by E.O. Costello

Glossary

Alphabetical Listings

A / B / C / D / E / F / G / H / I / J / K / L / M / N / O / P / Q / R / S / T / U / V / W / X / Y / Z

Glossary

Alphabetical Listings

A / B / C / D / E / F / G / H / I / J / K / L / M / N / O / P / Q / R / S / T / U / V / W / X / Y / Z

Glossary

Alphabetical Listings

A / B / C / D / E / F / G / H / I / J / K / L / M / N / O / P / Q / R / S / T / U / V / W / X / Y / Z

Glossary

Alphabetical Listings

A / B / C / D / E / F / G / H / I / J / K / L / M / N / O / P / Q / R / S / T / U / V / W / X / Y / Z

LAKE, ARTHUR
(1905-1987)

Actor who made a career out of playing the comic strip character Dagwood Bumstead from Blondie on both the screen and on radio. Lake also provided the voice of Hook, the sailor who was the rough equivalent of Private Snafu in the films produced by the studio for the U.S. Navy. He may also have provided the voice for the caricature of Dagwood in Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson, 1946).

LAKE, VERONICA
(1919-1973)

Glamour-girl star of the 1940s, famous for her peek-a-boo over-the-eye hairstyle which she stopped wearing during World War II, because women war workers were suffering industrial accidents from long hair. Examples of her style being spoofed are in Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (Jones, 1944) as one of the poses of Mama Bear in her wooing of Bugs, and Eatin’ on the Cuff (Clampett, 1942) in which one of the moths takes a Lake-like pose, spoiled by a protruding nose. Bodies of water (so to speak) are named after her in Crazy Cruise (Avery/Clampett, 1942) and A Lad in His Lamp (McKimson, 1948).

LAMARR, HEDY
(1913-fl. 1995)

Exotic European actress who made a splash with her beauty, if not for her acting talent, which was somewhat limited, when she arrived at MGM in 1938. Lamarr is one of the three guesses Fudd makes as to who is covering his eyes in A Wild Hare (Avery, 1940). Lamarr is also one of the stars -- literally -- seen by Daffy Duck after getting clouted on the head by a studio cop in Hollywood Daffy (Freleng, 1946).

LAMOUR, DOROTHY
(b. 1914)

Famed sarong girl of the Hope-Crosby movies, Lamour was a very popular film star of the 1940s. A canine version of Lamour in sarong is seen listening to Bing Crosby, then swooning over Frank Sinatra in Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson, 1946). One of the stars -- the only sarong-clad one -- that Daffy sees after getting clouted on the head by a studio cop in Hollywood Daffy (Freleng, 1946) is Lamour. Cecil Crow, in Aloha Hooey (Avery/Clampett, 1942) mentions “Dorothy Lammer” as one of the reasons he wants to see the South Seas.

LANDSMAN, LEW

Warner Brothers story writer whose sole on-screen credit is for Porky at the Crocodero (Tashlin, 1938).

LANNY HOSS

One of the caricatures in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1938). Based on Lanny Ross (d. 1988), a popular tenor of the 1920s and 1930s who appeared on the Maxwell House Show Boat radio program. Ross’ theme sone was “Moonlight and Roses”. Ross provided the signing voice of Prince David in the Fleischer feature cartoon Gulliver’s Travels (1939).

LATIN NAMES

While the ersatz Linnaean names for creatures are associated most closely in Warner Brothers cartoons with the Coyote and Roadrunner, similar names were used earlier in Dog Tired (Jones, 1942). The stork, for example is given the name Infantus Portus.

LAUGHTON, CHARLES
(1899-1962)

British actor famed for a variety of memorable roles including Ruggles of Red Gap, Witness for the Prosecution, and The Big Clock. His best remembered roles are probably as Henry in The Private Life of Henry VIII, for which he won an Oscar, and as Captain Bligh in the Clark Gable version of Mutiny on the Bounty. These two roles were parodied numerous times: the Henry VIII role in Have You Got Any Castles? (Tashlin, 1937) and to a certain extent in Shishkabugs (Freleng, 1962), and the Bligh role again in Castles, as well as Porky’s Road Race (Tashlin, 1937), Buccaneer Bunny (Freleng, 1948) and Good Noose (McKimson, 1962).

LAUREL & HARDY

The archetype of the comic duo, thin, fussy featherbrained Englishman Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and chubby, dignified, and often exasperated Oliver Hardy (1892-1957) made a long string of highly successful films for Hal Roach and MGM over a number of years. The duo was famous for a number of classic routines, including a small insult that would usually escalate into a furious, all-out conflict.

