Penelope Pussycat
From Loonipedia
Penelope Pussycat is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic cat featured in the Warner Bros. classic Looney Tunes animated shorts. Although she is typically a non-speaker, her "meows" and "purrs" were most often provided by Mel Blanc using a feminine voice. In the 1959 short Really Scent, she was voiced by June Foray. As of 2013, her only real speaking role was in the 1995 short Carrotblanca, where she was voiced by Tress MacNeille. It can be postulated with the inconsistencies in her naming that every sighting of her is simply a random black cat until "Penelope Pussycat" was named on screen in Carrotblanca using the black cat animation.
Character History & Personality[edit | edit source]
Penelope is best known as the often bewildered love interest of Pepé Le Pew. Penelope is a typical black and white pussycat, though by some means or another, she often finds herself with a white stripe down her back, whether painted intentionally, or by accident.
She often finds herself constantly being chased by the overly enthusiastic Pepé, but when the occasion has presented itself, Penelope has been the pursuer. For Scent-imental Reasons, Little Beau Pepe, and Really Scent have all shown Penelope to harbor an attraction to Pepe whenever his scent is neutralized (though in each referenced instance, extenuating circumstances have caused Pepe to become frightened by her, inciting Penelope to reverse the roles). In more recent years, merchandising from Warner Bros. (such as ornaments, glass wear, statuettes and children's activity books) has depicted Penelope and Pepe as mutually attracted "sweethearts", although other modern media (such as The Looney Tunes Show and the current Looney Tunes comic book series) has maintained their classic "chasing" relationship.
Name Confusion[edit | edit source]
For many years, Penelope remained a nameless character, simply referred to as "the black cat." She was eventually given a name in the 1954 short,The Cat's Bah, where her mistress referred to her as "Penelope". The name was later contradicted in the 1955 short, 2 Scent's Worth, where she was identified as "Fifi." In the 1959 short, Really Scent, she was referred to as "Fabrette." Confusingly, her mother was named "Fifi" in that short. In a model sheet from the early 1990s, she was referred to simply as "Le Cat."
She remained without an official name for many years, until the 1995 release of Carrotblanca (a parody of Casablanca). Her name was then canonized as "Penelope Pussycat," as many advertisements for the short credited her as "Penelope Pussycat in her first speaking role."
Appearances[edit | edit source]
Classic Shorts[edit | edit source]
- For Scent-imental Reasons (1949)
- Scent-imental Romeo (1951)
- Little Beau Pepe (1952)
- The Cat's Bah (1954)
- Past Perfumance (1955)
- 2 Scent's Worth (1955)
- Heaven Scent (1956)
- Touché & Go (1957)
- Really Scent (1959)
- Who Scent You? (1960)
- A Scent Of The Matterhorn (1961)
- Louvre Come Back To Me! (1962)
Other Media[edit | edit source]
- It's A Wonderful Tiny Toon Christmas Special (1992)
- Carrotblanca (1995)
- Space Jam (1996)
- Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000)
- Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003) - appears in end credits
- Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006)
- The Looney Tunes Show (2011)
Voice Artists[edit | edit source]
- Mel Blanc: 1949 - 1989
- June Foray: Really Scent
- Tress MacNeille: Carrotblanca
- Frank Welker: Tweety's High Flying Adventure (unc.)