My Baby". He also appeared again in another Merrie Melodies segment "You Like / I Like" sung by Mac and Tosh. His first appearance in the second season was in the second episode, entitled, "You've Got Hate Mail", reading a hate-filled email accidentally sent by Daffy Duck.
Pepé Le Pew made a cameo in a MetLife commercial in 2012 titled, "Everyone". In it, he was shown hopping along in the forest and when he sees his love interest, Penelope, atop the back of Battle Cat, he immediately hops after her.
Pepé Le Pew has appeared in Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run voiced by Jeff Bergman.
In New Looney Tunes, Pepé Le Pew is a James Bond-esque spy who hits on Claudette Dupri.
Pepé Le Pew was not allowed to appear in Looney Tunes Cartoons.[5] Despite that, he makes a cameo appearance on "Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!" and his name is mentioned on a tombstone in "Graveyard Goofs". The character was removed from the former short when it was rereleased to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.[6]
Pepé appeared in the Animaniacs segment "Yakko Amakko", being placed on top of Yakko Warner's ice cream cone by an offscreen animator a la "Duck Amuck" and then promptly erased. It was written before the controversies surrounding the character.[7]
Pepé was originally going to appear in Tiny Toons Looniversity. Pepé was initially supposed to be a cafeteria worker but later got reworked to be the ACME Looniversity chef, Chefe Le Pew. He was replaced by Lola Bunny in the final product, as Warner Bros. wanted to avoid using him due to the controversy.[8][9][10] In the episode "Freshman Orientoontion", silhouettes of him appear with other Looney Tunes characters when Bugs Bunny presents the Freshman Hall of Fame.
Controversy
In 2021, controversy arose over Pepé's sexually aggressive antics that have been compared to sexual harassment ever since New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow accused the character of promoting rape culture. This led to the 7 March announcement that Pepé Le Pew had been removed from the 2021 film Space Jam A New Legacy.[11] Articles report that Warner Bros./WarnerMedia plans no future appearances of the character in subsequent Looney Tunes media such as Tiny Toons Looniversity and Bugs Bunny Builders.[12][13] It doesn’t mean that the character is officially banned or retired and whether to include him is decided by the individual producer.[14] Pepé was planned to appear in Space Jam A New Legacy during the Casablanca world scene when Terence Nance was directing in 2019. He originally was planned to appear alongside Jane the Virgin actress Greice Santo in a scene where LeBron James tells Pepé about consent. As Terence Nance was replaced by Malcolm D. Lee weeks into filming, the scene was cut out of the film due to creative differences. According to story artist Steve Fonti, Pepé Le Pew was still pitched in storyboards but was cut.[15] The scene was rewritten to feature Yosemite Sam in Casablanca world.
Linda Jones-Clough, daughter of Pepé's creator Chuck Jones, was unhappy about this claim that the Pepé Le Pew character glamorized rape culture.[16] She defended against those claims, claiming that Pepé did not rape any female character in the show, nor did he inspire rape and sexual harassment cases in real life.[17]
Pepé subsequently made a cameo in the Animaniacs segment "Yakko Amakko", and his name was shown on a tombstone in the Looney Tunes Cartoons short "Graveyard Goofs".
Scrapped film
- Main article: Pepé Le Pew (film)
In October 2010, it was reported that Mike Myers would voice Pepé Le Pew in a feature-length live action film based on the character, although no information about this project has surfaced since. In July 2016, it was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that Max Landis was penning a Pepé Le Pew feature film for Warner Bros.[18] Due to sexual assault allegations against Max Landis in 2017, there had been no new information revealed until 8 March 2021, when the film was confirmed to be scrapped, as it was reported that the character would not appear in upcoming projects from the studio.[12]
Filmography
- Main article: List of Pepé Le Pew cartoons
Voice
- Mel Blanc: 1945 - 1989
- Greg Burson: Tiny Toon Adventures, "Carrotblanca", The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
- Maurice LaMarche: Space Jam
- Joe Alaskey: Tweety's High-Flying Adventure, Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
- Bruce Lanoil: Looney Tunes Back in Action
- Billy West: Looney Tunes: Back in Action: The Video Game[19]
- Jeff Bennett: A Looney Tunes Sing-A-Long Christmas
- Rene Auberjonois: The Looney Tunes Show (Season 1)
- Jeff Bergman: The Looney Tunes Show (Season 2), Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run
- Eric Bauza: New Looney Tunes, Space Jam A New Legacy (deleted scene), Animaniacs (2020)
Notes
- A skunk that resembles Pepé and has a similar behavior as him appears in "Fair and Worm-er". Alongside, a baby skunk that resembles Pepé appears at the end of the Robert McKimson-directed short "Mouse-Placed Kitten".
- Skunks are found nowhere in Europe, least of all in France in real-life because all species of skunks are native to North America, particularly in southern Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.
Gallery
- Main article: Pepé Le Pew/Gallery
References
- ↑ Jones, Chuck (1989). "The Writers: The Slum Kid, the Scion, and Me", Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist (in en). Farrar Straus Giroux, page 119. ISBN 978-0374123482.
- ↑ Thompson, Kirsten Moana (1998). "'Ah Love! Zee Grand Illusion!': Pepé le Pew, Narcissism, and Cats in the Casbah", in Sandler, Kevin S.: Reading the Rabbit: Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation. Rutgers University Press, page 138. ISBN 978-0813525389.
- ↑ Jones 1989, p. 92-93
- ↑ AT&T Telephone Company Valentine's Day With Pepe Le Pew Valentine TV Commercial HD
- ↑ https://www.intanibase.com/forum/posts/t4541-Warners-releases-clip-from-the-new-Looney-Tunes/page2
- ↑ https://youtube.com/watch?v=K0F_v6YOI5M
- ↑ https://twitter.com/gabe_swarr/status/1478410919134863366
- ↑ https://twitter.com/DAlvarezStudio/status/1708333266925654404
- ↑ https://twitter.com/benjaminjs/status/1706474035184558226
- ↑ https://twitter.com/benjaminjs/status/1769476490998231508
- ↑ https://deadline.com/2021/03/pepe-le-pew-space-jam-2-new-york-times-rape-culture-controversy-1234708688/
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/pepe-le-pew-not-appear-future-warner-bros-tv-1234622197/
- ↑ https://www.animationmagazine.net/features/adieu-le-pew-problematic-skunk-cut-from-space-jam-2-and-may-never-return/
- ↑ https://france24.com/en/live-news/20210311-pepe-le-pew-absence-from-space-jam-2-prompts-cancel-culture-debate
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CvPYcnXua7G/
- ↑ https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/pepe-le-pew-canceled-looney-tunes-creator-daughter-reaction/
- ↑ https://www.tmz.com/2021/03/09/daughter-pepe-le-pew-creator-did-not-contribute-rape-culture/In
- ↑ Max Landis Writing ‘Pepe Le Pew’ Pic, He Tells Comic-Con
- ↑ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/characters/Looney-Tunes/Pepe-Le-Pew/