Foghorn Leghorn

Foghorn Leghorn (simply known as Foghorn) is a major character in the Looney Tunes franchise. He is an animated giant rooster appearing in numerous Warner Bros. cartoons.
He was voiced by the late Mel Blanc from 1946 to 1989, the late Greg Burson from 1991 to 2003, the late Joe Alaskey from 1993 to 2006, Bill Farmer from 1996 to 2008, the late Frank Gorshin from 1996 to 1997, Billy West in 1998, Jeff Bennett from 2000 to 2011 and 2018, and Scott Innes in 2009. He is currently voiced by Jeff Bergman from 1990 to 1993, 2002, and from 2011 to the present time.
== Origin ==
He first appeared in 1946 in a Henery Hawk cartoon entitled "Walky Talky Hawky."
== Biography ==
Foghorn Leghorn is a giant anthropomorphic rooster with a Virginian accent, a "good ol' boy" speaking style, and a penchant for mischief. He first appeared in 1946 in a Henery Hawk film entitled "Walky Talky Hawky." All of the motion picture Foghorn Leghorn cartoons were directed by Robert McKimson, and the rooster vies with Taz as the most popular character associated with the director. Many of the gimmicks involve Foghorn Leghorn and his archenemy, Barnyard Dawg, engaging in one-upmanship through a series of pranks. Unlike other Looney Tunes rivalries (with the notable exception of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner series) Foghorn is often the initial aggressor out of self-amusement and subsequently on the "losing" end of gags. It's revealed it the first cartoon where he and Barnyard Dawg first appeared that Dawg is the one who started their unstoppable fight.
Most common among them was Leghorn's taking up a plank of wood, while ambling along humming "Camptown Races" (the only intelligible words being "Doo-dah! Doo-dah!"), coming to the sleeping George P. Dog 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. The dog would give chase, usually with his leash still attached to his collar, until the leash stretched taut and his barking was replaced by an anguished shriek.
At times, when the dog would continue to bark, he would also yell, "Aaaaaahhhhh, shaddap!" In rare cases, it's the dog that starts the series of pranks. This gag was passed down to the Leghorns' grandson in Feather Bluster, where Foghorn was puzzled as to why the kid was behaving that way and the Dog was all too happy to remind him: "Ain't nothin' wrong with 'im, Foggy, 'cept that he takes after you." He was joined in a few episodes by a cat called "Bill" who initially attempted to eat him but ended up joining forces to outsmart George P. Dog. Other recurring themes throughout the cartoons included the attempts of the diminutive Henery Hawk 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.). Foghorn's voice was created by Mel Blanc and was later performed by Joe Alaskey, Hank Azaria, Bill Farmer, and Jeff Bennett. Later, some of Foghorn's characteristic catch-phrases were drawn from the character of Senator Claghorn, a blustering Southern politician who was a regular character on the Fred Allen radio show.
The rooster adopted many of Claghorn's catch phrases, such as "That's a joke, I say, that's a joke, son." The references to Claghorn were obvious to much of the audience when the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons first premiered, but like many of the references in WB cartoons of the era, they have since become dated. 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. A leghorn is a breed of chicken, and foghorn describes the character's loud, overbearing voice. At its most raucous, it sounds similar to that of another Mel Blanc voice: Yosemite Sam (a strictly Isadore Freleng character). Both parts of the name suggest the association with "Senator Claghorn." Foghorn Leghorn made numerous appearances in Tiny Toons Adventures in numerous roles as Acme Loonervesity's Professor of Hound Teasing, Baseball Coach and an obnoxiously loud Librarian. He also appeared in Animaniacs episode "Warner Brothers 65th Anniversary Special" and in Taz-Mania episode "Gone With the Windbag".
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 Jack In The Box, McDonald's, and GEICO commercial. A character named Mr. Leghorn, based on Foghorn himself, made a pair of appearances in Loonatics Unleashed. He also appeared in many New Looney Tunes episodes.
== TV Show ==
In The Looney Tunes Show, Foghorn is an occasional supporting character and a mentor more than anything.
In Bugs Bunny Builders, Foghorn also has a supporting role. The series, he has very creative ideas for the Looney Tunes Builders to make.
== Personality ==
Foghorn Leghorn is the epitome of a pedantic loudmouth for a so-called intellectual.
Where ever he walks after singing or humming a song to himself, and those he counters, Foghorn always shares any form of advice towards anyone as if he knows all, as well as acting sophisticated, persistent, cultured and fast-talking in tone. Some of his advice he shares towards others can be wise and well thought out, other times, not so much.
He also has a sadistic side to his garrulous personality, as he is also seen attempting to harm others with TNTs as a prank of his just for Foghorn's amusement if Foghorn can't put up with a chicken just for making Foghorn look bad; which makes other characters like chickens wanting him to be nice or for another character make a fool out of him.
He is often rude, loud-mouthed and plays mean-spirited pranks on the Barnyard Dawg without provocation, and he always gets his just desserts at the end; Foghorn's preferred way to rile up Barnyard Dawg was to grab his tail while he was sleeping in his doghouse, lift him up by it and give him a good 8 to 10 whacks with a paddle.
There are times when he can be physically aggressive despite correcting the faults of others, his form of advice done aggressively by making a ton of tirades for little to no good reason, tends to annoy them for making a ridiculously long argument that honestly goes nowhere, which frequently annoys many people he encounters.
