Granny, whose full name is presented as Emma Webster, is a fictional character created by Friz Freleng, best known from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated short films of the 1950s and 1960s. She is the owner of Tweety Bird and, more often than not, Sylvester and Hector. Her voice was first provided by Bea Benaderet from 1950 through 1955, then by June Foray for almost 60 years. Following Foray's death, Candi Milo took over in 2017.
Biography[]
Granny is a good-natured widow who is extremely protective of her beloved bird, Tweety. Granny's overprotectiveness becomes apparent whenever Tweety is threatened, usually by her sometimes pet, Sylvester. Although having the appearance of a kind old woman, Granny has demonstrated her cleverness in many cartoons.
At least until the mid-1950s, Granny is depicted as an elderly spinster who wears spectacles, a gray bun and a late 19th-century-like schoolmarm dress; other old fashioned characteristics include her mode of transportation (usually, a Ford Model T or a horse and buggy) and her inability to relate to present fads (such as her telling Tweety she's about to try on a new "bikini bathing suit", which turns out to be a full one-piece outfit from the turn-of-the-20th century). After 1955 — in particular, the years after Foray began voicing the character — the character's wardrobe was updated and her old-fashioned tastes and ways of life were de-emphasized, and she was sometimes given newer careers, such as a nurse or a bus driver.[citation needed]
Appearances[]
The idea of the cartoon Granny began with the Little Red Riding Hood character in spoofs of the story, first appearing as such in the 1937 animated short Little Red Walking Hood which also featured the first appearance of Elmer Fudd, directed by Tex Avery.[1] Subsequent appearances of a similar "granny" character included The Cagey Canary (1941), directed by Avery and Bob Clampett; Hiss and Make Up (1943), directed by Friz Freleng; and Hare Force (1944), featuring Bugs Bunny and Sylvester the dog (a one-off character distinct from the later Sylvester the cat). Finally, the character was solidified into her current role in Canary Row in 1950, with Bea Benaderet providing her voice. June Foray, who had been providing Granny's voice for her appearances on Capitol Records since 1950,[2] took over the role officially in 1955, and would perform the role for most of the rest of the character's theatrical run. Granny would continue to appear in several more animated shorts from the 1950s on, as a foil for Sylvester, who was always attempting to eat her pet bird Tweety.
Foray did not voice Granny for her last two theatrical shorts, possibly for budgetary reasons; Ge Ge Pearson and Joan Gerber each voiced the character in one short, both of which were released in 1965.[3] Foray would return to the role in later television productions.
Solo[]
Although she was almost always shown on-screen with at least one of her two animal companions, Granny would appear in three animated shorts without them. In the 1953 short Hare Trimmed, she starred as a rich widow who was being fought over by two suitors, Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny (the latter out to thwart the former's evil plan to marry her and then get her money).[4] Sam called her "Emma" and later "Emmy". Granny would later appear in the 1955's short This Is a Life?, where she hits Daffy Duck with her umbrella for interrupting the live program. Her last solo appearance was the 1965 short Corn on the Cop, where she appears alongside Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as two Keystone Cops who mistake her for a crook disguised like her.[5] The short would also disclose Granny's surname as "Webster" by Daffy and Porky's superior officer.
Later appearances[]
Granny was going to have a cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but was later dropped for unknown reasons.
She has appeared as a professor at Acme Looniversity and the mentor and favorite teacher of Mary Melody in Tiny Toon Adventures (in the reboot seriesTiny Toons Looniversity, she appears as the university's dean), a world-traveling detective in The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, and a timekeeper in Bugs Bunny and Taz Time Busters. Granny donned cheerleader uniform for the Tune Squad in the film Space Jam. She was the children's grandmother and new character Floyd's aunt in Baby Looney Tunes, and made two cameo appearance in Looney Tunes: Back in Action as the main character's next door neighbor, although in one of those appearances this "Granny" was actually the Acme Chairman in disguise. She also appeared in Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas and in Tweety's High-Flying Adventure.
An episode of Loonatics Unleashed featured characters named Queen Grannicus (voiced by Candi Milo), the Royal Tweetums and Sylth Vester (the latter being a parody of Darth Vader). However, another episode features a cameo of Granny herself, apparently still alive in the year 2772.
