Foghorn Leghorn is a famous Warner Bros rooster who has appeared in both the Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies cartoons. Famous for his blustery, booming voice, the giant anthropomorphic bird appeared in 29 cartoons between 1946 and 1964.

Fans may not know that the comedy character's origins stem from a 1940s radio show about a fictional American politician, Senator Beauregard Claghorn. As a regular on The Fred Allen Show, in a segment called Allen's Alley, Claghorn was a blustering senator, who had an obsession with the South.

Kenny Delmar, who played Claghorn, was said to have based him on a Texas rancher who had many unique catchphrases, including, "That's a joke, ah say, that's a joke, son."

 

Inspiration

This was one of the phrases used by Foghorn Leghorn when he was created by Robert McKimson and Warren Foster, using Senator Claghorn as their inspiration. The senator had many quirks and was so entrenched in the politics of the South (consequently hating the North) that he refused to drive through Lincoln Tunnel when he visited New York!

Foghorn Leghorn made his debut on 31st August 1946, in a cartoon featuring Henery Hawk, called Walky Talky Hawky. Foghorn Leghorn cartoons were directed by Robert McKimson, the renowned Looney tunes animator and illustrator. The rooster ties with the Tasmanian Devil as McKimson's most popular character ever.

The rooster used many phrases belonging to Claghorn and his voice was said to be based partly on Claghorn's and also on the blustering vocals of a character called The Sheriff on the West Coast radio show, Blue Monday Jamboree.

The name came from the leghorn - a breed of chicken - with foghorn describing the character's booming and overbearing voice, as he shouted everything! A foghorn is the loud noise used to signal ships and is a very apt way of describing the rooster's bellowing vocals.

With a red head and red tail feathers, and bright yellow talons, the anthropomorphic rooster strikes an imposing figure, as he struts around shouting out his orders. He uses what's described as a "good ol' boy" talking style and is always up to mischief.

 

Pranks

A lot of the humour revolves around Foghorn's interaction with Barnyard Dawg, as they are always engaged in one-upmanship and play many pranks on each other. Foghorn is usually the initial instigator, purely for self-amusement, but he often loses the pranks. This doesn't deter him from continuing, however!

One of his favourite pranks is strolling along with a plank of wood, humming "Camptown Races" and going up to Barnyard when he's asleep in his kennel with his rear end sticking out. Then, Foghorn whacks his tail with the wood to rile him.

Barnyard gives chase but forgets his lead is attached to his collar, so he can't move too far from the kennel. His attempts to catch Foghorn always end with a shriek as he is pulled back by the leash. When Barnyard barks, Foghorn yells, "Aaaahhh, shaddap!" at the top of his voice.

 

Egghead Junior

In later cartoons, Leghorn's grandson, Eggbert, is introduced. Known as Egghead Junior, he's a cute little bespectacled chicken, who has inherited Foghorn's tendency to play pranks.

In one episode, Egghead plays a huge prank on Foghorn, when the hapless granddaddy is trying to show the youngster how to set a trap. As Foghorn sets up a simple trap, he spots Egghead setting up a more elaborate trap of his own nearby.

Foghorn laughs when he says, "Looks like the boy genius is trying to show me up!" - obviously thinking the child has no chance of succeeding. However, Foghorn is soon proven wrong as Egghead's genius does indeed come to light. The clip has received more than half a million YouTube views and is still as popular today as it was in the mid-20th century.

Foghorn often says he's puzzled as to why Feather behaves the way he does, pulling pranks. Of course, Barnyard is happy to put him straight, saying, "Ain't nothin' wrong with 'im, Foggy, except that he takes after you!"

 

Film appearances

Foghorn appeared as a toddler in the Baby Looney Tunes. He was trying to get in with the cool kids and asked Tweety Pie to help him, but Lola Bunny told him to be himself and not pretend to be someone else.

He appeared in the Tiny Toon Adventures, in an episode of The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries and in two short films, Superior Duck in 1996 and Pullet Surprise in 1997. He was also one of the Toon basketball team in the Michael Jordan movie, Space Jam.

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