Foghorn Leghorn

Foghorn Leghorn is an animated chicken appearing in numerous Warner Brothers cartoons.

Date of Birth

 * August 31, 1946

Date of Death

 * October 26. 2011

Origin
He first appeared in 1946 in a Henery Hawk film entitled Walky Talky Hawky.

Biography
Foghorn Leghorn is a large, anthropomorphized adult rooster with a Central Virginia 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 the Tasmanian Devil as the most popular character associated with the director.

Many of the gags involved Foghorn and a canine nemesis (formally known as The Barnyard Dawg within Warner today, though on early model sheets his name is given as George P. Dog) engaging in one-upmanship through a series of pranks. Unlike other Looney Tunes rivalries—with the notable exception of the 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. 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 Dawg 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; as such it is somewhat difficult to tell who started the feud. 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 outwit the aforementioned canine.

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 Mel Blanc, Joe Alaskey, 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 Blanc voice: Yosemite Sam (a strictly Friz 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. Foghorn made a cameo appearance in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, in the final scene at Dr. Seuss's factory with several other Looney Tunes characters. 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's GEICO. A character named Mr. Leghorn, based on Foghorn himself, made a pair of appearances in Loonatics Unleashed.

Work
Foghorn Leghorn is considered a significant Looney Tunes character, whose sidekick was The Barnyard Dog. All of the motion picture Foghorn Leghorn cartoons were directed by Robert McKimson.

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 woman has a mouth like an outboard motor. Put-Put-Put-Put-Put-Put-Put."
 * "Go, I say go away, boy, ya bother me!"
 * "That boy's about as sharp as a bowling ball."
 * "Boy's got a mouth like a cannon. Always shooting it off."
 * "Don't, I say don't bother me, Dawg. Can't you see I'm thinkin'?"
 * "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."
 * "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."
 * "Smart boy. Got a mind like a steel trap - full of mice."
 * "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."
 * "This boy's more mixed up than a feater in a whirlwind."
 * "That woman's as cold as a nudist on an iceberg."
 * "Some days, it don't pay to get outta bed!"
 * "(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 early in the mornin'"

List of Foghorn Cartoons

 * Walky Talky Hawky (1946)
 * Crowing Pains (1947)
 * The Foghorn Leghorn (1948)
 * Henhouse Henery (1949)
 * The Leghorn Blows at Midnight (1950)
 * A Fractured Leghorn (1950)
 * Leghorn Swoggled (1951)
 * Lovelorn Leghorn (1951)
 * Sock-a-Doodle-Do (1952)
 * The Egg-Cited Rooster (1952)
 * Plop Goes the Weasel (1953)
 * Of Rice and Hen (1953)
 * Little Boy Boo (1954)
 * Feather Dusted (1955)
 * All Fowled Up (1955)
 * Weasel Stop (1956)
 * The High and the Flighty (1956)
 * Raw! Raw! Rooster! (1956)
 * Fox Terror (1957)
 * Feather Bluster (1958)
 * Weasel While You Work (1958)
 * A Broken Leghorn (1959)
 * Crockett-Doodle-Do (1960)
 * The Dixie Fryer (1960)
 * Strangled Eggs (1961)
 * The Slick Chick (1962)
 * Mother Was a Rooster (1962)
 * Banty Raids (1963)
 * False Hare (1964)
 * The Yolk's on You (cameo appearance, part of Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-Citement) (1980)
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (cameo appearance) voiced by Mel Blanc
 * Superior Duck (1996), voiced by Joe Alaskey
 * Space Jam (1996), voiced by Bill Farmer
 * Pullet Surprise (1997), voiced by Joe Alaskey
 * Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), voiced by Jeff Bennett
 * Baby Looney Tunes (2005), voiced by Corey Burton