Gossamer

Gossamer (also called Rudolph) is a character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The character is a hairy, red monster. His rectangular body is perched on two giant tennis shoes, and his face is composed of only two oval-shaped eyes and a wide mouth, with two hulking arms ending in dirty, clawed fingers. The monster's main trait, however, is his orange hair. In fact, a gag in the 1980 short Duck Dodgers &amp; The Return Of The 24th Century lampoons this by revealing that Gossamer is, in fact, composed entirely of hair. Director Chuck Jones introduced the monster character in the 1946 film Hair-Raising Hare. In it, Bugs Bunny is lured to the lair of a mad scientist who wants to use the rabbit for his experiments. The monster (here called "Rudolph") serves as the scientist's henchman, trying desperately to capture the bunny. This plot was then repeated in the 1952 Jones short Water, Water Every Hare. The monster would remain dormant for many decades until Jones used the character once more in Duck Dodgers & The Return Of The 24th Century in 1980. This is the first cartoon where the character is called "Gossamer."

Gossamer has also appeared in a cameo role in a number of recent Warner Bros. productions.

He was in a 1990 episode of Tiny Toon Adventures (Duck Treck), and he appears briefly in the 1996 movie Space Jam.

He is also featured in a number of episodes of The Sylvester &amp; Tweety Mysteries.

In recent years, Warner Bros. marketers seem to have seized upon the character. Gossamer's image is available on all sorts of Warners merchandise, from T-shirts to ballcaps to plush toys. This sort of marketing helped propel The Tasmanian Devil to newfound stardom, and it is seemingly helping Gossamer's popularity to some extent. It remains unclear whether Gossamer will become one of the more popular Looney Tunes characters, as has Taz, or if he will remain relatively obscure.

In 2001, Gossamer returned in the Sheep Raider videogame.

A clip in the deleted scenes featurette on the Looney Tunes: Back In Action D.V.D. features Gossamer being harassed by Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman), suggesting that Gossamer was planned to make an appearance in the film, but it was deleted. However, a full look at this scene is not shown in the full deleted scenes clips on the D.V.D.-ROM.

He is now starring in The Looney Tunes Show, voiced by Kwesi Boakye (the same kid who voices Darwin from The Amazing World Of Gumball).

Filmography

 * Hair-Raising Hare (May 25th, 1946)
 * Water, Water Every Hare (April 19th, 1952)
 * Duck Dodgers & The Return Of The 24th Century (1980)
 * Tiny Toon Adventures episode Duck Trek(1990)
 * Space Jam (1996), cameo
 * The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
 * Sheep Raider
 * Looney Tunes: Back In Action (November 14th, 2003), appears in deleted scene
 * The Looney Tunes Show (voiced by Kwesi Boakye)