Beaky Buzzard is an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

in the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is a young

turkey vulture The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus '' Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of Sout ...

(sometimes called a "buzzard" in the United States) with black body feathers and a white tuft around his throat. His neck is long and thin, bending 90 degrees at an enormous Adam's apple. His neck and head are featherless, and his beak and feet are large and yellow or orange, depending on the cartoon. The character is depicted as simpleminded with drawled speech, a perpetual silly grin, and partially-closed eyes. Beaky was partly based on

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Ch ...

's puppet Mortimer Snerd.

Popularity

The films were popular in theaters, and the character was familiar enough to be included in the cameo in Carrotblanca

Short subjects

The character first appeared in the 1942 cartoon '' Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid'', directed by

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

. The cartoon's plot revolves around the hopeless attempts of the brainless buzzard, here called Killer, to catch

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

for his domineering

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

mother back at the nest. Beaky's voice was reminiscent of

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

's character

Mortimer Snerd Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Ch ...

(his in-studio name was in fact "Snerd Bird", bestowed by Bob Clampett himself; he was not named "Beaky" on-screen in this first appearance). The voice itself was provided by voice actor

Kent Rogers Kent Byron Rogers (July 31, 1923 – July 9, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in several live-action features and shorts, and a voice actor for Warner Bros. Cartoons and Walter Lantz Productions. Career For Warner Bros. Cartoons, R ...

. Clampett brought the character back in the 1945 film ''

The Bashful Buzzard ''The Bashful Buzzard'' is a 7-minute animated cartoon completed in 1944 and released on September 15, 1945. It is directed by Robert Clampett and is the second to feature the character Beaky Buzzard. This is the last cartoon in which Kent Rogers ...

'', a cartoon that closely mirrors its predecessor, only this time featuring Beaky's hapless hunting (contrasting with the war-like formation flying and dive bombing of his brothers) without Bugs as an antagonist. Rogers reprised his role as the character's voice for the film, but he was killed in a Naval aviation training accident at

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

before finishing all his dialogue. Clampett left the studio in 1946, ending Beaky's career for a time. The character was eventually brought back in the 1950

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

film ''

The Lion's Busy ''The Lion's Busy'' is a 1948 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Friz Freleng. It features Leo the Lion (who had previously appeared in ''Hold the Lion, Please'') and Beaky Buzzard (who had previously ap ...

'', now voiced by Mel Blanc. Freleng made the buzzard smarter, pitting him against a dim-witted lion named Leo. Robert McKimson also featured the character in a film that year, '' Strife with Father''. McKimson's Beaky is again back to his idiotic self, this time under the tutelage of his adoptive father, a sparrow who is trying to teach Beaky how to survive in the wild.

Later minor appearances

Beaky has had minor roles in various Warner Bros. projects, such as ''

Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...

'', where he plays the mentor of the character

Concord Condor The ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' animated television series features an extensive cast of characters. The show's central characters are mostly various forms of anthropomorphic animals, based on Looney Tunes characters from earlier films and show ...

, and the movies ''

Space Jam ''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel ...

'' (1996) as a member of the Tune Squad, 2003's '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' as an Acme pilot voiced by Joe Alaskey, and '' Space Jam: A New Legacy'' (2021) very briefly seen leaving Tune World in Bugs' flashback, in front of an unknown figure and

Cecil Turtle Cecil Turtle is a fictional character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of films. Though he made only three theatrical appearances, Cecil has the unusual distinction in that he is one of the very few characters w ...

. Beaky Buzzard appeared in ''

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries ''The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation which aired from September 9, 1995 to February 5, 2000 on Kids' WB. The final episode, containing the segments "The Tail End?" and ...

'' in the episode "3 Days & 2 Nights of the Condor", where he was voiced by

Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the Johnny Bravo, eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in ''Gargoyles (TV series), Gargoyles'' and List o ...

. Beaky's

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

, who appeared in many of his original shorts, also appeared in an episode of the show (voiced by

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series ''Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrench ...

). Beaky made a cameo in ''

Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas ''Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas'' (also known as ''Looney Tunes: Bah Humduck'') is a 2006 animated direct-to-DVD Christmas comedy film starring the Looney Tunes characters, directed by Charles Visser, produced by Warner Bros. Animation a ...

'' as one of Daffy's employeers and appeared in ''

The Looney Tunes Show ''The Looney Tunes Show'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran from May 3, 2011, through November 2, 2013, on Cartoon Network. The series consists of two seasons, each containing 26 episodes, and features ch ...

'' episode from second season "Ridiculous Journey", voiced by Jim Cummings. Beaky's most recent appearance was in the ''

Looney Tunes Cartoons ''Looney Tunes Cartoons'' is an American animated television series developed by Peter Browngardt and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. The series made its worldwide debu ...

'' series, voiced by Michael Ruocco. Beaky will appear in the preschool series ''Bugs Bunny Builders'' which will air on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Cartoonito Cartoonito is a brand name used by Warner Bros. Discovery for a collection of television networks and programming blocks that target preschool-age children. The name combines the "cartoon" with the Spanish suffix "ito", meaning "small". As of 2 ...

block and

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

Comics and merchandising

Beaky is featured in several issues of

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

' ''Looney Tunes''

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series, usually paired with another minor player,

Henery Hawk Henery Hawk is an American cartoon character who appears in twelve comedy film shorts produced in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series. His first appearance is in the 1942 theatrical release '' The Squawkin' Hawk'', which was direct ...

, and additionally appeared in a print spinoff of ''

'' in 1997. The character was licensed for ''Looney Tunes'' merchandise such as a metal

coin bank Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the " mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th centu ...

, and, in 1973, a collectible

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

bottle.

Filmography

Warner Films theatrical short subjects

* '' Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid'' (1942) * ''

'' (1945) * ''

'' (1950) * '' Strife with Father'' (1950)

Other appearances

;Film: * '' Carrotblanca'' (1995) (cameo) * ''

'' (1996) * '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' (2003) voiced by Joe Alaskey. ;Television: * ''

'' (in "High Toon") voiced by Rob Paulsen. * ''

'' (in "3 Days & 2 Nights of the Condor") voiced by

. * ''

'' (in "Ridiculous Journey") voiced by Jim Cummings. * ''

'' (2020) voiced by Michael Ruocco. ;Audio recordings: * ''Bugs Bunny in Storyland'' (1949) (as Simple Simon)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaky Buzzard Looney Tunes characters Fictional birds of prey Anthropomorphic birds Fictional anthropomorphic characters Film characters introduced in 1942