Yosemite Sam

Yosemite Sam "I hate that rabbit!" Gender: Male Type: Wrathful Outlaw Species: Human Portrayed by: Mel Blanc (1945–1989) Maurice LaMarche (1993-2016) Jeff Bergman (1990-1993) Joe Alaskey (1988, 1990–1992, 1995–1997, 2004–2005, 2010–2011) Jeff Bennett (2003-2004) Bill Farmer (1996) Fred Tatasciore (2017-present) Status: Alive Media of origin: Looney Tunes

"Why, everybody knows me. I'm Yosemite Sam! The meanest, toughest, rip-roaring-est, Edward Everett Horton-est hombre what ever packed a six-shooter! That's who I am!!"
― Yosmite Sam, in his debut, "Hare Trigger".

Samuel Michelangelo Rosenbaum, or better known as Yosemite Sam, is the secondary antagonist of the Looney Tunes franchise, who is one of the arch-enemies of Bugs Bunny.

He is a redhead cowboy with a fiery temper and a hatred of rabbits to match. He is also very trigger-happy and will start firing his [trademark] revolvers, rifles, flintlock guns, etc. at any moment. Making him one of the most iconic trigger-happy gunslingers in cartoons. Apart from being a gunslinger, Sam's second most common role is that of a buccaneer.

Why He's the Meanest, Toughest, Rip-Roarin'-est Six Shooter

1. His design is not only iconic, but also timeless at the same time. As the huge, unkempt red mustache defines Sam himself.
2. He is made out to be the manlier version of Elmer Fudd, as he was once a true threat to everyone around him, including Bugs, and the latter needed to use very keen intelligence to outsmart him.
3. Mel Blanc, Maurice LaMarche, Jeff Bergman, Joe Alaskey, Jeff Bennett, Bill Farmer, and Fred Tatasciore all do a brilliant job at voicing him.
4. He may seem like a short-tempered, malicious, and egotistical criminal whose setbacks and incompetence are on the same level as Sylvester the Cat, Peg-Leg Pete, Bluto from Popeye the Sailor, both Slick McWolf and Butch the Irish Dog from the Tex Avery MGM Cartoons and Joe Dalton from The Daltons. But he was one of the most active and persistent predators of Bugs Bunny in the same way Wile E. is towards the Road Runner in a slightly more menacing way.
5. There are times that he gives up against Bugs and waves the white flag, or begs Bugs to just get out of his life, or as he'd say: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
6. For as hotheaded and harebrained as he is, he is quite hilarious.
   • Even though he was meant to be hated, what makes him funny is the fact he's a thoroughly unpleasant scoundrel, which meant that audiences can have no problem laughing at his frequent setbacks and screw-ups, as well as his many pathetic losses, have earned him a tiny bit of sympathy.
   • Initially lots of jokes were about his height, and he sure is irascible and vicious.
   • His wrathful nature is also satirized and mocked in "From Hare to Heir", where he receives one million pounds by Bugs under the condition that he will lose money if he loses his temper, which backfires greatly when Bugs tests his patience due to Sam being a literal short fuse whom is clearly unable to control his unstable temper at all times!
7. Despite his comical wrath, stupidity, narcissism, clumsiness, and fallibility, he has shown to be one of the most formidable villains Bugs ever faced before becoming another one of the show's bumbling villains over the years.
   • He is often considered to be an absolute moron towards Bugs, while that became true in New Looney Tunes, he can still show signs of intelligence and common sense on many occasions. He doesn't fall for the same trick more than twice. Sam would even go to the point to attempt at shooting "Santa" if he did not give him some presents in the 2015 spinoff from New Looney Tunes.
   • In "Honey's Money", he tries to get 7-year-old Wentworth killed by tricking him into grabbing a ball from the street and releasing alligators into a pool before he gets in.
   • Upon having the stature and temperament of a rude and temperamental child, he packs heat. He's no doubt an idiot who's only slightly smarter than Elmer, but he's also far more short-tempered, hostile, and aggressive. An abrasive and belligerent man that would shoot a gun at anyone unless he gets tricked with subtle and quick practical-jokes.
8. His wrathful trait gets better explored in The Looney Tunes Show, where he admits to having worked at a library, has been implied to practice meditation to try and control his temper, and attends Anger Management classes. At the end of "You Got Hate Mail", before angrily kicking out a book club, he gives them a very accurate summary as to why their new novel's protagonist fails to be a meaningful character, and this is what got him back to being the iconic cowboy that he always was.
9. A bit like Foghorn Leghorn, he is an obnoxious character done right. As he is a very well-written Love To Hate kind of villain, who as stated above, happens to have a humorous and likable side to his intentionally loathsome characterization.
10. He has many great and/or hilarious quotes, these include:
    • "I'M THE FASTEST GUN NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AAAANNNNDDD WEST OF THE PECOS!"
    • "Great horny toads!"
    • "Ya mule!"
    • "Alright alright don't rush me, Imma a thinker! And my head hurts."
    • "Take that! That'll teach you to keep your mouth shut!"
    • "SAY YOUR PRAYERS, YOU LONG-EARED GALOOT!"

