Foghorn Leghorn
Published in
4 min readAug 19, 2024
A Southerner did not create Foghorn J. Leghorn, but he was a funny cartoon character with an old-timey Southern accent. (Someone said it is a Central Virginia accent; others think Georgia or Alabama.)
Foghorn’s first starring role was in a cartoon short called “Walky Talky Hawky.” He was best known as part of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon set for Warner Bros. Foghorn’s career began in 1946 and lasted through 1964, with a total of 29 cartoons. It is said that the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons were geared toward adults rather than children, but people of all ages enjoyed them.
Foghorn’s creator was Robert McKimson, and his original voice was one of many character voices we enjoyed from the talented Mel Blanc. Others throughout the years also donated their verbal talents to speaking for this larger-than-life rooster. Mel said he based Foghorn’s South Alabama accent on Senator Claghorn, a popular 40s radio show character.
With a million TV channels and exponentially more online sources, favorite shows or cartoons can be accessed 24/7. Back in my day, specific cartoons were available on TV a few times a week or as a preamble to a movie at the local theater.
Another modern-day change is the ease at which someone with an ax to grind can complain anonymously about anything and everything. One of my all-time favorite cartoons is Foghorn Leghorn. I’m saddened that this funny Southern animated character could draw fire, but it has. On the other hand, I’m happy to say it didn’t change a thing for me. I love this character and his entourage.
Foghorn was a big old cocky, loud leghorn (breed) rooster who regularly outwitted and often whipped his nemesis, a basset hound named Barnyard Dawg.
Foghorn was constantly distracted by a tiny chicken hawk, sometimes nibbling on his leg, whose perceived destiny was to catch a chicken but whose visual knowledge of what a real live chicken looked like was totally missing. His name was Henery Hawk. In one episode, Foghorn convinces Henery that Barnyard Dawg is a chicken. Inexperienced little Henery falls for the ruse until the dog explains the mistake, and they team up against Foghorn.
Other characters were added to the menagerie, but none so unusual as Miss Prissy, the little old dried-up spinster chicken named “old square britches” by the other chickens. Miss Prissy is supposed to be a widow with a small son whose head is twice the size of his tiny body and is wearing horn-rimmed glasses that are bigger still. Prissy’s son’s name is Egghead Jr. I guess the name fits because his favorite pastime is to bury his head in a book. Miss Prissy is infatuated or in love with our big, overconfident hero, Foghorn Leghorn.
