Yosemite Sam

2008-03-20T00:23:00.000-07:00

Yosemite Sam

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Yosemite Sam

Yosemite Sam in the short 14 Carrot Rabbit
First appearance	Hare Trigger (1945)
Created by	Friz Freleng
Voiced by	Mel Blanc, Joe Alaskey, Bill Farmer (Space Jam), Jeff Glen Bennett (current), Maurice LaMarche (current), Jim Cummings (Tweety's High Flying Adventure)

For the shortwave radio station, see

Yosemite Sam (shortwave).

Yosemite Sam is an

animated cartoon

character in the

Looney Tunes and

Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by

Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat
alliterative and is inspired by

Yosemite National Park. In cartoons with non-Western
themes, he uses various aliases, including "Chillicothe
Sam" [pronounced "Chilly-coat" instead of
"Chill-i-CAW-thee"] in

14 Carrot Rabbit (although in the same cartoon,
when he tries to gain

Bugs Bunny's trust, he cleverly invents alias
"Square-deal Sam"), "Riff Raff Sam" in

Sahara Hare, "Sam Schulz" in

Big House Bunny, "Seagoin' Sam" in

Buccaneer Bunny, "Shanghai Sam" in

Mutiny on the Bunny, and "Sam Von Schamm the

Hessian" in

Bunker Hill Bunny.

[hide]

1
Appearances

2
Other appearances

3
Voice

4
Yosemite Sam in
popular culture

5
References

[edit]
Appearances

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cite any

references or sources. (April
2008)

Please help

improve this article by adding citations to

reliable sources.

Unverifiable material may be challenged and
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Animator

Friz Freleng introduced the character in the

1945 cartoon

Hare Trigger. With his fiery, irascible temper,
short stature (in two early gags in Hare Trigger,
a train he is attempting to rob passes right over top of
him and he has to use a set of portable stairs to get on
his horse; in

Bugs Bunny Rides Again, he rides a miniature
horse), and fiery hair, Sam was in some ways an
alter-ego of Freleng. The animator often denied any
intentional resemblance. However, in the

Looney Tunes Golden Collection, surviving
members of his production crew assert, and the late
director's daughter acknowledges, that Sam definitely
was inspired by Freleng.

Other influences were the

Red Skelton character

Sheriff Deadeye, the

Tom Varn character

Bubba, and the

Tex Avery cartoon "Dangerous
Dan McFoo". When he does a "slow burn" and cries
"Oooooh!" he borrows a bit from such comedic character
actors as

Jimmy Finlayson (a frequent foil to

Laurel and Hardy) and

Frank Nelson (one of Mel Blanc's costars on

The Jack Benny Program). Freleng also cited the
Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang, a character in the

Toonerville Trolley comic strip, as an
influence.

Other characters with Sam-like features appear in
several Looney Tunes shorts. The

Bugs Bunny entry

Super-Rabbit (1943) features the cowboy
character "Cottontail Smith," who sounds a lot like Sam.

Stage Door Cartoon (1944), another Bugs Bunny
offering, features a southern sheriff character that
sounds very much like Sam, except for a more defined
southern stereotype to his voice. In a

Daffy Duck cartoon called

Along Came Daffy (1947), Daffy has to contend
with two characters who look very much like Sam,
one with Sam's red hair and one with black hair.
Finally,

Pancho's Hideaway (1964) features a Mexican
villain who is designed much like Sam but has a
different accent. In addition, in the

1949,

Chuck Jones-directed cartoon

Mississippi Hare,

Bugs Bunny battles with an old, pistol-toting
gambler called

Colonel Shuffle, one whose role could have easily
been portrayed by Sam^{[citation
needed]}.

Freleng created Yosemite Sam to be a more worthy
adversary for

Bugs Bunny. Until then, Bugs' major foe had been

Elmer Fudd, a man so mild-mannered and dim-witted
that Freleng thought Bugs actually came off as a bully
by duping him. Sam, on the other hand, was extremely
violent and belligerent, not at all a pushover like
Fudd. Freleng compacted into a tiny body and 11-gallon
hat the largest voice and the largest ego "north, south,
east, aaaaand west of the

Pecos".

