10 Looney Tunes Characters You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

The Looney Tunes franchise has given the world a lot of classic characters, like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. Over the years, some characters have even seen a resurgence of popularity online, with some characters even becoming internet memes, giving them brand-new fans in the digital age. However, a few recurring characters in the Looney Tunes universe, even some who starred in their own series of shorts, appear to be less remembered over the years.

However, it’s possible for viewers who’ve never seen them in the original cartoons, or even in animation at all, to still recognize them, even if they don’t know their names. Occasionally, characters like this have made appearances in later Looney Tunes spin-offs, like movies and later television shows. Some have appeared on merchandise or in advertising campaigns. A few of these characters might have even inspired a few parodies or analogues in similar shows. Either way, these are 10 Looney Tunes characters that may have been tucked away in your memory.

10 Petunia Pig

Petunia Pig is Porky Pig’s love interest who initially appears in Porky’s Romance, which originally aired way back in 1937. Even in her debut appearance, Porky was already planning to propose to her, although a nightmare sequence eventually scared him out of it. Despite this, Petunia would appear in later shorts, though she would fade out as Porky became overshadowed by Bugs and Daffy. Despite this, Petunia would remain a mainstay in merchandise, introducing her to viewers who never saw her in cartoons.

The Minnie to Porky’s Mickey

One of Petunia’s biggest roles in later years was as a prominent character on Baby Looney Tunes, where she had a much larger role than Baby Porky, who only appeared in cameos. Interestingly, The Looney Tunes Show mostly portrayed Porky as unlucky in love, though Petunia was eventually introduced late in the series’ run, being voiced by Katy Mixon. Petunia was also notably recast as “Princess Incense” in an episode of the Duck Dodgers series, where she was voiced by Jodi Benson.

9 Melissa Duck

Melissa Duck is a character who occasionally appears as a love-interest to Daffy Duck. Her most prominent role was in The Scarlet Pumpernickel, where she served as Daffy’s love interest, whom she has to save from an evil duke played by Sylvester the Cat.

A Duck By Any Other Name

Over the years, other female ducks, such as Daffy’s love-interest in Muscle Tussle, are generally seen as Melissa or at least incarnations of the character. However, there have been times when other female ducks have been explicitly other characters, such as Daffy’s love-interest Tina on The Looney Tunes Show.

Notably, a younger version of Melissa also appears as a character in the Baby Looney Tunes series. Melissa has also been suggested as a possible inspiration for Shirley the Loon in Tiny Toon Adventures.

8 Witch Hazel

Witch Hazel is a fairy tale-style witch who occasionally antagonizes Bugs Bunny. She first appears in Bewitched Bunny, where Bugs rescues Hansel and Gretel from the witch, only to nearly end up on the menu himself. She also appears in the Halloween-oriented Broom-Stick Bunny, where Hazel mistakes a trick-or-treating Bugs for another witch competing for her title of “ugliest one of all.” Famously, she is defeated in the short by being transformed into an attractive redhead.

Makes Every Day Feel Like Halloween

Hazel would make a few appearances over the years. Notably, a vampire in Transylvania 6-5000 is briefly transformed into a copy of her. A revamped version of the character, “Witch Lezah,” appeared on The Looney Tunes Show, where she was presented as being far more serious and less villainous than previous incarnations. She was even played by Roz Ryan, a voice actor who most recently played the role of Cake the Cat in Max’s Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake.

Interestingly, another animated Witch Hazel previously appeared in the Disney short Trick or Treat. The two even shared a voice actress in June Foray.

7 Penelope Pussycat

Penelope Pussycat is a cat who often serves as a reluctant love-interest for Pepé Le Pew. While in truth a black and white cat, she often finds herself with a stripe of white paint on her back, causing her to be mistaken for a female skunk. In her debut appearance, For Scent-imental Reasons, Penelope initially finds herself initially being pursued by Pepé. However, once she loses her sense of smell, the roles become reversed, with her being the one to chase after Pepé.

Penelope Got Her Big Break in the ’90s

Despite their conflicting interests in each other in the cartoons, merchandise often portrays Pepé and Penelope as a couple. One of Penelope’s more prominent roles was also the 1995 short Carrotblanca, where she was the Ilsa analogue “Kitty Ketty,” which gave her a rare speaking role. In this story, a parody of Casablanca, “Ilsa” ends up with “Rick,” played by none other than Bugs Bunny.

Penelope may have also been an inspiration for the Tiny Toon Adventures character Furrball, much like Pepé gaining a female counterpart in Fifi La Fume, who also once mistakes Furrball for a skunk.

6 Sam Sheepdog

Sam Sheepdog is the nemesis of Ralph Wolf, a character nearly identical to, and has occasionally been mistaken for, Wile E. Coyote. Ralph preys on the sheep that are in Sam’s care, although he effectively treats it as a 9-to-5 job, complete with time cards. Sam technically follows Ralph in this regard, although he also has a co-worker who takes the “late-shift,” the similar-looking Fred, suggesting he knows the sheep are in good hands.

