Granny (Looney Tunes)
| Granny | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes character | |
 |
|
| First appearance | Canary Row (October 7, 1950) |
| Created by | Friz Freleng |
| Voiced by |
Bea Benaderet (1950–1955) June Foray (1955–present) Joan Gerber (1965) Ge Ge Pearson (1965) Stephanie Courtney (2012) |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Nationality | American |
Emma Webster, better known as Granny, a co-star of many Sylvester the Cat and Tweety animated shorts throughout the 1950s and 1960s, is a Looney Tunes character that was created by Friz Freleng. Granny is the owner of Tweety (and more often than not, Sylvester the Cat and Hector the Bulldog). Granny's voice was first provided by Bea Benaderet from 1950 through 1955. June Foray later took the role, and has voiced the character for close to six decades, continuing into 2017.
Granny is generally a good natured, practical old fashioned widowed woman who is extremely protective of her beloved canary, Tweety. Granny's overprotectiveness becomes apparent whenever Tweety is threatened (usually by Sylvester, a hungry "puddytat" who prefers eating birds over cat food). Although having the appearance as a kindly old woman, Granny has demonstrated her cleverness in many cartoons.
At least until the mid-1950s, Granny is depicted as an elderly spinster who wears spectacles, a gray bun and a late 19th-century-like schoolmarm dress; other old fashioned characteristics include her mode of transportation (usually, a Ford Model T or a horse and buggy) and her inability to relate to present fads (such as her telling Tweety she's about to try on a new "bikini bathing suit", which turns out to be a full one-piece outfit from the turn-of-the-20th century). After 1955 — in particular, the years after Foray began voicing the character — the character's wardrobe was updated and her old-fashioned tastes and ways of life were de-emphasized, and she was sometimes given newer careers, such as a nurse or a bus driver.
The idea of the cartoon Granny began with the Little Red Riding Hood character in spoofs of the story, first appearing as such in the 1937 animated short Little Red Walking Hood which featured Egghead, directed by Tex Avery. Subsequent appearances of a similar "granny" character included The Cagey Canary (1941), directed by Bob Clampett; Hiss and Make Up (1943), directed by Friz Freleng; and Hare Force (1944), featuring Bugs Bunny and Sylvester the dog (a one-off character distinct from the later Sylvester the cat). Finally, the character was solidified into her current role in Canary Row in 1950, with Bea Benaderet providing her voice. June Foray voiced the character on vinyl records starting in 1950, when in 1955, June Foray replaced Benaderet as Granny, a role that she has now been performing for over 60 years (as of 2016). Granny was also updated during this time as well. Granny would continue to appear in several more animated shorts from the 1950s on, as a foil for Sylvester the Cat, who was always attempting to eat her pet bird, Tweety, a pudgy-faced yellow canary.
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