From Egghead to Elmer Fudd

[JPox]

I just watched "Confederate Honey" on YouTube last night. You could really see the comparisons between Egghead and Elmer in this Freleng cartoon. I was wondering if this was the crossroads between the two characters?

"Elmer's Candid Camera" was released 28 days before this cartoon, but Elmer acts more like Elmer in the cartoon. I figure Jones was able to complete his film before Freleng?

The next Elmer cartoon is "A Wild Hare".

I think I just answered my own question....

[The Spectre]

Is "A Wild Hare" the only one to feature Elmer (with the standard Bryan voice and non-wacky personality) with a red nose like what Egghead had?

[ohmahaaha]

Is "A Wild Hare" the only one to feature Elmer (with the standard Bryan voice and non-wacky personality) with a red nose like what Egghead had?
No - I think he had the red nose in at least a couple of his "chubby" cartoons too, didn't he? :befuddled

[Marty26]

No - I think he had the red nose in at least a couple of his "chubby" cartoons too, didn't he? :befuddled

In Wabbit Twouble he had a reddish/orangish nose.

[Nick]

Freleng seemed to have an idea of using Elmer Fudd in movie, novel and radio parodies in 1940 with "Confederate Honey" and also "The Hardship Of Miles Standish". I guess the idea was dropped when they saw how successful he and Bugs Bunny were paired together in "A Wild Hare". Considering this, I'm not really sure why Jones used Elmer in his own one-off cartoon ("Good Night Elmer") even after "A Wild Hare" was released.

[Thad]

I think maybe those two movie parodies ("Confederate Honey" being written by Ben Hardaway even) were originally supposed to star Egghead originally, but the new design and voice was preferred so they just used Elmer.

[Daffysleftfoot]

I'm not really sure why Jones used Elmer in his own one-off cartoon ("Good Night Elmer") even after "A Wild Hare" was released.

My guess would be that Rich Hogan had a story idea about someone trying to go to sleep but is heckled by a flame that wouldn't extinguish. Chuck Jones or someone in his unit must have felt that the new Elmer Fudd character would best suit that story.

[Marty26]

Seeing as to how Egghead was cast in all these random roles and never even had a central character (his voice even changed from cartoon to cartoon and he would alternate between a bald head and a bowl of black hair at the top of his head), I guess WB was originally planning that same sort of thing with Elmer. Except now they had a more uniform character to work with (ie. his voice and physical appearance were a little more consistent). Remember that until A Wild Hare, Elmer was generally cast in roles that Egghead would normally take, such as a telegram delivery boy in The Hardship of Miles Standish.