| Penelope Pussycat | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes character | |
 | |
| First appearance | For Scent-imental Reasons (November 12, 1949; 76 years ago (1949-11-12)) |
| Created by | Chuck Jones |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Tuxedo cat |
| Gender | Female |
| Significantother | Pepé Le Pew |
| Nationality | French |
Penelope Pussycat is an animated cartoon character, featured in theWarner Bros. classicLooney Tunes animated shorts along withPepé Le Pew. Although she usually does not speak, her "meows" and "purrs" (or "le mews" and "le purrs") were most often provided byMel Blanc using a feminine voice. The character did not originally have a permanent name; she was alternately referred to as "Penelope", "Fifi", and "Fabrette", and animatorChuck Jones' 1960 model sheet calls her "Le Cat".[1] The name Penelope Pussycat was created retroactively for Warner Bros. marketing.
The character first appeared in the 1949 shortFor Scent-imental Reasons, which won anAcademy Award.[2] While the skunk had been used in several earlier cartoons sinceOdor-able Kitty (1945), the addition of his main love interest inFor Scent-imental Reasons solidified his characterization and the structure of all further Pepé films.[3]
In the 1959 shortReally Scent, she was voiced byJune Foray; in the 1962 shortLouvre Come Back to Me!, she was voiced byJulie Bennett; and in the 2000 film,Tweety's High-Flying Adventure, she was voiced byFrank Welker. Her first speaking role was in the 1995 shortCarrotblanca, where she is voiced byTress MacNeille. InBugs Bunny Builders, she is voiced bySalli Saffioti and is given a French accent.
Penelope Pussycat is best known as the often bewildered love interest ofLooney Tunes' anthropomorphic skunk,Pepé Le Pew. Penelope is a black and whitecat, who often finds herself with a white stripe down her back, whether painted intentionally or by accident.[1]
She often finds herself being chased by the overly enthusiastic Pepé, but when the occasion has presented itself, Penelope has been portrayed as the pursuer.For Scent-imental Reasons,Little Beau Pepé, andReally Scent have all shown Penelope to harbor an attraction to Pepé whenever his scent is neutralized (though in each cited instance, extenuating circumstances have caused Pepé to become repulsed by her, inciting Penelope to reverse the roles).
In current Warner Bros. merchandise, Penelope and Pepé are portrayed as sharing a mutual attraction towards each other, whereas theLooney Tunes comic book series maintains their chasing relationship.Carrotblanca featured her as the Ilsa analogue toBugs Bunny's Rick, withSylvester portraying her husband and Pepé being a minor pursuer.
Penelope Pussycat partly inspired theTiny Toon Adventures characterFurrball, a male cat who, in one episode, is chased by an amorous female skunk (Fifi La Fume) due to getting a white stripe painted down his back and tail.
Penelope remained without an official name for many years. In the 1954 short,The Cat's Bah, her mistress referred to her as "Penelope". The name was later contradicted in the 1955 short,Two Scent's Worth, where she was identified as "Fifi". In the 1959 short,Really Scent, she was called "Fabrette". A model sheet from the early 1990s referred to the character as "Le Cat". The 1995 release ofCarrotblanca (a parody ofCasablanca) canonized her name as "Penelope Pussycat", with many advertisements for the short crediting her as "Penelope Pussycat in her first speaking role".
