Redheads: Gossamer

At first he didn’t have a name at all, and then he was referenced as “Rudolph” in the credits, and then finally he was called “Gossamer” by Marvin the Martian, a name that seems to have stuck since, well, he was anything but.  This big hairy orange monster is a favorite for fans of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons, even though he only appears in three of the old shorts.

For as long as it remains up on YouTube here’s the second of the shorts the monster can be found in, “Water, Water Every Hare.”

Redheads: Witch Hazel

One of my favorite characters in the Looney Tunes cartoons is Witch Hazel.  I love fairy tales, and since many of the episodes she is in are evocative of fairy tales (or, hey, Macbeth) I was enamored.  Rather fabulously, at one point when Witch Hazel drinks a beautifying potion she had concocted for her “rival” witch (Bugs), she turns, to her horror, into a pin-up style redhead.

For as long as it manages to survive on YouTube, you can watch the whole of the cartoon this happens in (“Broom-Stick Bunny”) below:

Coincidentally, this is an especially notable short since it is the first one where June Foray does Witch Hazel’s voice for Warner Brothers.  She is better known for doing Granny’s voice in the Tweety cartoons (or doing any of dozens of other voices in cartoons by other studios).