For over 19 years, Freleng had almost exclusive usage
of Sam at the Warner studio. Though officially a

cowboy, Freleng put Sam in a different costume in
almost every film: a

knight, a

Roman

legionary, a

pirate, a royal

cook, a

prison guard, a

duke (Duke of Yosemite, no less), a

Confederate soldier, and even a

space alien. The humor of the cartoons inevitably
springs from the odd miscasting of the hot-tempered
cowboy. Some countries seem to prefer his pirate
incarnation, as "Sam the pirate" is his official name in

France^[1]
and a frequent alternative name in

Italy. During World War II Yosemite Sam was
"drafted" into becoming a mascot emblem for the

US Army Air Corps

20th Reconnaissance Squadron.

Despite Freleng's intentions, Sam doesn't prove much
brighter than Elmer in his encounters with Bugs. With
all his bluff and bluster, Sam stands in contrast to
Freleng's calmly cocky rabbit. Sam is significantly
tougher and more aggressive than Elmer Fudd when
challenging Bugs. He is also quicker to learn from his
mistakes, and never falls for the same ploy twice.
However it is Sam's own cockiness that always gets the
best of him; Bugs learns to deal with Sam upon learning
that he is incapable of turning down a challenge. Every
time Bugs dares Sam to "step across that line," Sam
can't help but do so, even if he steps off into empty
space or down a mine shaft.

Another chief foil of Sam's humor is the ludicrous
lengths he'll go to just to "get even" -- often with
disastrous results to himself and his surroundings.

[edit]
Other appearances

Yosemite Sam made appearances in several television
specials in the 1970s and 1980s, and in three of the
Looney Tunes feature-film

compilations.

Yosemite Sam was one of the classic Looney Tunes
characters who appeared as faculty members of Acme
Looniversity in the

1990s

animated series

Tiny Toon Adventures. Sam was shown teaching
classes in Firearms and Anvilology (the study of falling
anvils, a staple joke in the Looney Tunes genre), and
was sometimes portrayed as the school principal (though
at least one episode identified Bugs Bunny as the
principal, and

Wile E. Coyote was Dean of Acme Loo). As with all
the main Looney Tunes characters, Sam had a student
counterpart at Acme Loo,

Montana Max.

Yosemite Sam also appeared along with Bugs Bunny in a
number of

Mirinda commercials in early 90s, most probably due
to direct competition to

Fanta, being advertised with

Disney Characters at that time.

Sam also appeared in two episodes of

1995's

The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries.

In the

2003 movie

Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Yosemite Sam is a

bounty hunter employed by the

Acme Corporation who was hired to finish off

DJ Drake,

Kate Houghton, Bugs, and

Daffy Duck. In this film, he owns a casino in

Las Vegas, which he calls Yosemite Sam's Wooden
Nickel, and is accompanied by

Nasty Canasta (from

Drip-Along Daffy) and

Cottontail Smith (from

Super Rabbit).

Sam makes a cameo appearance in

Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He also appears in the
movie

Space Jam.

Sam also plays the role of alien occasional guest
villain K'chutha Sa'am (a parody of the

Luxan

Ka D'Argo from

Farscape, and right in line with Sam's aggressive
personality) on the

Duck Dodgers animated series. He also appears in
the video games

LOONS: The Fight for Fame,

Taz: Wanted, Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle,
Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Rampage,

Bugs Bunny Lost in Time,

Bugs Bunny and Taz Time Busters, Sheep, Dog,
'n' Wolf Looney Tunes B-Ball, Daffy Duck in
Hollywood and Loony Tunes: Back In Action.

In

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, Yosemite Sam makes
an appearance riding a railway cart on the Wild West
level.

