Yosemite Sam

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Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam.png
Say yer prayers, rabbit!
Species Human
Gender Male
Member of Tune Squad
Occupation Outlaw, cowboy, and many others
Sibling(s) One brother, Yosemite Jack in New Looney Tunes
First appearance MM: Hare Trigger (1945)
Played by Mel Blanc (1945-1983; 1989)
Joe Alaskey (1988-1992; 1995-1997; 2010-2011)
Jeff Bergman (1990-1992, 2014, 2021)
Charlie Adler (1990)
Greg Burson (1991-1997)
Maurice LaMarche (1992-2016)
Jim Cummings (1996-2000, 2014)
Bill Farmer (1996)
Frank Gorshin (1997)
Jeff Bennett (2003-2004)
Fred Tatasciore (since 2017)
Eric Bauza (2018)
File:TTA Yosemite.png
Tiny Toon Adventures
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Space Jam
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Looney Tunes: Back in Action
TLTS Yosemite.png
The Looney Tunes Show
File:NLT Yosemite.png
New Looney Tunes
File:LTC Yosemite.png
Looney Tunes Cartoons
TTL Yosemite.png
Tiny Toons Looniversity

Yosemite Sam is western-type character and recurring antagonist in the Looney Tunes animated franchise. He is usually potrayed as one of Bugs Bunny's most agressive antagonists, and his archenemy in similar vein to Elmer Fudd. His voice was orignated by Mel Blanc using a Southern accent.

Sam first appeared as Bugs' antagonist in the 1945 Looney Tunes short, Hare Trigger, and has been subsequently shown many times in both the theatrical cartoons and the Looney Tunes franchise, sometimes in different roles and other aliases. He appeared in a total of thirty-three shorts made between 1945 and 1964, during the original run of the Warner Bros. cartoons.

His protégé in Tiny Toon Adventures is Montana Max.

Character Description

“ Why, everybody knows me. I'm Yosemite Sam! The meanest, toughest, rip-roaring-est, Edward Everett Horton-est hombre what ever packed a six-shooter! That's who I am!
― Yosemite Sam, Hare Trigger 		”

Yosemite Sam is often depicted as a cowboy or an outlaw with a short, firery temper. In comparison to Elmer Fudd—who is often potrayed as a passive, yet bumbling antagonist—Sam is a much tougher foe to Bugs, and is potrayed as being mean-spirited, reckless, egotistical, and extremely violent. As such, he also has a tougher accent, and a higher, fiercer voice. Sam is a highly assertive person, proudly calling himself as "the roughest, toughest he-man stuffest hombre that's ever crossed the Rio Grande", among many other boastful titles. He is also quicker to learn from his mistakes and never falls for the same ploy twice.

In spite of his tough, formidable personality, Sam doesn't prove himself to be any brighter than Fudd when encountering Bugs. His cantankerous noise contrasts the rabbit's calm demeanor. Sam's cockiness tends to get the best of him, portraying him as a bumbling idiot, with Bugs seeing that he is incapable of turning down a challenge. Sam is incredibly short-tempered and hates it when he is wrong; so much that he would either use his revolvers at random targets (which seem to comically not hit at anyone), or get himself into trouble through his stubbornness. In some instances of rage, he also possesses a foul mouth; cursing unintelligibly when angry and saying phrases like "rackin' frackin' varmint," either loudly or when mumbling to himself.

Sam is very much a short-sized fellow; His height was first lampooned in the debut short Hare Trigger, where a train he tries to hold up passes right over him without harm. While Sam's basic character is that of a cowboy, he wears a black Domino mask to show that he is an outlaw. This is so associated with his persona that he even wears the mask in other roles such as a pirate, a riff, or a Viking. As a cowboy or in any other Western-type role, he wears a large cowboy hat, bandana and cowboy boots.

Appearances

TV series

Movies

Shorts

Comics

Video games

Theme parks

Biography

Original shorts

Feuding with the Varmint Rabbit

Miscellaneous Feuds

It's a Looney, Looney, Looney, Looney, World

Fantastic Island

We're All a Little Looney

Come On and Slam! And Welcome to the Jam!