This is sometimes played up to eleven to increase the ironic comedy, a good example of this is at the end of "A Fractured Leghorn", as Foghorn lectures the cat about dividing a worm in half for them to share, the cat, who hasn't said a word at all the whole cartoon, finally gets fed up and yells at him to "SHUT UP!", clobbering him in the process with a nearby trash can, bashes it over the rooster's head and tells him to "SHADDUP!"; but even a beating over the head (or a large headache) isn't enough to shut up Foggy. Only the iris-out a few seconds later of Foghorn continuing in the manner of a loudmouth, which he tries unsuccessfully to hold open, finally closes his mouth.
His overblown ramblings often annoys The Barnyard Dawg and it frequently irritates Henry Hawk. Foghorn can be pretty misguided and socially clueless about the fact he is a complete and utter chatterbox who acts like his wisdom is always important to tell, even when he also tells most people something obvious at times. Sometimes getting The Barnyard Dawg ridiculing him and viewing Foghorn as a imbecile for Foghorn's many shortcomings.
He was well-remembered for making metaphorical retorts and one-liners to summarize or describe a person, their behavior or how he feels given the situation. However, he happens to be very bad at telling intentional jokes when he thinks he "pulled a funny" frequently after making a crappy joke, as Foghorn would say, "That's a joke, son!", thinking he's a good comedian when he's really not.
Despite being a obnoxious pedant and a prankster, but does have occasional moments of good intentions, and is rarely, if ever, portrayed as a villain outside the original cartoons despite how mischievous Foghorn tends to be, unlike characters such as Daffy Duck. Where Foghorn can soften up towards Barnyard and help anyone whenever it's needed.
== Design ==
His voice was created by actor Mel Blanc, heavily patterned after the character of Senator Claghorn, a blustering southern politician who was a regular character on the Fred Allen radio show. Senator Claghorn was created and voiced by radio comedian Kenny Delmar. Foghorn Leghorn also used a number of Claghorn's catch phrases, like "That's a joke, son". The references to Senator Claghorn were obvious to much of the audience when the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons first premiered but like many of the references in WB cartoons of the era they have since become dated and "go over the heads" of most modern-day audiences.
== Name ==
A leghorn is a breed of chicken, and foghorn describes the character's piercing, monotonous voice.
== Quotes ==
* "That, I say, that woman has a mouth like an outboard motor all the time. Put-put-put-put-put-put-put."
* "Go, I say, go away, boy, ya bother me!"
* "That, I say, that boy's about as sharp as a bowling ball."
* "Boy, I say, boy has got a mouth like a cannon. Always shooting it off."
* "Don't, I say, don't bother me, Dog. Can't you see I'm thinking?"
* "Hey, whatcha making there boy? Looks like sodi-pop. Hyuk yuk! Watch it fizz!!" Ka-blam
* "That dog's as subtle as a hand grenade in a barrel of oatmeal."
* "That dog's like taxes, he just don't know when to stop."
* "Nice kid but doesn't listen to a word you say."
* "Nice kid but a little dumb."
* "That boy's as strong as an ox. And just about as smart."
* "That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot."
* "That I say, that dog keeps a pitching them, and I keep a ducking 'em."
* "Smart boy. Got a mind like a steel trap - full of mice."
* "Like beating a dead horse, he's got no 'get up and go'."
* "Now cut that out boy, or I'll spank you where your feathers are thinnest."
* "Pay attention to me boy. I'm not just talking to hear my head roar."
* "There's your venison boy, go get 'em boy!! Pay attention boy, I'm cutting but you ain't bleeding. Go get 'em!!"
* "This boy's more mixed up than a feather in a whirlwind."
* "That woman's as cold as a nudist on an iceberg."
* "There's some, I say some kind of "Ewww!" about a kid that never played baseball."
* "Some days, it don't pay to get outta bed!"
* "(after being punched in the face by Kid Banty) I was, I say ,I was right. It was a booby trap."
* "(sniffs air, imitates Tarzan calls, but coughs, then sings) This is the way we bounce the ball, bounce the ball, bounce the ball, this is way we bounce the ball so early in the mornin'"
* "I'm a lucky fisherman, a do dah, a do dah! I'm a lucky fisherman, a do dah, a do dah!!"
* "Speakin' of figures, I put two n' two together and come up with a four-legged smartalec mutt!"
* "The screwball in the back pocket!"
* "Ask a silly question. Get a silly answer."
* "(Henery drags Foghorn by his toe) Hey! Let go of my toe!"
* "(after getting splashed in the face by Dawg) Now who's, I say who's responsible to splash a pail of water on my face?"
* "Just one of those days, I guess."
* "So I'm not a smart hunter... Yeesh."
* "Yeeh.. I've got a splitting headache."
* "I've got a little idea. He-he-he."
* "Son, you better watch what are you saying."
* "Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for, for just such a emergency."
* "Say boy, wouldn't you I say wouldn't you rather have some delicious dog soup?? (Weasels shaking head and saying no) Well in that case, ADIOS YOU, CHICKEN PLUCKING LITTLER STINKER!!!"
* "I say if I’m a rooster, I hope to be struck by… (as if on cue, thunder and lightning appear and almost struck him) Well let’s put it in another way. Say that is."
== Trivia ==
* Foghorn Leghorn was a caricature of Senator Claghorn, a popular radio comedian at the time of The Golden Age of Animation, although that's pretty much been forgotten to modern viewers.
Category:Male
Category:Animals
Category:Birds
Category:Chickens
Category:Heroes
Category:Looney Tunes characters