Cartoon Character Facts and Quacks Quiz

Answer: Daffy Duck

And the voice acting award for the longest length of time spent on the one cartoon character goes to the great Mel Blanc. He did the job for an amazing 52 years. Daffy was born on 17th April 1937 and first appeared in the cartoon "Porky's Duck Hunt" as a bit actor.

He went on to become a great star in the cartoon world with his abrasive, confrontational style. He really can be over the top and has been described by film critic Steve Schneider as "a kind of unleashed id". Daffy is also noted for his comical lisp.

The singer Mel Torme provided the melodious voice for Daffy when he sang in the "Night of the Living Duck" cartoon. I think that's awfully funny.

Answer: His hairstyle

Well, it was a more innocent time then, and television wasn't around. That hairstyle is something else, though. It's very hard to imagine it on boys today. Woody, who was created by Walter Lantz, has been around since 1940. He made his last appearance in 2002.

At first he was portrayed as a totally frenetic character, but over the years tended to settle down somewhat to become more refined. A refined woodpecker? Though it has been disputed, it is believed that Lantz created the character on his honeymoon, when a woodpecker almost drove him and his bride insane by constantly pecking on the honeymoon cabin.

It could prove a little distracting at that. At least it didn't laugh though. Think how off-putting that could have been.

Answer: Yes

Orson Bird just doesn't have the same ring to it, even though Tweety did a lot of "orson" around during his acting career. The trouble with Tweety's gender identification issues is, well, firstly the name. It's hardly what one would call masculine. Then there's his appealingly long eyelashes. And of course his voice hasn't broken yet - or he needs hormone injections. Tweety's character is said to be modelled after that of Red Skelton's "mean widdle kid" interpretation.

His appearance, according to his animator Bob Clampett, was taken from a photograph of himself as a baby. Oh dear, that's hardly flattering.

His poor mother. Tweety is said to be a canary, but there's doubt about that as well. The producers finally solved that issue by stating that Tweety is the only specimen of his kind. Freud would be fascinated by that.

It suggests that Tweety cannot beget little Tweeties and in fact, given his appearance, could even be a her-or-himaphrodite.

Answer: By the aid of portable steps

Yosemite Sam is very short, has red hair and a giant red beard. He actually reminds me of my ex-husband. Sam is an irascible sort of chap, can't control his explosive temper, and is always ready to blow some varmint to pieces - after they've said their prayers of course. Sam is quite religious in that regard. Even though his animator, Friz Freleng, always denied the resemblance, more than one member of the crew, and his own daughter, always agreed that Sam is Friz's alter-ego. Mel Blanc, who voiced Sam in many of his early cartoons, had trouble finding a voice he felt suited the cartoon's character.

At first he tried a high-pitched squeaky voice, then a quiet voice, but neither, he felt, worked. One day on his way to work, Blanc lost his temper with another driver and shouted at him in a fit of road rage. Suddenly he realised that voice would be perfect for Sam as well, and that's how Sam's vocals were born.

The comical thing about this, however, is that following long session recordings, Blanc often developed a hoarse voice as a result.

Answer: Penelope Pussycat

Penelope is often portrayed as having a white stripe accidentally painted down her back, giving her the appearance of a female skunk. This sets Pepe's heart madly beating with love from the moment he first sees her, and many of the cartoons feature Penelope frantically trying to escape his amorous advances. Occasionally he manages to catch her and clasp her to his bosom. The look of horror on her face, as his odour seeps into her nostrils, is extremely amusing.

Now and then, however, the animators turn the tables on Pepe, as in the cartoon "Little Beau Pepe", and we are treated to the comical sight of Penelope overcome with lust for him instead. This terrifies Pepe as he doesn't like aggressive females. In another, "For Scent-imental Reasons", the amorously portrayed Penelope has been "dunked in dirty water, leaving her with a ratty appearance and a developing head cold" - quite putting the usually persistent Pepe off his stride.

One of the other features of these cartoons that always bring a laugh is the differences in the two styles of running in the two characters. Penelope's is usually a frantic sprint to escape Pepe, while he just jumps along comfortably after her each time. Finally, contrary to common belief, Pepe is not modelled after the great French actor Maurice Chevalier, but another great French actor, Charles Boyer, instead.

Answer: Porky Pig

P-p-Porky Pig is noted for his comical, but unfortunate stutter. He first appeared in 1935 when he was brought to life by animators Friz Freleng and Bob Clampett in the cartoon "I Haven't Got A Hat". The origin of his name? Two of Freleng's former and overweight classmates. The poor little things were known to their peers as Porky and Piggy.

Oh this is horrible: Joe Dougherty, the voice actor who played Porky's vocals, actually stuttered for real. One would think he'd be absolutely perfect for the job, but because he couldn't control his stutter (well, d-d-duhh, that's what the condition is), he was replaced. Apparently the recording sessions were taking too long. Mel Blanc, who took over the role, retained the stutter and has gone on record as saying he played the stutter to resemble the grunting sounds of a real pig. He obviously didn't grow up on a farm.

