Foxy 1931 Merrie Melodies

+Foxy in his trolley

+Foxy was the star of the first *Merrie Melodies* cartoons Ising directed for producer [<u>Leon Schlesinger</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Leon_Schlesinger). Ising had already helped his partner Hugh Harman create another series, titled [*<u>Looney Tunes</u>*](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Looney_Tunes) with the character [<u>Bosko</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Bosko). Foxy's first appearance on screen was in August 1931 in "[<u>Lady, Play Your Mandolin!</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Lady,_Play_Your_Mandolin!)" The cartoon, which shares a set-up with Disney's more swashbucking "The Gallopin' Gaucho", (1928).

+Foxy is a short, black-furred fox with a white face, a black nose, a black bushy tail, and two tear-dropped shaped ears. He wears a white pair of shorts and black shoes with white spats, along with white gloves.

+Foxy is one of any number of early cartoon characters modeled after the successes of Paul Terry's and Otto Messmer's work in the 1910s and 1920s, namely Felix The Cat (1919). Foxy himself is a close cousin to Disney's characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927) and Mickey Mouse (1928).

+In 1925, [<u>Hugh Harman</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Hugh_Harman) drew images of mice on a portrait of Walt Disney. Disney and Ub Iwerks would then use it as an inspiration for their creation of Mickey Mouse, the character who eventually became Disney's most popular.[<u>\[1\]</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Foxy#cite_note-1) Knowing that Disney and Iwerks had cashed on their little idea, Harman and Ising figured it was only fair that they should conceive a character of a similar mold, thus leading to the creation of Foxy.

+Foxy was the star of the first *Merrie Melodies* cartoons Ising directed for producer [<u>Leon Schlesinger</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Leon_Schlesinger). Ising had already helped his partner Hugh Harman create another series, titled [*<u>Looney Tunes</u>*](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Looney_Tunes) with the character [<u>Bosko</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Bosko). Foxy's first appearance on screen was in August 1931 in "[<u>Lady, Play Your Mandolin!</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Lady,_Play_Your_Mandolin!)" The cartoon, which shares a set-up with Disney's more swashbucking "The Gallopin' Gaucho", (1928).

+Foxy and his then-nameless girlfriend would appear in two more cartoons that same year directed by Ising: "[<u>Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Smile,_Darn_Ya,_Smile!)" (September 5, 1931), a musical set on a trolley and usually considered one of the better Ising *Merrie Melodies*, and "[<u>One More Time</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/One_More_Time)" (October 3, 1931), a musical cops-'n'-robbers short. Ising retired the character after those three cartoon shorts due to a threat of a lawsuit by Walt Disney, because Foxy was heavily designed off of Mickey Mouse. Another similar character, named Piggy, replaced him in the October, 1931 short "[<u>You Don't Know What You're Doin'!</u>](https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/You_Don%27t_Know_What_You%27re_Doin%27!)"

+"Foxy 1931 Merrie Melodies" refers to a brief series of early animated short films, starring the character Foxy, produced by [Warner Bros](/wiki/Warner_Bros). These black-and-white [Cartoon](/wiki/Cartoon) shorts showcased the nascent style of sound cartoons, preceding the better-known Looney Tunes era.

+## See also

+- [Merrie Melodies](/wiki/Merrie_Melodies)

+- [Early Animation](/wiki/Early_Animation)

+- [Foxy](/wiki/Foxy)

+"Foxy 1931 Merrie Melodies" refers to a brief series of early animated short films, starring the character Foxy, produced by [Warner Bros](/wiki/Warner_Bros). These black-and-white [Cartoon](/wiki/Cartoon) shorts showcased the nascent style of sound cartoons, preceding the better-known Looney Tunes era.

+## See also

+- [Merrie Melodies](/wiki/Merrie_Melodies)

+- [Early Animation](/wiki/Early_Animation)

+- [Foxy](/wiki/Foxy)