[edit]
Voice

The role of Yosemite Sam was originated by the
Warners' principal voiceman,

Mel Blanc. In his autobiography, Blanc said he had a
difficult time coming up with the voice until he decided
to simply yell at the top of his lungs. It fit perfectly
with the blustery character, but also took a toll on
Mel. He always made it a point to record Sam's lines at
the end of a recording session so he wouldn't have to
play other characters with a hoarse voice. In his final
years, it was simply too much, and he passed along the
role to others (most notably

Joe Alaskey in

Who Framed Roger Rabbit). This makes Sam one of
the few voices created by Blanc to be voiced by someone
else during his lifetime.

Blanc used a voice similar to Yosemite Sam's for

Mr. Spacely on

The Jetsons.

[edit]
Yosemite Sam in popular
culture

[edit]
In Television

Yosemite Sam appears in the

Drawn Together episode "Charlotte's Web of
Lies". He is seen in

Ling-Ling's Anger Management group with

Hulk,

Marvin the Martian, and

Skeletor.

In an episode of

How I Met Your Mother to make fun of the
news anchor Sandy, Ted and Marshall make him
"Yosemite Sandy" by putting a hat and mustache on
the tv screen during the news.

On an episode of

Night Court, Dan (John
Larroquette) is forced into impersonating
Yosemite Sam by a mentally disturbed woman he's
dating.

On an episode of

Two and a Half Men, Charlie remembers his mother
having sex with a man that resembled Yosemite Sam,
since then, when he sees Yosemite Sam on TV, he gets
nauseous. At the end of the episode, we see Jake
watching Yosemite Sam on TV, much to Charlie's
dismay.

Was one of Joey Gladstone's favorite impressions
in the show Full House

[edit]
In Politics

Yosemite Sam has been compared to

John McCain by several writers and public figures:

Eric Schulzke in "McCain as Yosemite Sam?"^[2].

Mark Steyn in "The Gollygamist Is out"^[3]
where he said "he’s less like the sheriff and more
like Yosemite Sam, and that doesn’t usually work out
as well".

[edit]
In music

Yosemite Sam is mentioned by name in the following
songs:

"Lady Cab Driver"^[4],
performed by

Prince on his

1982 album,

1999.

"When the Shit Goes Down" by

Cypress Hill.

"The Coalition To Ban Coalitions" by

Hank Williams Jr.

"Egg
Man" by

The Beastie Boys on their album

Paul's Boutique.

"Rooting For The Bad Guy" by

The Wildhearts on their 2007 self titled album.

""Dirt
Off Your Shoulder Freestyle"" by

Cassidy

"Khaki Suit" by

Damian Marley on his

2005 album,

Welcome to Jamrock.

[edit]
Commercial appearances

Yosemite Sam appears on the logo of the

KIJHL hockey team, the

Castlegar Rebels

Apart from cartoons, Yosemite Sam (in his
pirate, "Sea-goin' Sam", alter ego) has a second
career as a popular truck

mudflap icon. He is shown brandishing
old-fashioned flintlock pistols accompanied by the
slogan "Back Off!" A 2006

Super Bowl ad showed a newly-animated version of
mudflap Sam on a date with the silver silhouette

mudflap girl.

Zoom Yosemite Sam

Yosemite Sam

Yosemite Sam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit]
Appearances

[edit]
Other appearances

[edit]
Voice

[edit]
Yosemite Sam in popular
culture

[edit]
In Television

[edit]
In Politics

[edit]
In music

[edit]
Commercial appearances

Zoom Yosemite Sam

Yosemite Sam

Yosemite Sam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Other appearances

[edit] Voice

[edit] Yosemite Sam in popular culture

[edit] In Television

[edit] In Politics

[edit] In music

[edit] Commercial appearances

[edit]
Appearances

[edit]
Other appearances

[edit]
Voice

[edit]
Yosemite Sam in popular
culture

[edit]
In Television

[edit]
In Politics

[edit]
In music

[edit]
Commercial appearances