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The following characters appear most frequently (group picture):
- Henery Hawk
- a young chickenhawk who usually is seen looking for a chicken to eat,
but doesn't know what a chicken looks like. Henery's career actually predates
the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons with the 1942 cartoon
The Squawkin' Hawk.
What's more, Foghorn's career began as a supporting role for Henery in
Walky, Talky
Hawky. Due to the popularity of the rooster, Foghorn was kept as a lead
character of his own. Mel Blanc supplied the voice for Henery.
- Barnyard Dawg
- the guard dog for the barnyard who usually spends a good portion
of the cartoon at either the giving or receiving end of a practical joke involving
Foghorn. Although his job is to protect the chickens, he frequently
takes an active role enabling Foghorn's pursuers to catch him. Mel Blanc supplied
the voice for Dawg. There is some confusion and debate about the name of this character.
For one thing, Foghorn never calls him by any name other
than "Dawg" or "B'rer Dawg".
His first Foghorn cartoon appearance was in the first one, Walky Talky Hawky
in 1946, but the next year he
appeared as "Mandrake" in the cartoon One Meat Brawl
(which featured Porky Pig and Grover Groundhog).
He appeared also as Elmer's dog (called
Rover) in Don't Axe Me (1958). There are model sheets which list his name as either
"Barnyard Dawg", "Barnyard Dog" or "Dawg". And finally, he was called
George P. Dog during appearances on the Bugs Bunny Show.
- Miss Prissy
- a spinster hen with (usually) a limited vocabulary who is sometimes
after Foghorn for her husband (e.g. Lovelorn Leghorn),
and other times Foghorn woos her to get into her
warm henhouse for the winter (e.g. Strangled Eggs, Little Boy Boo).
Miss Prissy's voice is not always the same - her
voice was most often supplied by Bea Benaderet, but was voiced by
June Foray in A Broken Leghorn, Julie Bennett or
June Foray in Strangled Eggs
(I'm not certain which one) and
by Nancy Wible in The Yolk's on You.
Some believe that
the Miss Prissy character was inspired by another lovesick
chicken named Emily who had appeared in three earlier WB cartoons.
- Egghead Jr.
- the silent son of Miss Prissy and the brainiest chicken in the yard.
The identity of the youngster's
dad is never revealed, but is presumably a rooster named Egghead (after all, he is
called "Egghead Junior"). It is firmly established that he is not Foghorn's son.
Foghorn often finds himself trying to teach him the bespeckled lad
something only to have Egghead Jr. devise an incredible solution.
- Weasel (unnamed)
- a hyperactive rascal who wonders into the chickenyard
when hungry. He is a bit like the Tazmanian Devil character, even making a Taz-like spinning sound when trying
to chew on Foggy's leg. But poor weasel is less formidible than Taz, primarily
due to his size. He has even less of a vocabulary than Taz, consisting primarily of
slurping, panting,
and the occasional high-speed
"yeah yeah yeah".
Taz and Weasel were both created by the same person, Robert McKimson, with the
"little lint-pickin' weasel" appearing first. So Weasel was almost
certainly a major inspiration for the little Devil.
I've seen claims that some time after the
last Foghorn cartoon was made, Warner Bros. gave him the name of "Willie Weasel"
but I haven't seen this confirmed by an official source.
Some other characters include:
- Pappy and Elvis
- a father and son combo who are called chickenhawks
in
Dixie Fryer
but who appeared as buzzards a year earlier
when opposite Bugs Bunny in another McKimson cartoon, Backwoods Bunny.
The two were voiced by Daws Butler.
- Rhode Island Red
- Foghorn Leghorn's old college chum
who drops by unexpectedly in Raw! Raw! Rooster!.
Red was voiced by Daws Butler. There are
some clips from Red on the sounds page, including
Here's Red!
- (unnamed)
Barnyard Cat - a black and white cat
(no red nose like Sylvester) who appears with Foggy
in A Fractured Leghorn (1950)
and Leghorn Swoggled (1951)
(and without Foggy in It's Hummer Time).
He is probably
remembered best for his role in the first
of these as the cat who fights with Foggy over a
worm and only
has one line in the
cartoon. I have seen some cartoon
fans refer to this cat as "McKimson's cat".
- Kid Banty
- a banty rooster who appeared in Sock A Doodle Doo. He
was introduced as the "pinfeather weight boxing champion". Anytime the little guy
hears a bell, he comes out punching at whoever is nearby.
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