Buddy (Looney Tunes)

Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Fictional character

Buddy

Leon Schlesinger Productions character

The opening card used in 1934, with Buddy introducing one of his cartoons

First appearance| Buddy's Day Out (Looney Tunes, 1933)
Last appearance| "The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special" (Animaniacs, 1994)
Created by| Tom Palmer
Voiced by| Bernard B. Brown (1933–1934)[1]
Jack Carr (1934–1935)
Jackie Morrow (1934–1935)[2]
Tommy Bond (1935)[1]
Jim Cummings (1994)
In-universe information
Species| Human
Gender| Male
Nationality| American

Buddy is an animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes series by Leon Schlesinger Productions. He was the second star of the series, after Bosko.

## History

[edit]

Buddy was created after animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising severed their relations with producer Leon Schlesinger. Without his animators and Bosko, the star character they had taken with them, Schlesinger was desperate to build his own studio and maintain his contract with Warner Bros. He recruited several animators from other studios, among them Tom Palmer of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Schlesinger told his new employees to create a star character for the studio, and Palmer created Buddy in 1933, with his first film Buddy's Day Out released on September 9.[3]

The character had a troubled beginning, as Warner Bros. refused to accept his first two cartoons, resulting in Friz Freleng being called in to re-edit and condense them into a single short.[citation needed] In the book Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, animator Bob Clampett is quoted as describing Buddy as "Bosko in whiteface".[4] Despite these initial problems, Buddy would go on to be the studio's linchpin character for the next two years.[5]

Music dominates in Buddy's world. The characters add visuals to the soundtrack and participate in gags. Buddy is usually accompanied in his films by his flapper girlfriend, Cookie, and his dog, Towser. The character would go on to star in 23 short films from 1933 to 1935, before he was retired to make way for a new character called Beans the Cat. Beans became the third Looney Tunes star, though later on replaced by the more popular Porky Pig. Buddy's voice was most of the time performed by animator Jack Carr.

Buddy had various designs throughout the course of his career. Initially, the character was a younger boy with trousers, a polo shirt, and a large cap, as seen in Buddy's Day Out. In Buddy's Beer Garden, he was redesigned by Earl Duvall into a young man wearing a jacket with a small bow tie and long pants. Friz Freleng gave the character another design, which was nearly identical to Duvall's except he is smaller and does not wear a jacket. Ben Hardaway later redesigned Buddy to look more like his predecessor, Bosko.

## Reception

[edit]

Buddy is widely considered to be the worst character in the Looney Tunes franchise. In That's All, Folks! The Art of Warner Bros. Animation, Steve Schneider describes Buddy as "a creature of limitless blandness," and calls Buddy's Day Out "a nondescript adventure spree." Schneider says that "probably the best of the run is his farewell film, Buddy the Gee Man", but "about the most that can be said for Buddy is that he is distinctly forgettable."[6]

## Filmography

[edit]

Film | Release date

|

Buddy's Day Out | September 9, 1933
Buddy's Beer Garden | November 18, 1933
Buddy's Show Boat | December 9, 1933
Buddy the Gob | January 5, 1934
Buddy and Towser | February 24, 1934
Buddy's Garage | April 14, 1934
Buddy's Trolley Troubles | May 5, 1934
Buddy of the Apes | May 26, 1934
Buddy's Bearcats | June 16, 1934
Buddy's Circus | August 25, 1934
Buddy the Detective | September 15, 1934
Viva Buddy | September 29, 1934
Buddy the Woodsman | October 20, 1934
Buddy's Adventures | November 17, 1934
Buddy the Dentist | December 15, 1934
Buddy of the Legion | January 9, 1935
Buddy's Theater | February 8, 1935
Buddy's Pony Express | March 9, 1935
Buddy in Africa | April 13, 1935
Buddy's Lost World | May 18, 1935
Buddy's Bug Hunt | June 6, 1935
Buddy Steps Out | July 6, 1935
Buddy the Gee Man | August 24, 1935

## Modern appearances

[edit]

* Buddy appears in the Animaniacs episode "The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special", voiced by Jim Cummings. This version is a former colleague of the Warner siblings Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, who were created to make his cartoons more interesting. After being dropped in favor of the Warners, Buddy found work as a nut farmer in Ojai, California. He has harbored a long-standing grudge against them for ruining his film career and attempts to kill them, but his plan backfires.
* A collection of animation cels from Buddy's Day Out is the focus of a 2010 episode of History Detectives.[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices from the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. ISBN 979-8-88771-010-5.
2. ^ "Radio Round-Up: 'Wanna Buy A Duck?' JOE PENNER" Archived 2020-09-25 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2020-07-05.
3. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 21\. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
4. ^ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (Revised ed.). Plume. p. 228\. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
5. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 58. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
6. ^ Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co. pp. 40–41\. ISBN 0-8050-0889-6.
7. ^ "Looney Tunes on PBS History Detectives | Cartoon Brew". Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2011.