Of course, caricatures of the two comics would have been instantly recognizable, and thus were often used. See, for example The Organ Grinder (Harman/Ising, 1933), in which the monkey does imitations of both characters. In You Ought to be In Pictures (Freleng, 1940), Porky sneaks by a studio gate cop disguised as Hardy. Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson, 1946) shows the duo as dogs washing dishes -- more accurately, one dish. Holiday for Shoestrings (Freleng, 1945) utilizes the pair as elves, with Laurel painting the tongue of an exasperated Hardy. Porky does a Hardy finger twiddle to go with a semi-caricature in The Timid Toredor (Clampett/McCabe, 1940). Even Private Snafu does a Laurel turn in Fighting Tools (Clampett, 1943).

LEAF, W. MUNRO

Author of the classic book Ferdinand the Bull. Leaf, during World War II, did some work on the Private Snafu series, collaborating with Ted Geisel (“Dr. Seuss”) in It’s Murder She Says (Jones, 1945).

LEHR, LEW

Comedian best remembered for his narration in the Fox Movietone newsreel novelty segments, usually with a reference to “Monkeys is the cwaziest peoples!”.

Various cartoons have Lehr caricatures or people doing the Lehr schtick. These include:

• She Was an Acrobat’s Daughter (Freleng, 1937) which has a caricature of Lehr
• Russian Rhapsody (Clampett, 1944) in which Hitler says “Nazis is the cwaziest peoples!”
• Porky in Egypt (Clampett, 1938), caricature done by the Camel
• Daffy Duck Hunt (McKimson, 1949), said by Daffy at the very beginning

Porky does a Lew Lehr imitation as he narrates a novelty bit in Porky’s Snooze Reel (Clampett/McCabe, 1941).

LEONARD, SHELDON
(1907-1997)

Writer, actor, producer, director, and all around, one of the most respected men in television. It was Leonard who gave Bill Cosby one of his first big breaks by casting him in I Spy in the 1960s. Before that, however, Leonard had a long career on the stage, in movies and in radio playing Damon Runyonesque characters, including Harry the Horse in Guys and Dolls, which of course is based on Runyon stories.

One of his highest-profile roles on radio was as a semi-regular on the Jack Benny Radio Program. Leonard played a racetrack tout type, talking out of the side of his mouth, who would try to convince Benny to change his mind regarding a selection.

I would speculate that Mel Blanc, a stalwart of both the WB studio and the Jack Benny show, may have had a hand in getting Leonard to play a role in cartoons. Leonard provided the voice for Dodsworth, the fat, lazy shiftless cat who made two appearences in Bob McKimson cartoons of the early 50s.

LESCOULIE, JACK

Voice actor who has now been identified as the provider of Jack Benny-like voices for a number of characters in the late 1930s, most notably the caveman in Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur (Jones, 1939).

LEVITOW, ABE

Longtime animator in the Jones unit who was given a chance to direct on his own in Unnatural History (1959), and who codirected with Jones on Baton Bunny (1959) and Martian Through Georgia (1962). Note this is the same period when colleagues such as Ken Harris also got a chance to direct. Levitow would also work with Jones at MGM in the 1960s, where he would direct some of the later Tom and Jerry cartoons produced by that unit.

LEWIS, TED

Clarinet player known as The Top-hatted Tragedian of Jazz: his trademarks were a battered topper, and the line “Is everybody happy?”.

The mannequin character in A Great Big Bunch of You (Harman/Ising, 1932) imitates Lewis: top hat, catchphrase and all. A caricature of Lewis plays “Plenty of Money and You” in Speaking of the Weather (Tashlin, 1937).

LIBERACE
(né Wladizu Valentino Liberace)

Flamboyant pianist who had a variety of television shows throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Liberace combined genuine musical talent with an exceptionally outlandish wardrobe, a toothy smile, and constant references to his violinist brother George and his mother.

Spoofs of this character -- in more sense than one -- can be seen in The Three LIttle Bops (Freleng, 1957), when the piano playing pig refers to George, as well as in Hyde and Hare (Freleng, 1955), when Bugs plays the piano. There is a delightful spoof in Wideo Wabbit (McKimson, 1956), complete with 88-key grin, references to George and Mother, and a dreadful pun.

“LIFE GOES TO A PARTY”

One of the features in Life magazine in the 1930s was a photo essay in which a photographer from the magazine would go to a high society party and take pictures of the partygoers. This feature is spoofed when, after an allegedly savage native takes our picture with a camera in The Isle of Pingo Pongo (Avery, 1939), this phrase is flashed as a subtitle.

LILLY, LOU

Warner Brothers story writer in the 1940s. Screen credits include:

• Russian Rhapsody (Clampett, 1944)
• Angel Puss (Jones, 1944)
• Hare Ribbin’ (Clampett, 1944)
• Buckaroo Bugs (Clampett, 1944)
• Draftee Daffy (Clampett, 1945)

LILY SWANS

Parody of opera singer Lily Pons in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937).