The Baby Looney Tunes Way

Duck Dodgers of the 24th and One Half Century

Back in Action

Yosemite Sam Gets Modern

Going Down the Rabbit Hole

Back to Basics

Slamming in the Serververse

Keeping Looniversity Safe

Yosemite Sam in the Funny Pages

Yosemite Sam Sells Out

Development

Animator Friz Freleng created the character of Yosemite Sam to be more of a worthy adversary for Bugs Bunny. While Bugs' main foil was Elmer Fudd until then, Freleng thought that Elmer was too mild-mannered and good-natured that he thought Bugs actually came off as a bully for constantly outwitting Elmer. In return, Sam was created as an opposite of Elmer, as he instead exhibited a more brutish demeanor, and not at all as a pushover like Elmer.

Several members of Freleng's production unit, including writer Michael Maltese, asserted the character was modeled after Freleng, of which he was reported to have a resemblance in some way.[1] While Freleng often denied any intentional resemblance, he stated in an interview with the Associated Press that "I have the same temperament, I'm small, and I used to have a red mustache."[2]

Gallery

Main article: Yosemite Sam/Gallery

Toys and merchandise

Behind the scenes

  • His name is taken from Yosemite National Park in California.
  • Without his cowboy hat (or any kind of headwear), Yosemite's head varies from being a full set of hair or completely bald.

In popular culture

WARNING: The following section contains content that may be seen as mature or offensive to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
  • In the Biker Mice from Mars episode "So Life Like," Greasepit turns on the Digitizer to watch the gun totting Chicago Saddlesore, which Limburger thinks will be a good villain to take out the Biker Mice, until he meets him who is initially hard to control, so he is given a partner in Deathmaster, a parody of the Masters of the Universe main villain, Skeletor. Greasepit also comments how he liked Chicago Saddlesore until the violence was toned down.
  • In the Family Guy episode "Tale of a Third Grade Nothing," Sam is trying on pants when he suddenly shouts about how it's the most "tightest, penis-compressingest, sperm-killingest, testicle-grippingest" jeans he's ever tried on.
  • In the Drawn Together episode "Charlotte's Web of Lies," Sam can be seen in Ling Ling's support group next to Marvin the Martian.
  • In "Wooper," the Robot Chicken skit of the episode "Snarfer Image," Sam makes a short appearance after Elmer kills his future self, pleading him to "have what he's having" before being shot.
  • Chicago Saddlesore.png
  • FG Yosemite Sam.png

Full House

  • "The Return of Grandma:" It is a Saturday morning and Stephanie wants to watch Bugs Bunny, but Joey who would prefer to watch Yogi Bear, says Bugs Bunny is kid's stuff and that every episode is the same. He then does impressions of the usual routines of Elmer and Yosemite shooting at him. Joey thinks Bugs has a death wish and wonders why he even pokes his head out of his rabbit hole. Despite this, Stephanie thinks it's less boring than watching Yogi always steal picnic baskets.
  • "Jingle Hell:" To help Jesse with his cat food jingle commercial, Joey warmed up by doing cartoon impressions such as Elmer, followed by Yosemite by saying, "Ooh. I hate that rabbit!"
  • "Blast from the Past:" Joey gets a visit from his ex-college girlfriend, Patty, who says that one of the reasons she broke up with him is because he would only say he loved her in cartoon voices such as Bullwinkle (from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends), Yosemite Sam, and Elmer Fudd.
  • "Star Search:" Joey comes home one evening, but before he enters, he surprises everyone by announcing in Yosemite's voice, "Oh, I hate that rabbit."
  • "The Legend of Ranger Joe:" When Joey auditions to replace Ranger Roy, Joey says he does every cartoon voice known to man, and then proceeds to say "Eh, what's up, Doc?" in Bugs's voice, and then "Oh, I hate that rabbit!" in Yosemite's voice.

References

  1. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (first ed.), p.256. McGraw-Hill Book Company. ISBN 0-07-039835-6.
  2. ↑ "Cartoonist Friz Freleng dead at 89". The Palladium-Times. Associated Press. May 27, 1995.
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