In The Looney Tunes Show, Granny is one of Bugs and Daffy's neighbors and is voiced again by Foray while her younger self is voiced by Stephanie Courtney, and Sylvester and Tweety are her pets. This version of Granny seems to be somewhat hard-of-hearing and slightly senile. A running gag is that Sylvester is constantly chasing Tweety around her house, to which Granny seems oblivious. In "Eligible Bachelors", it is revealed that during World War II, Granny/Emma was a member of the WAC and along with Tweety she stopped Nazi Colonel Frankenheimer from stealing the Eiffel Tower and various paintings from the Louvre. During the flashback of her World War II adventure to Daffy, she appears as an attractive red-headed young woman in a WAC uniform. In "The Grand Old Duck of York", it is revealed that Granny teaches piano lessons when Daffy wants to learn how to play the piano.
Granny appears in Space Jam: A New Legacy voiced by Candi Milo. After she and Speedy Gonzales were picked up from The Matrix part of the Warner Bros. 3000 server-verse, Granny became a member of the Tune Squad during their basketball match against the Goon Squad. In one scene, she defeats Chronos by activating the time-control device on his left shoulder to age him to 132 years. During the credits, a photograph shows Granny going up against Ronda Rousey.
Granny appears as a major character in the 2022 film King Tweety.[6]
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Locations
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Season 1: "De-Zanitized / The Monkey Song / Nighty-Night Toon" • "Yakko's World / Cookies for Einstein / Win Big" • "H.M.S. Yakko / Slappy Goes Walnuts / Yakko's Universe" • "Hooked on a Ceiling / Goodfeathers: The Beginning" • "Taming Of The Screwy" • "Temporary Insanity / Operation: Lollipop / What are We?" • "Piano Rag / When Rita Met Runt" • "The Big Candy Store / Bumbie's Mom" • "Wally Llama / Where Rodents Dare" • "King Yakko" • "No Pain, No Painting / Les Miseranimals" • "Garage Sale of the Century / West Side Pigeons" • "Hello Nice Warners / La Behemoth / Little Old Slappy from Pasadena" • "La La Law / Cat on a Hot Steel Beam" • "Space Probed / Battle for the Planet" • "Chalkboard Bungle / Hurray for Slappy / The Great Wakkorotti: The Master and His Music" • "Roll Over, Beethoven / The Cat and the Fiddle" • "Pavlov's Mice / Chicken Boo-Ryshnikov / Nothing but the Tooth" • "Meatballs or Consequences / A Moving Experience" • "Hearts of Twilight / The Boids" • "Four Score and Seven Migraines Ago / Wakko's America / Davy Omelette / The Flame" • "Guardin' the Garden / Plane Pals" • "Be Careful What You Eat / Up the Crazy River / Ta Da Dump, Ta Da Dump, Ta Da Dump Dump Dump" • "Opportunity Knox / Wings Take Heart" • "Hercule Yakko / Home on De-Nile / A Midsummer Night's Dream" • "Testimonials / Babblin' Bijou / Potty Emergency / Sir Yaksalot" • "You Risk Your Life / I Got Yer Can / Jockey for Position" • "Moby or Not Moby / Mesozoic Mindy / The Good, the Boo and the Ugly" • "Draculee, Draculaa / Phranken-Runt" • "Hot, Bothered and Bedeviled / Moon Over Minerva / Skullhead Boneyhands" • "O Silly Mio / Puttin' on the Blitz / The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert" • "Chairman of the Bored / Planets Song / Astro-Buttons" • "Cartoons in Wakko's Body / Noah's Lark / The Big Kiss / Hiccup" • "Clown and Out / Bubba Bo Bob Brain" • "Very Special Opening / In the Garden of Mindy / No Place Like Homeless / Katie Ka-Boo / Baghdad Cafe" • "Critical Condition / The Three Muska-Warners" • "Dough Dough Boys / Boot Camping / General Boo-Regard" • "Spellbound" • "Smitten With Kittens / Alas Poor Skullhead / White Gloves" • "Fair Game / The Slapper / Puppet