Here's something that actually is amusing. When Tweety Bird's animator, Bob Clampett, first designed him (or her), he had to make a few alterations to the character because the producers of the cartoon thought Tweety looked too naked. Yet, said Clampett, "nothing was ever made of the fact that all those years, Porky never wore any pants!". In keeping with the emphasis on fitness and healthy eating today, Porky has slimmed down over the years from the enormously fat porker he was initially. I wonder what his dieting s-s-secret is?

Answer: R and L

Bugs Bunny is Elmer's thorn in the side. He thinks he's a vewy wascawy wabbit indeed. Elmer appeared on the scene in 1937 when he was brought to life by animators Tex Avery and Chuck Jones. At that time he was known as Egghead instead of the name we are more familiar with.

It wasn't until 1940 that he evolved into Elmer Fudd. At first Elmer is actually quite fond of rabbits but it isn't too long before he begins to "hate wittle gway wabbits" and he's hated them ever since. With due cause I might add. Bugs Bunny has pestered Elmer mercilessly over the long film career they have shared together.

A comical footnote about Elmer Fudd is the category under which he is listed in the search engine, Google. Because of Elmer's unique manner of speech, Google, which translates into many languages world wide, has Elmer's listed as a unique language.

Answer: Mouse

Speedy in fact is "The fastest mouse in all Mexico" and to stress his exotic background, he always speaks in an over the top Mexican accent. This south of the border rodent came to life in 1955 and was still going strong in 2011. Oh, this is hilarious! At one stage he was banned from the screen by the cartoon network because of the "ethnic stereotypes" associated with his portrayal. His fellow Mexican mice were usually shown as "very slow and lazy, and sometimes even intoxicated". I've heard everything now. This took place in the United States. Latin Americans, on the other hand, loved the little mouse and lobbied hard for his return. Oh for goodness sakes - the cartoons now appear with the following disclaimer:

"The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in American society. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. While the following does not represent the WB view of society, these cartoons are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as to claim these prejudices never existed".

Speedy Gonzales - the first cartoon to create a political controversy. Arriba! Arriba!

Answer: Too violent

I don't get it. They allow films filled with the most extraordinary violence, but pick on a scrawny, flea-bitten cartoon coyote instead? This took place in the 1980s, and many of the scenes that were part of the plot of various cartoons featuring Wile E. Coyote had to be edited out. Any scenes which showed his face being blackened by an explosion also had to be edited out because it was felt they represented the old blackface too much - as in those old minstrel shows- and were therefore considered racist.

Wile has been around a long time now. He first appeared in 1949 and was still going strong in 2011. His image also crops up now and then in a number of other places. For example, there are video games featuring Wile and the Roadrunner, and he appears as a guest cartoon in other cartoons as well. He has also been a point of reference in the occasional television series too. An entire story line was built around him in one episode of the comedy series "Frasier"; he's been portrayed by actors in comedy sketches; and a song was even written about him by guitarist Mark Knopfler, and is featured on the 2002 album "The Ragpickers Dream". Over here in Australia, a t-shirt used to be sold which featured a triumphant Wile with his hands firmly clasped around the Roadrunner's neck. The caption underneath read, "Got you at last, you B...". It's actually quite surprising that it didn't feature Wile and the Roadrunner at a football game, holding a couple of cans of beer - but they're probably still getting round to that.

Answer: Sylvester the Cat

Sylvester (born 1945 - oh look, he's a Catty Boomer!) won these awards in the best anthropomorphic tuxedo cat division. Characteristics associated with Sylvester are his bright red nose and his rather sloppy lisp. The voice given to Sylvester by Mel Blanc is the closest any cartoon character has to Blanc's real life voice - minus the lisp of course. He's usually portrayed as a would-be villain, but now and again appears as a hero. The latter usually occurs when he's dealing with Spike the bulldog, as in the "Tree for Two" cartoon where he's been backed into an alley by Spike. It just so happens, however, that a black panther has escaped from the zoo and taken refuge in the same alley at the same time. Spike emerges from the alley definitely the worse for wear when, thinking he has Sylvester cornered, he attacks the panther by mistake.

Another classic cartoon shows Sylvester instructing his son, Sylvester Junior, on the art of catching a mouse. The mouse in question, however, turns out to be an escaped boxing kangaroo. Mouse was off the menu for some time after that episode, as Sylvester recovered from a nervous collapse. Sylvester, who was originally named Thomas for a short while, was named after "Felis silvestris, the scientific name for the wild cat species". He has appeared in over 100 cartoons. He was still going strong in 2011 as well, and hopefully will entertain us for many more years to come - unless of course his lisp meets with the censor's disapproval.

That would be desthpicable - and that's all, folks.