Study In Cartoon Evolution III.

Hey kids (of all ages), it's Saturday Morning Cartoon time again!

This week we take another look at the nascent form of a character who would go on play a major role in the Golden Age of American cartoons.

Egghead went back and forth from being a conventional star to a running gag in pictures focusing on other characters. You could almost argue that it was two different characters, given that his design also changed depending on which function he was fulfilling. As a star, he usually had open eyes and a costume for the story. (Cowboy duds, hunting clothes, etc.) As a running gag, he was usually squint-eyed, and wore an outdated, baggy suit with a stiff collar and undersized derby hat.

In this outing, Egghead's signature baggy suit was darkened from its usual green to go with his preacher-like running gag role. His yodeling voice is provided by none other than Roy Rogers, who was at the start of his career as the king of the movies' singing cowboys. The singing voices of the hillbillies were provided by the Sons of the Pioneers.

Most notable is the first-ever onscreen use of the name "Elmer Fudd". The name "Elmer" had been used to identify Egghead in the lobby poster from an earlier short.

Could it be that the open-faced, story-costumed "Egghead" and the squinting, running-gag "Elmer" were separate characters all-along? Being as how there was no attempt at continuity in the WB cartoons of the era, Tex Avery probably would have considered the question moot.

From 1938, A FEUD THERE WAS.

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