Buddy

Buddy
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Debut appearance:	"Buddy's Day Out"
Created by:	Tom Palmer
Portrayed by:	Bernard B. Brown (1933-1934) Jack Carr (1934-1935) Jackie Morrow (1935) Tommy Bond (1935) Jim Cummings (Animaniacs)

Buddy is a Looney Tunes character.

History

Buddy has his origins in the chaos that followed after animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising quit their deal with producer Leon Schlesinger in 1933. Harman and Ising went to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, taking Bosko with them, as they retained the rights to the character. Without his animators and star character, Schlesinger was desperate to build his own cartoon studio and maintain his contract with Warner Bros. He lured in several animators from other studios, among them Tom Palmer. Schlesinger told his new employees to create a star character for the studio, and Tom Palmer created Buddy in 1933.

Bob Clampett has referred to Buddy as "Bosko in whiteface". Buddy's films are not much different from Bosko's: music dominates in Buddy's world, and the characters merely exist to add a visual to the soundtrack and to participate in the odd gag. Buddy is often accompanied in his films by his flapper girlfriend, Cookie, and his dog, Towser. The character would go on to star in 23 cartoons from 1933 to 1935 before he was retired to make way for Beans, who became the third Looney Tunes star. Beans would soon be displaced by his co-star Porky Pig, who proved far more popular.

Buddy's shorts were all but forgotten until the era of television began in the 1950s. Program directors, searching for something cheap to fill time, rediscovered the "lost" cartoons from the 1930s. Despite being considered bland, Buddy cartoons were shown on television as part of the Sunset Productions syndicated package.

Buddy's first new appearance after his original series ended came in the 1993 animated series Animaniacs, where he appeared in the episode "The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special", broadcast 27 May 1994. In this episode, it was revealed (in the series' fictional history) that the Warner siblings (Yakko, Wakko, and Dot) were created to spice up Buddy's dull cartoons, usually by smashing Buddy on the head with mallets. After Buddy was dropped by the studio in favor of the Warners, Buddy retired to become a nut farmer in Ojai, California, but hated the Warners for ruining his career, and attempted to blow them up at the Anniversary Special to seek revenge. He failed when the Warners thanked Buddy, and he came out of hiding, did a speech at Wakko's suggestion and forgot all about the bomb he did beneath a podium. Jim Cummings provided Buddy's voice here.

Buddy made a cameo in Space Jam on one of the several portraits depicting 1930s era Looney Tunes characters. His portrait is most visible on the left of the door as Daffy Duck is entering the meeting hall after just taking a bath.

A collection of cels from Buddy's Day Out was the focus of an episode of the PBS series History Detectives in 2010.

Appearances

The classic shorts:

• "Buddy's Day Out" (1933)
• "Buddy's Beer Garden" (1933)
• "Buddy's Show Boat" (1933)
• "Buddy the Gob" (1934)
• "Buddy and Towser" (1934)
• "Buddy's Garage" (1934)
• "Buddy's Trolley Troubles" (1934)
• "Buddy of the Apes" (1934)
• "Buddy's Bearcats" (1934)
• "Buddy the Detective" (1934)
• "Buddy the Woodsman" (1934)
• "Buddy's Circus" (1934)
• "Buddy's Adventures" (1934)
• "Viva Buddy" (1934)
• "Buddy the Dentist" (1934)
• "Buddy of the Legion" (1935)
• "Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name" (1935)
• "Buddy's Pony Express" (1935)
• "Buddy's Theatre" (1935)
• "Buddy's Lost World" (1935)
• "Buddy's Bug Hunt" (1935)
• "Buddy in Africa" (1935)
• "Buddy Steps Out" (1935)
• "Buddy the Gee Man" (1935)

The Animaniacs episode:

• "The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special"

The film:

• Who Framed Roger Rabbit (cameo; deleted)
• Space Jam (picture cameo)
• Looney Tunes Back in Action (picture cameo)

Gallery

Debut, "Buddy's Day Out"

Buddy (far left) with various Looney Tunes characters

Animaniacs

Space Jam

Looney Tunes Back in Action (picture on the wall)

External Links

• Too Looney!: Buddy Profile