Witch Hazel (Looney Tunes)
| Witch Hazel | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes character | |
 |
|
| First appearance | Bewitched Bunny (1954) |
| Created by | Chuck Jones |
| Voiced by |
June Foray Bea Benaderet (in Bewitched Bunny) Tress MacNeille (in Animaniacs) Roz Ryan (as "Witch Lezah" in The Looney Tunes Show) |
| Information | |
| Species | Witch |
Witch Hazel is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Disney, MGM, Famous Studios, and the comic book Little Lulu also had characters named Witch Hazel, and Rembrandt Films had one named Hazel Witch. This article is chiefly concerned with the character who appeared in Warner Bros. films.
"Witch hazel" is a pun on the name of a North American shrub and the herbal medicine derived from it. Animator Chuck Jones, of his own admission, got the idea of Witch Hazel from the Disney cartoon Trick or Treat (1952), which featured a good-natured witch squaring off with Donald Duck. Enamored of the character's voice characterization, provided by June Foray, Jones developed his own Witch Hazel character for the Bugs Bunny short Bewitched Bunny (1954). The story retells the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, and naturally, Witch Hazel plays the witch who tries to cook and eat the children. Bugs Bunny witnesses her coaxing the children inside and saves the youths from Witch Hazel's clutches as the masked avenger isn't around. However, once the witch realizes that Bugs is a rabbit, she chases him to put him into her witch's brew. Upon Witch Hazel putting Bugs into a sleeping spell, he is awoken by Prince Charming as Bugs tells him that he is in the wrong story. Bugs eventually uses Hazel's own magic against her and transforms her into a sexy female bunny, to whom he is instantly attracted. In the ending of the short, he walks away with her while he breaks the fourth wall, and expresses the comment, "Ah sure, I know. But aren't they all witches inside?". As Jones was unable to get Foray to play the role, Bea Benaderet supplied the witch's voice.
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