Shaddup! Qualities

1. He isn't the brightest of villains. In fact, there are times when he can probably be considered extremely stupid at times and easily tricked into humiliating and/or painful situations, which makes him become more and more incompetent than before. Although, like any good villain, Yosemite Sam keeps coming back despite his continual failings and he doesn't seem to be any wiser for it, still falling for the same old tricks (this is a trait common to many cartoon villains, not just Yosemite Sam).
   1. For this reason, he still failed to give his creator Friz Freleng the hope of giving Bugs a more intelligent antagonist that could provide the rabbit some real challenge, given that Bugs had a long history of having dumb antagonists throughout the early-to-mid-1940s (including Elmer Fudd), which is likely the main reason why more intelligent adversaries like Marvin the Martian and Rocky the Gangster were both created to take his place. Despite this, Sam remained a major antagonist in many of Freleng's Bugs cartoons.
   2. Even though Sam was always a bumbler to some degree, he originally existed as a counter opposite to Elmer Fudd; a persistently evil and violent antagonist that could keep Bugs on his toes. As the years passed, while his fiery temper, violent nature, and obnoxious streak remained, he became even easier to dupe than he originally was, hence making him no better in intelligence than Elmer.
2. While he's still very entertaining and funny as always, he was flanderized to become more of an incompetent goofball in New Looney Tunes. Though thankfully, this flanderization of his is undone in Looney Tunes Cartoons.
3. Despite the fact he's a cowboy, he never seems to have the same profession twice; instead, he's been miscast in a variety of villain roles, from a pirate, a Viking, a knight, among others. He's not even a cowboy half the time.
   1. While not necessarily a bad quality, he seems to be exclusively paired with Bugs for most of his animated career and is rarely ever paired with other characters such as Daffy Duck, hence making him a bit of a wasted potential as the main go-to villain of the Looney Tunes franchise since he could've also served as the main antagonist to some of the other Looney Tunes characters in addition to Bugs, such as Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Speedy Gonzales and even the Goofy Gophers (though some of the later adaptations such as Looney Tunes: Back in Action and New Looney Tunes would rectify this, however).
4. He was unlikable in the episode "Fish and Visitors"; where he was depicted as the brunt of Bugs' and Daffy's Roommate Drama. As he shows no good manners and perpetually annoys Bugs and Daffy while Sam is in their home, as they both had to kick him out of the house at a certain point. However, he was more likable before and after this episode.

Trivia

• He was created because creator Friz Freleng needed a tougher figure to be Bugs Bunny's enemy since he considered Elmer Fudd too soft. As Sam was created to be a more ruthless foe and a bigger jerk than Elmer Fudd so that audiences would root more for Bugs.
• According to Friz Freleng in an interview with the Associated Press, Yosemite Sam's fiery temper is partially based off his creator Freleng himself, whom is known among the Warners crew for being very short-tempered like Yosemite Sam; even the ToonHeads episode "Our Man Sam" confirms this.
• To create Yosemite Sam's voice, voice actor Mel Blanc yells at the top of his voice, which was inspired by a fit of road rage he had one day. Blanc also once said in his autobiography that Yosemite Sam is the most difficult character to voice, which is due to the character's hoarseness and loudness which strained his vocal chords over the years; as the result, in recording sessions Blanc always records Yosemite Sam's lines the last so that he could rest himself overnight. As Blanc grew older into his 70s, the voice became too rough on his throat, resulting Yosemite Sam to be taken over by Joe Alaskey in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? while Blanc played all his other Looney Tunes roles in the film.
• Before settling on the final name Yosemite Sam, the names Texas Tiny, Wyoming Willie, or Denver Dan were originally considered for the character by writer Michael Maltese.
• In The Looney Tunes Show, his last name is revealed to be Rosenbaum. Perhaps his nickname, Yosemite Sam was a clue all along.
• Yosemite Sam sports a huge muttonchop mustache, along with a smaller beard. He even has a musical in The Looney Tunes Show where it sings to him about being his lifelong friend and persuading him to never shave it. In the song, it punches out Daffy Duck for laughing at Sam getting knocked down. In the same show, it's revealed he's had it since he was a baby.

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