It’s a Living

During his working hours, however, Sam proves more than capable of protecting his flock, being able to take care of Ralph with a single punch. He’s also clever enough to see through Ralph’s tricks, such as when the wolf tried to disguise himself as Sam’s replacement.

Despite this, the overall joke is that the two are effectively just doing their jobs, serving as a satire of the blue-collar worker, with media of all forms occasionally making a reference to their brief positive interactions outside of “work.” Notably, Ralph and Sam’s names aren’t always consistent, with the sheepdog sometimes being addressed as “Ralph.”

Animation often casts cats and dogs against each other. However, Marc Antony and Pussyfoot defy this classic trope. While Marc Anthony, or at least a similar bulldog, first appeared in the short Cheese Chasers, the two would famously be paired off together in the short Feed the Kitty.

Marc Anthony initially tries to scare off Pussyfoot, but soon grows fond of the kitten, despite the kitten getting him into trouble. Infamously, when the kitten falls into some cookie batter, Marc Anthony mistakenly believes the poor kitten has been baked into a cookie. Fortunately, he soon finds Pussyfoot alive and well, with his owner allowing him to keep her.

Who Says Dogs & Cats Can’t Be Friends?

Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot have had a surprising influence on popular culture over the years. The “infamous” cookie scene, for example, may have been an influence on a similar scene in Monsters, Inc., which sees Sulley believe Boo has been placed in a trash compactor. The relationship dynamic shared between both Marc Antony and Pussyfoot can also be found, or at the very least referenced, in a plethora of animated projects released since Feed the Kitty debuted in 1952.

4 Beaky Buzzard

Beaky Buzzard, also known as “Killer,” is a young buzzard who first appeared in Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid, which sees the bird try to catch Bugs Bunny to appease his domineering mother. In the end, however, Bugs wins over the buzzard’s mother when it appears that he saved her son.

Looney Tunes’ Very Own Snerd Bird

Initially a parody of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s character Mortimer Snerd, Beaky was initially presented as a dim-witted character, but was shown to have become more intelligent in the short The Lion’s Busy. However, other later appearances returned him to his original personality, such as Strife with Father, which portrays him as the adoptive son of a sparrow.

Outside of cartoons, Beaky arguably had a larger role in comics, notably Dell Comics’ Looney Tunes series. Occasionally, he was portrayed as being on friendly terms with characters like Bugs and Porky. Bugs Bunny Builders notably featured a female version of the character, Bizzy Buzzard. But beyond these instances and some occasional merchandise, however, Beaky has remained relatively obscure.

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3 Yoyo Dodo

Yoyo Dodo, also known as the Dodo Bird, is a bird who appears in the 1938 short Porky in Wackyland. In the cartoon, Porky Pig finds himself in the nonsensical land while searching for the titular bird, who he believes is the last of his kind. The bird proves to be a cunning trickster who plays jokes on Porky. In the end, it also turns out that Yoyo isn’t the last of his kind, with him summoning an entire flock.

There’s More Dodos Where That Came From

The story was later remade as Dough for the Do-Do in 1949, albeit in full color due to advancements in technology. This time, after Porky catches Yoyo, the existence of Yoyo’s flock is only revealed to the audience, not Porky himself.

Despite being a relatively minor character in the original run, Yoyo would go on to inspire another character in the Tiny Toon Adventures series, Gogo Dodo, who was voiced by Frank Welker of Scooby-Doo and Transformers fame.

2 Cool Cat

Cool Cat is a hip tiger who first appears in his eponymous short, Cool Cat. Notably, Cool Cat was a reflection of the beatnik culture of the 1960s, with one short showing him to have been a student of “Disco Tech.” In most of his cartoons, Cool Cat was antagonized by Colonel Rimfire, effectively his very own Elmer Fudd.

A Hepcat Who’s an Actual Cat

Notably, Cool Cat would go on to become a running joke in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries animated series, where he would briefly make cameos throughout the series. Cool Cat and Colonel Rimfire would also appear in Tweety’s High-Flying Adventure, which saw the latter character betting that Tweety could travel around the world in 80 days.

1 Michigan J. Frog

Michigan J. Frog is a character who originated in the Merrie Melodies series, starring in the short film One Froggy Evening. In the short, Michigan is a frog who can sing and dance that was discovered by a construction worker. However, he only seems to perform for the man whenever he’s alone, acting like a normal frog whenever anyone else is watching. His performance, set to the tune of “Hello! Ma Baby,” has been referenced or parodied countless times since the short’s original debut in 1955. Michigan as a character, however, hasn’t been shown the same love.

The Frog With His Own Network

For years, Michigan’s biggest claim to fame was arguably serving as the mascot for The WB television network. At times, Michigan was used to explain the rating of a show. As The WB became more adult-oriented, the character was soon “killed off,” although he continued to appear in promos for the “Kids’ WB!” programming block. When the network signed off for the final time in 2006, Michigan appeared in silhouette to say goodbye to the audience.

However, in 2023, he would make an unexpected reappearance in the most unlikely of places. Michigan would appear in the Teen Titans Go! episode “Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary,” where he served as the story’s antagonist, wanting to destroy the Warner Bros. studio. The Looney Tunes franchise is currently streaming on Max.