Vernal Smith

Vernal as he appears in Social Security

**Vernal Clyde Smith** is a 99-year-old man that is the main protagonist of Vernal & Juanita. He is voiced by Seth Hamm.

## Backstory

It is revealed in Social Security that Vernal was born to Vernon and Sallie Smith née Garrison on August 14, 1920 in Mountain Creek, Kentucky and that he has 13 siblings. Vernal's grandmother is also introduced in this episode, this is purportedly Sallie's mother. According to Vernal Goes Back in Time, he seems to have hung around with Milton and Delmar when he was a child, indicating that the short featuring Milton and Delmar (included in *Laff-O-Toons*) follows the pair when they were in young adulthood. He mentions that he went to Harvard University and graduated from there before he met Juanita in Vernal Runs for President. It is unknown what degree he achieved.

Vernal met his wife of 69 years, Juanita Smith née Thompson, after she moved next door to his parents' farm. According to Juanita, she had just moved to Mountain Creek from Nashville, Tennessee. It was love at first site for the couple and they soon married, despite Juanita's mother's opposition, in 1950. At the time of the marriage, Vernal was 30 and Juanita was 18 years old. George Hill, Milton, and Delmar were Vernal's best men and Ethel Hill was one of Juanita's bride's maids.

There is not much known about Vernal and Juanita's young adult life. It is revealed that Vernal owned and operated a grocery store in Jojosburg, Illinois called Smith Grocery. It is unknown if the business is still open, although Vernal is certainly retired.

After George Hill died, his widow (Juanita's sister) moved in to Vernal and Juanita's home so that she could be taken care of due to her dementia. This was done much to Vernal's dismay.

## Personality

Vernal normally has a neutral face and is very talkative if you start up a conversation with him. He loves to tell how old he is and has difficulty hearing. He is revealed to be forgetful and has a tendency to misunderstand verbal commands in Social Security. However, he is revealed to be very bold in defending that which he feels is right yet has difficulty due to being nervous when making tough decisions in the episode, Vernal Runs for President. Vernal extremely dislikes his sister-in-law Ethel and even experienced stress into the exhaustion stage when she moved in.

## Design

Vernal has grey head hair and wears glasses, his eyes are not able to be seen by them. He always wears a red undershirt with blue over-alls with brown shoes. He also has a brown cane that he is never seen without.

Vernal has a round head and big nose. His mouth slants backwards and his bottom lip puffs out. He also has a big chin and a small body. Vernal is also a bit hump-backed although hardly noticable.

## Development

Vernal has always been known as Vernal Smith. Although some people thought it was "Vernon Schmidt." Originally, he had no design. His voice was originally supposed to be an impersonation of a policeman and was less raspy. It has changed it into a more raspy and Southern accented voice.

His design never changed although he used to be drawn with a slight frown and with a rounder nose (which still sometimes appears in cartoons).

## Appearances

The following is a list of appearances of Vernal Smith in chronological order.

1. *Laff-O-Toons*, Season 1, Episode 1a: "New Year's Resolutions" (2017)

2. *Vernal & Juanita*, Season 1, Episode 1: "Vernal Goes to the Psychologist" (2017)

3. *Harley Carley & Her Friends*, Season 1, Episode 5: "Harley Carley's Birthday" (2017)

4. *Vernal & Juanita*, Season 1, Episode 2: "Social Security" (2017)

5. *Vernal & Juanita*, Season 1, Episode 3: "Vernal Goes Back in Time" (2017)

6. *Vernal & Juanita*, Season 1, Episode 4: "The Story of Thanksgiving" (2017)

7. *Harley Carley & Her Friends*, Season 1, Episode 8: "Invasion of the Addisons" (2018)

8. *A Christmas Carol* (2018) [as Ebeneezer Scrooge]

## Trivia

* Vernal has been misspelled as "Verbal" on IMDb but was corrected.
* Vernal was originally supposed to debut in an unfinished *Vernal & Juanita* episode called "As Old as the Hills." The episode was supposed to feature Vernal and Juanita as they drive to the home of the "Hills" where Ethel lived with her husband and nephew/caretaker. The episode was supposed to be released in 2015 and reveal the reasom why Ethel had to move in with her sister and brother-in-law.
* Vernal's phone number is (717) 088-9432 and he lives at 9873 North Wellingham Boulevard, although he confused phone number with his social security number and his address with his phone number in "Social Security."