Gossamer (Looney Tunes)

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Gossamer
Looney Tunes character
Gossamer restored.jpg
Gossamer and Bugs Bunny in
Hair-Raising Hare
First appearance Hair-Raising Hare (May 25, 1946;78 years ago (1946-05-25))
Created by Chuck Jones
Ted Pierce
Designed by Bob Givens
Voiced by Mel Blanc (1946–1980)
Frank Welker (1990)
Maurice LaMarche (1995, 2002)
Jim Cummings (1996–2006)
Joe Alaskey (2000–2001)
Kwesi Boakye (2011–2014)
Eric Bauza (2018, 2023–present) [1] [2]
Fred Tatasciore (2020–present) [3]
In-universe information
Species Monster
GenderIndeterminate [4]

Gossamer is an animated character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He is a large, hairy, orange [5] or red [6] [7] monster. His body is perched on two giant tennis shoes, and his heart-shaped face is composed of only two oval eyes and a wide mouth, with two hulking arms ending in dirty, clawed fingers. The monster's main trait is his uncombed, orange hair. He originally was voiced by Mel Blanc and has been voiced by Frank Welker, Maurice LaMarche, Joe Alaskey, Jim Cummings, Kwesi Boakye, Eric Bauza and currently Fred Tatasciore.

Contents

The word gossamer means any sort of thin, fragile, transparent material. In particular, it can refer to a kind of delicate, sheer gauze or a light cobweb. The name is meant to be ironic because the character is large, menacing, and destructive. [8]

History

Animator Chuck Jones introduced the unnamed monster in the 1946 cartoon Hair-Raising Hare . [9] In it, Bugs Bunny is lured to the lair of a mad scientist (a caricature of actor Peter Lorre). [10] [11] The monster serves as the scientist's henchman.

Part of this plot was repeated in the 1952 Jones cartoon Water, Water Every Hare [12] in which the monster's character is referred to as "Rudolph" or simply "Monster". In need of a live brain for his giant robot, the mad scientist (this time a caricature of Boris Karloff) releases Rudolph from his chamber on a mission to capture Bugs Bunny; the monster shows a sudden burst of joyousness and quickly sets out when the mad scientist promises the reward of "spider goulash" for capturing the rabbit.

The monster next appears in Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century in 1980. This is the first cartoon where the character is called "Gossamer", and is so named by Marvin the Martian. [9] Jones gave the monster this name "because he's the opposite looking of gossamer. He's a big, hairy thing." [8]

In the 1995 short film, Carrotblanca , Gossamer is seated at a table.

Other appearances

Gossamer also has appeared in various Warner Bros. productions:

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References

  1. ↑ "Gossamer". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "Meet the All-Star Voice Cast for "Tiny Toons Looniversity"" (Press release). Cartoon Network. June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023– via The Futon Critic.
  3. ↑ "Looney Tunes Cartoons Characters Revealed in New HBO Max Images". Collider . 5 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Gossamer - Chuck Jones". Chuck Jones Official Website. 3 February 2024.
  5. ↑ "Gossamer". chuckjonescenter.org.
  6. ↑ Colavito, Jason (2007-11-12). Knowing Fear: Science, Knowledge and the Development of the Horror Genre. McFarland. p. 257. ISBN   978-0-7864-3273-8.
  7. ↑ Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew (2016-04-01). The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters. Routledge. p. 1. ISBN   978-1-317-04426-0.
  8. 1 2 Korkis, Jim. "The Return of Duck Dodgers". Outré magazine. Vol. 1, no. 7. p. 86.
  9. 1 2 Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. p. 85. ISBN   978-1-64722-137-9.
  10. ↑ Greenberg, Harvey Roy (2004). "Heimlich Maneuvers: On A Certain Tendency of Horror and Speculative Cinema". In Shneider, Steven Jay (ed.). Horror Film and Psychoanalysis: Freud's Worst Nightmare. Cambridge University Press. p. 130. ISBN   9781139453684.
  11. ↑ Youngkin, Stephen D. (2005). "Being Slapped and Liking It". The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre. University Press of Kentucky. p. 214. ISBN   9780813137001.
  12. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. pp. 234–235. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
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