The Witch Hazel Trilogy
Drawing by Chuck Jones Witch Hazel is one of my favorite characters from Looney Tunes. Who could not love her hackling laugh after she slyly expressed a moment of dark humor? Or the way she kicked together her heels whenever she flew away on her magical broomstick. She is just a wickedly funny character to watch and laugh with. So it hit me by surprise that she was only used in three cartoons in the entire series of cartoons. I know it sounds strange but it is true. But it only goes to show just how much of an impact she had on the fans in spite of her few appearances in the canon. The genesis of Witch Hazel dates back to the Disney cartoon, “Trick or Treat” (1952). You may recall that in that film there was a hilarious witch named Hazel who helped the nephews out against their uncle Donald Duck. The short left a strong impression on animator Chuck Jones, who of all the Warner Brother animators always had a fondness for the Disney cartoons. The film inspired him to create his own take on the witch as a comedic foil to Bugs Bunny. Initially Jones tried recruit voice actress June Forway to the role since she had voiced the Disney character. But at the time Forway turned him down because she thought it may be seen as ripping off of Walt Disney’s cartoon. So for the first cartoon Witch Hazel was voiced by a different voice actress by the name of Bea Benaderet, who was the voice of Granny in the series and would soon voice Berry Rubble on “The Flintstones”. This explains why in her first appearance she sounds a bit like Granny than she would in later cartoons. But Benaderet was eventually dropped after the first cartoon when Forway changed her mind as she realized Walt was not going to go after them. After her three films in the classic era that she did not have a key role in the series, although she did make a few cameo appearances from time to time by Jones and company. She would turn up in modern cartoon series like “Animaniacs” or in a radically different form on “The Looney Tunes Show”. Her influence can still be felt in contemporary cartoons like in “The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror VIII” where Marge, Selma, and Patty are witches. So Witch Hazel is still flying high and laughing in the moonlight.