## External links

[edit]

* Too Looney!: Buddy Profile

* v
* t
* e

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

Studios|

* Harman-Ising Productions (1930–1933)
* Leon Schlesinger Productions (1933–1944)
* Warner Bros. Cartoons (1944–1964)
* DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (1964–1967, 1979–1980)
* Format Films (1965–1967)
* Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969)
* Chuck Jones Enterprises (1976–1980, 1994–1997)
* Warner Bros. Animation (1980–present)

Characters|

| Major|

* Bugs Bunny
* Development
* Daffy Duck
* Duck Dodgers
* Elmer Fudd
* Foghorn Leghorn
* Granny
* Lola Bunny
* Marvin the Martian
* Pepé Le Pew
* Porky Pig
* Speedy Gonzales
* Sylvester the Cat
* Tasmanian Devil (Taz)
* Tweety
* Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
* Yosemite Sam

|

Secondary|

* Babbit and Catstello
* Barnyard Dawg
* Beaky Buzzard
* Beans
* Bosko
* Buddy
* Cecil Turtle
* Charlie Dog
* Claude Cat
* Clyde Bunny
* Colonel Shuffle
* Conrad the Cat
* Cool Cat
* Egghead Jr.
* Foxy
* Goofy Gophers
* Goopy Geer
* Gossamer
* Henery Hawk
* Hippety Hopper
* Hubie and Bertie
* Hugo the Abominable Snowman
* Inki
* Marc Antony and Pussyfoot
* Merlin the Magic Mouse
* Michigan J. Frog
* Miss Prissy
* Nasty Canasta
* Penelope Pussycat
* Petunia Pig
* Piggy
* Quick Brown Fox and Rapid Rabbit
* Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog
* Sniffles
* Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier
* Sylvester Jr.
* The Three Bears
* Willoughby
* Witch Hazel

Shorts|

* 1929–1939
* 1940–1949
* 1950–1959
* 1960–1969
* 1970–present
* Featuring Bugs Bunny
* Featuring Daffy Duck
* Featuring Elmer Fudd
* Featuring Marvin the Martian
* Featuring Porky Pig
* Featuring Speedy Gonzales
* Featuring Sylvester
* Featuring Yosemite Sam
* Blue Ribbon reissues
* Censored Eleven

Feature films|

| Compilations|

* The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
* The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie
* Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales
* Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island
* Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
* The Looney Tunes Hall of Fame

|

Feature-length theatrical animated|

* The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Live-action/animation|

* Space Jam
* Looney Tunes: Back in Action
* Space Jam: A New Legacy
* Coyote vs. Acme

Direct-to-video|

* Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation
* Tweety's High-Flying Adventure
* Baby Looney Tunes' Eggs-traordinary Adventure
* Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
* Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run
* Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam
* King Tweety
* Taz: Quest for Burger

Documentaries|

* Bugs Bunny: Superstar
* Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons
* Chuck Amuck: The Movie

Television
series|

| Compilations|

* The Bugs Bunny Show
* The Porky Pig Show
* The Road Runner Show
* The Merrie Melodies Show
* Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends
* Bugs 'n' Daffy

|

Originals|

* Tiny Toon Adventures
* Taz-Mania
* The Plucky Duck Show
* Animaniacs
* Pinky and the Brain
* The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
* Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain
* Baby Looney Tunes
* Duck Dodgers
* Loonatics Unleashed
* The Looney Tunes Show
* Wabbit/New Looney Tunes
* Looney Tunes Cartoons
* Animaniacs 2020
* Bugs Bunny Builders
* Tiny Toons Looniversity

Television
specials|

* Meet the Groovie Goolies
* Carnival of the Animals
* Easter Special
* Bugs Bunny in Space
* Howl-oween Special
* King Arthur's Court
* Thanksgiving Diet
* Looney Christmas Tales
* Bustin' Out All Over
* The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special
* Battle of the Music Video Stars
* Overtures to Disaster

Music/songs|

* "Camptown Races"
* "Dance of the Comedians"
* "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)"
* "Merrily We Roll Along"
* "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"
* "Powerhouse"

Attractions|

* Looney Tunes River Ride
* Road Runner Express (Six Flags Fiesta Texas)
* Road Runner Express (Six Flags Magic Mountain)
* Road Runner Rollercoaster
* Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!

Other|

* Private Snafu
* A Political Cartoon
* Who Framed Roger Rabbit
* Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
* Video games

* Category

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