LIVINGSTONE, MARY

Wife of Jack Benny and a supporting player on his radio show. Known for her ability to needle Jack, reflected in the caricatures of her in Malibu Beach Party (Freleng, 1940) and The Mouse That Jack Built (McKimson, 1959). Along with Benny and the rest of the cast, she voiced her own caricature in the latter cartoon. Livingstone is seen in a brief two-second sketch with Jack Bunny and Andy Bovine in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937).

LOCKHEED

Aircraft manufacturing firm that had a plant in Burbank, not far from the Warner Brothers studio. It was said that during World War II, Jack Warner, concerned that Japanese bombers might mistake the studio for the plant, painted a sign on the roofs of the WB sound stages with an arrow and the message “Lockheed That-a-way”.

Lockheed is referred to in some wartime WB cartoons. The mother in Brother Brat (Tashlin, 1944) is a welder at “Blockheed”. Grandma has left a note for Red in Little Red Riding Rabbit (Freleng, 1944) that she is working the swing shift at Lockheed. The egg plant in Swooner Crooner (Tashlin, 1944) is named “Flockheed”. See also the references in the Avery MGM cartoons Big Heel-watha and Swing Shift Cinderella.

LOG GAG

Classic Bugs Bunny gag in which he first gets a pursuer to chase him through a hollow log, and then traps the pursuer in the log, turning it around so that no matter what happens, the pursuer always ends up over a cliff. Bugs used the gag four times, in All This and Rabbit Stew (Avery, 1941), The Big Snooze (Clampett, 1946), Foxy by Proxy (Freleng, 1952), and Person to Bunny (Freleng, 1960).

LOLA BEVERLY

Gushy columnist type who sort of interviews Bugs in A Hare Grown in Manhattan (Freleng, 1947). Bugs at one point refers to her as “Lolly”, which was the nickname of widely known and feared Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons, leading the author to suspect that Lola was an indirect caricature of Parsons.

LOMBARDE, CAROLE
(1908-1942)

One of the leading screen comediennes of the 1930s and 1940s, Lombard was known for her wit and charm, as expressed in comedy classics like Twentieth Century and To Be or Not To Be. She was sorely missed when she died tragically in a plane crash while returning from a war bond drive. Her second husband, Clark Gable, was devastated by her death.

Lombard was one of the guesses Fudd made in A Wild Hare (Avery, 1940) when Bugs covers his eyes. Reissue prints replaced her name with Barbara Stanwyck’s as a matter of respect.

LONE RANGER

Exceptionally popular character of radio, movies, and later television, from 1933 on. The opening, indelibly linked with the the theme song of the show, Rossini’s William Tell overture, is to a certain extent spoofed in Buckaroo Bugs (Clampett, 1944). The Lone Stranger and Porky (Clampett, 1939) is probably the most detailed spoof of the show, though other cartoons, including The Film Fan (Clampett, 1939), Dripalong Daffy (Jones, 1951) also poke fun at the series. Fans of the series are spoofed in Thugs With Dirty Mugs (Avery, 1939) when the nogoodniks spin a safe dial, which turns out to be a radio dial, thus allowing the gang to tune into the show.

LORD HEE HAW

Tokio Jokio (McCabe, 1943) features a donkey with this title reading German propaganda. The character is based on Lord Haw Haw, a broadcaster of Nazi propaganda directed at British audiences over the radio during World War II. His real name was William Joyce, and he was hung for treason after the war.

LORRE, PETER

Small, bug-eyed, Central European actor who first came to prominence in the Fritz Lang film M and later made a career of playing twisted murderers and mad scientist types. Lorre was also the star in a number of low-budget Mr. Moto movies, parodied by Porky Pig as “Mr. Motto” in Porky’s Movie Mystery (Clampett, 1939). Lorre gave memorable supporting performances in Casablanca as Ugarte and The Maltese Falcon as Joel Cairo.

Lorre caricatures appear in Birth of A Notion (McKimson, 1946) as a mad scientist in search of a duck wishbone (guess who’s), and as another mad scientist in Hair-raising Hare (Jones, 1946). He appears as a fish so amazed by the sight of Horton the elephant being transported, tree and all, across the ocean that he shoots himself in Horton Hatches the Egg (Clampett, 1942), and as a diner at Ciro’s mesmerized by the Sally Rand bubble dance in Hollywood Steps Out (Avery, 1941). A movie poster showing Lorre is also defaced by Daffy, the mustache fiend in Daffy Doodles (McKimson, 1946).

“LOVE DAT MAN!”

Tag-line of Beulah, the black maid who first appeared on the Fibber McGee and Molly Radio Program, played by Marlin Hart. The line is said by Bugs at the end of The Big Snooze (Clampett, 1946), and a variation of it is said by the pig at the end of The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (Clampett, 1946).

LYMAN, ABE

Bandleader whose Brunswick Recording Orchestra, also known as “The Californians”, provided the music for the first few Merrie Melodies in 1931.