Once upon a time, cartoon characters were regularly seen with guns. Whether they were cowboys, hunters, or bandits, it wasn’t unusual at all to see guns. Saturday morning cartoons have changed a bit in recent years, though. In 2020, the powers that be for Looney Tunes made the decision to remove Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd’s guns, forever changing the characters as we knew them. So, in the spirit of memory lane, let’s check out some of the best-armed cartoon characters from the past.
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam leads the way because he’s the epitome of armed cartoon characters. His character first appeared in a cartoon on May 5, 1945. In that episode of Looney Tunes, “Hare Trigger,” he’s trying to rob a train. Yosemite Sam was basically presented as an adversary for Bugs Bunny and up until 2020, he was rarely seen without his set of revolvers. He also liked to proclaim himself as “the meanest, roughest, toughest hombre that’s ever crossed the Rio Grande — and I ain’t no namby-bamby!”
Revolvers were definitely the right gun for this character because they were the common handgun of the era being depicted. It isn’t really known if the artist was focused on a specific model of revolver, so we just assume they were generic depictions of wheel guns. Of course, if Yosemite Sam was real, we think he probably would’ve been carrying a matched set of Colts chambered in .38 Special. What do you guys think?
Elmer Fudd
Was Elmer Fudd the first hunter ever portrayed in a cartoon? Maybe not, but he had to have been among the first. He wasn’t just a hunter, either, he was decked out in stereotypical clothing and carried a shotgun (of course). On some occasions, it was a standard shotgun and in others it was double-barreled. Fudd was always sure it was rabbit season and constantly after Bugs Bunny, who he never seemed to be able to outsmart. The reason he had a gun was obvious: because he was a hunter, and hunters have guns. And while we may all love Bugs Bunny he is, after all, a rabbit. Who doesn’t love a good rabbit stew?
Interestingly, when the modern-era creators of Looney Tunes decided to take Fudd’s gun away, they gave him a scythe. Maybe it’s just us, but the use of a scythe seems way more brutal than a shotgun.
Marvin the Martian
Yes, we have to include Marvin the Martian. He’s pretty much everyone’s favorite cartoon alien. His gun might not have been a “real” firearm but that’s because he came from an advanced civilization. Marvin’s weapon, which can be seen at times labeled as an A1 Disintegrator, was made so if he managed to shoot something or someone, they weren’t just wounded, they were gone. He also tried using his ray gun to blow away Earth, but he never quite pulled it off. (If you’re now hearing Marvin the Martian saying “Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!” you’re not alone.) Marvin had various explosive devices which seemed to change titles between things like Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator, Illudium Pu-36, and Uranium Pu-36, among other things.
Poor Marvin never did destroy Earth so he could enjoy an unobstructed view of Venus. Although Bugs Bunny is who he was typically pitted against there were times he went up against other characters, like Daffy Duck. Marvin the Martian first showed up in Looney Tunes in “Haredevil Hare” on July 24, 1948. And while his gun doesn’t really exist, it has an undeniably revolver-like grip in most depictions. If you’re really invested in this one, there are all kinds of toy replicas and cosplay replicas of Marvin’s ray gun available online.
Huckleberry Hound
Leaving the Looney Tunes universe to jump into Hanna Barbera, we have Huckleberry Hound. Who doesn’t love a blue coonhound who appears to be a jack of all trades? Throughout the Hanna Barbera cartoons, we see Huck playing all kinds of roles from police officer to dog catcher to rocket scientist. At the appropriate times, he’s armed with guns. We see Huck semi-regularly with revolvers and also with shotguns, depending on what’s needed at the moment. And yes, Huckleberry Hound is traditionally the good guy, as you can see by the white hat he wears in the above image.
Huckleberry Hound and his adorable southern drawl were most often seen in shorts rather than full-length cartoons, but that didn’t make him less memorable. And while many characters had catchphrases, Huckleberry Hound kind of had an entire trademark via song. He often delivered a completely tone-deaf rendition of “Oh My Darling, Clementine” that was both awful and perfect. According to the creators of Hanna Barbera, Huckleberry Hound was named in honor of the 1884 book “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The bluetick coonhound and his random assortment of guns and jobs has been around since 1958.
Quick Draw McGraw
If horses could be sheriffs, the world just might be a cooler place. Quick Draw McGraw was a white horse with a red hat and a revolver. He starred in his own show from 1959 to 1961 and has made appearances in numerous shows since. Quick Draw is supposed to be, as his name suggests, a stellar shot. Perhaps the best thing about his revolver isn’t the gun itself but the fact that he carries reloads on his gun belt. See, Quick Draw knows being fast isn’t enough if he runs out of ammo at an inopportune moment.
Apparently, Quick Draw McGraw was a satirical kid’s version of the popular Westerns that were so common on television during the time he had his own show. In fact, this was highlighted by how clumsy he was and the way he was less than great at his job. It wasn’t unusual for Quick Draw to accidentally shoot himself or fumble somehow, despite his name (or maybe because of his name). And even though Quick Draw himself was a horse, albeit one with thumbs that enabled him to draw his gun, he is sometimes shown riding horses.
Something worth noting about the older cartoon characters with guns is that their guns didn’t involve graphic violence. They were basically props used to make the character a caricature of whatever they were representing. Who doesn’t remember Elmer Fudd’s shotgun making Daffy Duck’s bill rotate around in a circle?
Who did we miss? Tell us who your favorite Looney Tunes or Hanna Barbera armed character is/was in the comments section.
