The Egghead/Elmer Debacle

This issue has already been established and put to rest, but I also feel it's just enough to warrant obscurity and thus a blog post about it.

There's a bit of debate concerning the origins of Elmer Fudd and another character, Egghead. The common consensus is that Egghead was a prototype of Elmer--however, that's not true. Both characters are independent of each other.

This is Egghead.

Egghead as he appears in Tex Avery's Daffy Duck and Egghead (1938), his second ever appearance.

This is Elmer.

Elmer in his first ever appearance, Tex Avery's Little Red Walking Hood (1937).

Many people have deemed the latter as Egghead, and understandably so. Less of a mouthful than "Prototype Elmer Fudd", similar names and appearances, made by the same person. 

Egghead debuted on July 17th, 1937 in Egghead Rides Again, directed by Tex Avery. Here, he's bald, further construing the Elmer/Egghead relationship, and speaks in almost a prototype Daffy voice.

Egghead himself only ever appears in 4 cartoons: Egghead Rides Again, Daffy Duck and Egghead, A-Lad-In Bagdad, and Count Me Out. Not counting his first role, whose vocals are provided by (who else?) Mel Blanc, Egghead speaks in a Joe Penner voice, courtesy of Danny Weber. He also has hair (again, not counting his first role) and opened eyes.

Egghead in his final appearance, Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton's Count Me Out, 1938.

Elsewhere, Elmer, on the other hand, has closed eyes, no hair, and a derby hat. Confusingly, both Mel Blanc and Danny Webb have voiced Elmer as well, even down to Danny doing the Joe Penner laugh in Cinderella Meets Fella.

So, how can we know for certain that Elmer is Elmer? Thankfully, the answer is quite literally right in front of our eyes:

Tex Avery's A Feud There Was namedrops this anomaly as Elmer Fudd (Peace Maker), the first cartoon to officially give him a name. 

Moreover, official merchandising also labels him as such:

From a 1939 book depicting the stars of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies--interestingly, a prototype Bugs Bunny is also appropriately labeled as such, putting Mel Blanc's "Happy Rabbit" myth to rest. Seems to be the work of Charlie Thorson.

So, interesting indeed! Though again, I can see how simply referring to this version of Elmer as Egghead can be for simplicity's sake, yet the animation fanatic in me insists doing otherwise.

Even animators confused the two--Virgil Ross, who animated on the short itself, managed to conflate the two by doing a later drawing of Daffy and "Egghead" for Daffy Duck and Egghead. 

On another final, interesting note--the 1940 Friz Freleng cartoon, Confederate Honey, one of the first cartoons where Elmer was recognizably himself, was slated to star the actual Egghead. It was started by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton, but once Friz returned to WB, he was able to take the reigns on the short. 

Confusing yet fascinating!