Rulers" • "Buttermilk, It Makes a Body Bitter / Broadcast Nuisance / Raging Bird" • "Animator's Alley / Can't Buy a Thrill / Hollywoodchuck" • "Of Nice and Men / What a Dump / Survey Ladies" • "Useless Facts / The Senses / The World Can Wait / Kiki's Kitten" • "Windsor Hassle / ...And Justice for Slappy" • "Turkey Jerky / Wild Blue Yonder" • "Video Review / When Mice Ruled the Earth" • "Mobster Mash / Lake Titicaca / Icebreakers" • "A Christmas Plotz / Little Drummer Warners" • "Twas the Day Before Christmas / Jingle Boo / The Great Wakkorotti: The Holiday Concert / Toy Shop Terror / Yakko's Universe" • "The Warners & the Beanstalk / Frontier Slappy" • "Ups and Downs / The Brave Little Trailer / Yes, Always" • "Drive-Insane / Girlfeathers / I'm Cute" • "Brain Meets Brawn / Meet Minerva" • "Gold Rush / A Gift of Gold / Dot's Quiet Time" • "Schnitzelbank / The Helpinki Formula / Les Boutons et le Ballon / Kung Boo" • "Of Course, You Know This Means Warners / Up a Tree / Wakko's Gizmo" • "Meet John Brain / Smell Ya Later" • "Ragamuffins / Woodstock Slappy" • "Karaoke-Dokie / The Cranial Crusader / The Chicken Who Loved Me" • "Baloney & Kids / Super Buttons / Katie Ka-Boom: The Driving Lesson" • "Scare Happy Slappy / Witch One / MacBeth" • "With Three You Get Eggroll / Mermaid Mindy / Katie Ka-Boom: Call Waiting" • "Lookit the Fuzzy Heads / No Face Like Home" • "The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special"
Season 2: "Take My Siblings Please / The Mindy 500 / Morning Malaise" • "Miami Mama-Mia / Pigeon on the Roof" • "We're No Pigeons / Whistle Stop Mindy / Katie Ka-Boom: The Broken Date" • "I'm Mad / Bad Mood Bobby / Katie Ka-Boom: The Blemish / Fake" Season 3: "Super Strong Warner Siblings / Nutcracker Slappy / Wakko's New Gookie / A Quake, a Quake!" • "Variety Speak / Three Tenors and You're Out / Bingo" • "Deduces Wild / Rest in Pieces / U.N. Me" • "A Hard Day's Warner / Gimme a Break / Please Please Please Get a Life Foundation" • "The Tiger Prince / All The Words in the English Language / The Kid in the Lid / Method to Her Madness" • "The Presidents Song / Don't Tread on Us / The Flame Returns" • "Gimme the Works / Buttons in Ows / Hercules Unwound" • "This Pun for Hire / Star Truck / Go Fish / Multiplication Song" • "The Sound of Warners / Yabba Dabba Boo" • "My Mother the Squirrel / The Party / Oh! Say Can You See / The Twelve Days of Christmas Song" • "Dot's Entertainment / The Girl with the Googily Goop / Gunga Dot" • "Soccer Coach Slappy / Belly Button Blues / Our Final Space Cartoon, We Promise / Valuable Lesson" • "Wakko's 2-Note Song / Panama Canal / Hello Nurse / The Ballad of Magellan / The Return of the Great Wakkorotti / The Big Wrap Party Tonight" Season 4: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock" • "Cutie and the Beast / Boo Happens / Noel" • "Jokahontas / Boids on the Hood / Mighty Wakko at the Bat" • "A Very Very Very Very Special Show / Night of the Living Buttons / Soda Jerk" • "From Burbank with Love / Anchors A-Warners / When You're Traveling from Nantucket" • "Papers for Pappa / Amazing Gladiators / Pinky and the Ralph" • "Ten Short Films About Wakko Warner / No Time for Love / The Boo Network" • "Pitter Patter of Little Feet / Mindy in Wonderland / Ralph's Wedding" Season 5: "Back in Style / Bones in the Body" • "It / Dot - The Macadamia Nut / Bully for Skippy" • "Cute First (Ask Questions Later) / Acquaintances / Here Comes Attila / Boo Wonder" • "Hooray for North Hollywood" • "The Carpool / The Sunshine Squirrels" • "The Christmas Tree / Punchline (Part I) / Prom Night / Punchline (Part II)" • "Magic Time / The Brain's Apprentice" • "Birds on a Wire / The Scoring Session / The Animaniacs Suite"