Egghead Jr. is a character in the
animated cartoon ''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.[ ...]
'', created by
Robert McKimson in the 1950s. He debuted in 1954's ''
Little Boy Boo'', and made two subsequent Looney Tunes appearances in 1955's ''
Feather Dusted'' and 1960's ''Crockett-Doodle-Doo''.
History
Egghead Jr. is a large-headed and very intelligent baby chick and appeared in several shorts with bumptious
Foghorn Leghorn (also a character directed by McKimson and voiced by
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
). The only child of
Miss Prissy, a widow hen,
Egghead
In the U.S. English slang, egghead is an epithet used to refer to intellectuals or people considered out-of-touch with ordinary people and lacking in realism, common sense, sexual interests, etc. on account of their intellectual interests. It w ...
Jr. was
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this phys ...
ish and never talked (though he mumbled when he counted playing
hide-and-seek
Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a popular children's game in which at least two players (usually at least three) conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chos ...
with Foghorn in ''Little Boy Boo''). Egghead Jr. has the strange ability to accomplish virtually anything, simply by writing out physics theorems, then performing the action proposed thereby. Foghorn would try to teach him to play games like
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...
and cowboys and Indians, with the intent that he act more like a typical boy, but invariably resulting in bodily injury for Foghorn.
It was previously noted that Egghead Jr. was also in the 1959 cartoon ''
A Broken Leghorn'', but this was the character Junior Rooster.
Egghead Jr. had no relation to
Egghead
In the U.S. English slang, egghead is an epithet used to refer to intellectuals or people considered out-of-touch with ordinary people and lacking in realism, common sense, sexual interests, etc. on account of their intellectual interests. It w ...
, a human character that appeared in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts of the 1930s.
Later appearances
In 1991, Egghead Jr. appeared in the ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'' episode "Hog-Wild Hamton." He's Hamton J. Pig's neighbor and he doesn't like being disturbed. So when a wild party hosted by Plucky Duck takes place at Hamton's house while his parents are away and the guests refuse to keep the noise down, Egghead takes matters into his own hands by launching a missile that destroyed his house. Egghead Jr. later hands Ed McMayhem a note telling him that he is studying for a very important exam and requests that he stop his laughing. Ed continues to laugh and Egghead Jr. pokes him in the left knee cap causing him pain in the knee.
Egghead Jr. also makes a cameo in the ''
Pinky and the Brain
''Pinky and the Brain'' is an American Animated series, animated television series that was created by Tom Ruegger that premiered on Kids' WB on September 9, 1995. It was the first animated television series to be presented in Dolby Pro Logic, D ...
'' episode "Star Warners."
He makes a cameo in ''
Space Jam
''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Hersch ...
'' watching
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
.
Egghead Jr. appears in the direct-to-video film ''
Tweety's High-Flying Adventure
''Tweety's High-Flying Adventure'' is a 2000 American animated musical slapstick comedy film produced by Tom Minton and James T. Walker, written by Tom Minton, Tim Cahill and Julie McNally, and directed by James T. Walker, Karl Toerge, Charles Vi ...
'' as part of the team of birds following
Tweety
Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia fo ...
's journey around the world.
Egghead Jr. appears in the ''
Duck Dodgers
Duck Dodgers is the metafictional star of a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros., featuring Daffy Duck in the role of a science fiction hero.
He first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short '' Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century'', directe ...
'' episode "Corporate Pigfall."
Egghead Jr. appears in ''
Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
''Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas'' (also known as ''Looney Tunes: Bah Humduck'') is a 2006 animated direct-to-DVD Christmas comedy film starring the Looney Tunes characters, directed by Charles Visser, produced by Warner Bros. Animation ...
''. He appears as a caroler alongside
Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk is an American cartoon character who appears in twelve comedy film shorts produced in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series. His first appearance is in the 1942 theatrical release '' The Squawkin' Hawk'', which was direct ...
, Barnyard Dawg Jr., and Porky Pig's daughter Priscilla.
Egghead Jr., now renamed "Eggbert", makes frequent appearances in the ''Looney Tunes'' series published by
DC.
References
Looney Tunes characters
Fictional chickens
Fictional mute characters
Film characters introduced in 1954
{{Looney-tunes-stub