"Elmer Fudd"

Like most kids growing up, I enjoyed to watch Saturday morning cartoons. My favorite cartoon was Bugs Bunny. He was the funniest cartoon because he would make others feel embarrassed or stupid. One of the characters who felt the most embarrassed was Elmer Fudd. Now as children watch the show they learn a lot as well. That is why it surprised me when I saw how Elmer Fudd was originally drawn to look like. I chose this topic because I feel it was one that needed to be addressed due to the fact that children watch cartoons. This cartoon could have sent the wrong message to white and black children.
Elmer Fudd is the hunter who attempts to kill Bugs Bunny every episode. The Elmer Fudd I grew up watching was a tiny, old, white man who talked very funny. However, this is not the way Elmer Fudd was originally drawn. Elmer Fudd was originally drawn African American. He was drawn with big lips and a small afro. He was colored in with the darkest brown, almost a black. The creators of the show caught a lot of heat for the way Elmer Fudd was portrayed. African Americans cried out against the drawing because Elmer Fudd was the bad guy who was so dumb he could not even shoot a bunny. The despised the fact that Elmer Fudd was getting made fun of and outsmarted the entire show. The African Americans believed this was inappropriate, especially to children who watch the show. If children watching the show see how Elmer Fudd is getting tricked every episode, white children are going to believe that all black people are capable of getting tricked. Clearly the “black Elmer Fudd” drawing was racially charged.
What is the big deal about a cartoon? Children act what they see on television all the time. They are not just watching television, they are learning as well. Going through what the African American race went through, is one of the darkest times in this country’s history. So to go and draw a black cartoon who is portrayed as the bad guy, and who is outsmarted and outwitted throughout he episode, sends a poor message to children. In a way, it is almost saying that African Americans are not as smart as white people are. This topic relates back to class when we were looking at the comic book covers. How the Japanese felt about how they were drawn and portrayed on the cover is the same feeling African Americans get when they look at Elmer Fudd. The black Elmer Fudd is so dark you can only see his eyes and his lips. The African American community would feel discriminated against because the drawing portrays a whole race and what the drawer feels what the race looks and acts like. Clearly this is not what a African American truly looks like.
I was surprised when I read that Elmer Fudd was drawn to portray a black man. The drawers were wrong to think of such a thing, but smart to change Elmer to white. I don’t think there would have been such a big deal if Elmer was just the bad guy, but the way he was drawn with his lips and how dark he was, was pushing it. They also portrayed Elmer as being slow or dumb which is another racially charged action behind the drawing of Elmer Fudd. I am happy Elmer Fudd was drawn as white to prevent hurting any more African Americans.