| Beaky Buzzard | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies character | |
 Beaky Buzzard along withBugs Bunny inBugs Bunny Gets the Boid (1942) | |
| First appearance | Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid (1942)[1] |
| Created by | Bob Clampett |
| Voiced by | Kent Rogers (1942–1944) Stan Freberg (1944) Mel Blanc (1949–1950)[2] Rob Paulsen (1991) Jeff Bennett (1997) Joe Alaskey (2001–2005) Jim Cummings (2013, 2024–present) Jeff Bergman (2014–2018)[3] Michael Ruocco (2020–2023) Eric Bauza (2023) |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Killer (inBugs Bunny Gets the Boid) |
| Species | Turkey vulture |
| Gender | Male |
| Family | Mother Buzzard Unnamed siblings |
Beaky Buzzard (initially known as "Killer") is ananimatedcartoon character in theWarner Bros.Looney Tunes andMerrie Melodies series of cartoons.[4]
He is a youngturkey vulture (sometimes called a "buzzard" in the United States) with black body feathers and a white tuft around his throat. His neck is long and thin, bending 90 degrees at an enormousAdam's apple. His neck and head are featherless, and his beak and feet are large and yellow or orange, depending on the cartoon. The character is depicted as simpleminded with drawled speech, a perpetual silly grin, and partially-closed eyes.
Beaky was partly based onEdgar Bergen's puppet Mortimer Snerd.[1][5]
The films were popular in theaters, and Beaky was familiar enough to be given roles in more recent productions. In the 1940s, the character was also disproportionally popular in comics (see below).
The character first appeared in the 1942 cartoonBugs Bunny Gets the Boid, directed byBob Clampett.[1][6] The cartoon's plot revolves around the hopeless attempts of the brainless buzzard, here called Killer, to catchBugs Bunny for his domineeringEastern European mother back at the nest.[7] Beaky's voice was reminiscent ofventriloquistEdgar Bergen's characterMortimer Snerd[6][8] (his in-studio name was in fact "Snerd Bird",[5] bestowed by Bob Clampett himself;[9] he was not named "Beaky" on-screen in this first appearance).[9] The voice itself was provided by voice actorKent Rogers, who was only 18 years old at the time.[1][6]
Clampett brought the character back in the 1945 filmThe Bashful Buzzard,[10] a cartoon that closely mirrors its predecessor, only this time featuring Beaky's hapless hunting (contrasting with the war-like formation flying and dive bombing of his brothers)[11] without Bugs as an antagonist. Rogers reprised his role as the character's voice for the film,[10] but he was killed[1] in a Naval aviation training accident atPensacola, Florida before finishing all his dialogue.
Clampett left the studio in 1945,[12] ending Beaky's career for a time. The character was eventually brought back in the 1950Friz Freleng filmThe Lion's Busy, now voiced byMel Blanc.[13] Freleng made the buzzard smarter, pitting him against a dim-witted lion named Leo.Robert McKimson also featured the character in another film that same year,Strife with Father. McKimson's Beaky is returned to his idiotic self, this time under the tutelage of his adoptive father, asparrow who is trying to teach Beaky how to survive in the wild.[citation needed] After that, Beaky did not appear in any more cartoons during the classic era; his appearances were deliberately limited out of respect for Kent Rogers.[14]
Beaky has had minor roles in various Warner Bros. projects, such asTiny Toon Adventures, where he plays the mentor of the characterConcord Condor,[1] and the moviesSpace Jam (1996) as a member of the Tune Squad, 2003'sLooney Tunes: Back in Action as anAcme pilot voiced byJoe Alaskey,[15] andSpace Jam: A New Legacy (2021) very briefly seen leaving Tune World in Bugs' flashback, in front of an unknown figure andCecil Turtle.
Beaky Buzzard appeared inThe Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries in the episode "3 Days & 2 Nights of the Condor",[16] where he was voiced byJeff Bennett. Beaky'smother, who appeared in many of his original shorts, also appeared in an episode of the show (voiced byTress MacNeille).
Beaky made a cameo inBah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas as one of Daffy's employees.
Beaky appeared inThe Looney Tunes Show in the second-season episode "Ridiculous Journey", voiced byJim Cummings.
Bizzy Buzzard, a female equivalent to (or a relative of) Beaky, appears in the preschool seriesBugs Bunny Builders; Mama Buzzard has appeared as well.
Beaky's most recent appearance was in the seriesLooney Tunes Cartoons, voiced by Michael Ruocco. He appeared in the episodes "Buzzard School" (2020, with Bugs), "Desert Menu" (2023, with Bugs), and "A Prickly Pair" (2023, solo), as well as several short interstitial gags featuring him. Mama Buzzard occasionally appears in the series.
Beaky is featured in numerous issues ofDell Comics'Looney Tunescomic book series. From early 1943 to late 1945 he often starred in stories of his own, occasionally paired with another minor player,Henery Hawk.[1] In the years afterward, he continued to feature in other characters' stories, often as a dimwitted friend of Bugs and Porky; occasionally his equally dimwitted nephew, Bernard, appeared as well.[17] In more recent decades, Beaky appeared in a print spinoff ofSpace Jam in 1997, as well as in occasional issues of DC's modern-dayLooney Tunes comic book.[18] The character was licensed forLooney Tunes merchandise such as a metalcoin bank,[19] and, in 1973, along with other characters in a series of collectiblePepsi glass cups .[20]
