Foghorn Leghorn

For the cartoon of the same name starring this character, see The Foghorn Leghorn.

Foghorn Leghorn is a character who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons for Warner Bros. He was created by Robert McKimson.

Foghorn Leghorn

Foghorn Leghorn (full name Foghorn J. Leghorn, according to 1950s comics produced by studio staffers) is a large, anthropomorphic adult rooster with a strong Virginia or Kentucky accent (reminiscent of Colonel Sanders) 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, 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. 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. 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 Leghorn's 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."

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 Joe Alaskey, Bill Farmer, Greg Burson, Jeff Glen Bennett and Frank Gorshin. It was patterned after a hard-of-hearing West Coast-only radio character from the 1930s, known simply as The Sheriff. 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 re-used catch-phrases include Claghorn's catch phrases, like "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 employs the help of Tweety and his friends before Lola Bunny suggests to just be himself, which comes in handy when Barnyard Dawg chases 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 also suggest the association with "Senator Claghorn."

Foghorn made a cameo appearance in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, in the final scene at Marvin Acme's factory. 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 also part of the Tune Squad team in Space Jam, and was a croupier at Sam's casino in Looney Tunes: Back in Action. In addition, Foghorn also appeared in commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Oscar Meyer. Foghorn appeared in the sixth season Family Guy episode "Back to the Woods," wherein he was decapitated after walking into a KFC.

Cultural references

• Foghorn Leghorn was the inspiration behind Coronation Street character Fred Elliott, played by John Savident, who often uttered Foghorn's "I say, I say" line.
• When the Academy Awards gave Chuck Jones an honorary Oscar in 1996, Robin Williams presented Jones with the Oscar and jokingly said that Jones had animated numerous politicians. He compared Pat Buchanan to Foghorn Leghorn.
• Hyperchicken from the animated series Futurama may be a reference to Foghorn Leghorn.
• TV Horror Host Dr. Sarcofiguy speech is directly of Foghorn Leghorn.
• On an episode of King of Queens, Doug pretends that an employee named Foghorn Leghorn works for his shipping company, International Parcel Service, and he gets in trouble with his boss and the IRS.
• Walk the Line, the 2005 biopic of Johnny Cash, references Foghorn twice. Firstly, Johnny Cash is portrayed to be a fan and a mimic of Foghorn, as his older brother Jack asks young Johnny to repeat Foghorn's line "Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency". It is to be noted that this scene is set in 1944, ostensibly on the day of Jack's fatal accident. Foghorn's first screen appearance was not until 1946. Johnny Cash in his first autobiography Man in Black cites that Jack was distractedly quoting "What's up, Doc?" on that day. The second reference in the film is later in Johnny's life when he collapses during a stage performance; as his band members rush to his aid he quotes the same line.
• Foghorn is referenced in the John Callaghan song "You've Got Your Memories, I've Got My Dreams".
• In the episode "Bonfire of the Manatees" of The Simpsons, Carl claims to have a Foghorn Leghorn tattoo.
• Rock 'n' Roll musician Mojo Nixon claims that his holy trinity consists of Foghorn Leghorn, Elvis, and Otis Campbell.
• In the episode of Family Guy, "Back to the Woods", Colonel Sanders decapitates Foghorn while Foghorn's head continues to talk as his decapitated body flails about the restaurant. Foghorn Leghorn appeared in KFC commercials during the 1980s.
• On the September 3, 2008 episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart shows footage of Fred Thompson speaking at the 2008 Republican National Convention and runs clips of Foghorn Leghorn in which the famous rooster sounds almost the same as Thompson.
• In the episode "The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis" of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Charlie is disguised as a Texas oil tycoon, and Dennis exclaims, "Now you just sound like Foghorn Leghorn!"

Appearances

• 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 (cameo appearance) (1964)
• The Yolk's on You (cameo appearance, part of Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-Citement) (1980)
• KFC commercials (1980s-1990s) (With his son)
• Superior Duck (cameo appearance) (1996)
• Pullet Surprise (1997)
• Cock-A-Doodle Duel (2004)

References