Elmyra Duff
Encyclopedia
Elmyra Jessica Duff is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures
Tiny Toon Adventures
Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros....

. She is one of the main characters from the show. Elmyra is voiced by Cree Summer
Cree Summer
Cree Summer Francks , best known as Cree Summer, is a Canadian actress, musician and voice actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as college student Winifred "Freddie" Brooks on the NBC sitcom A Different World...

 in all of her appearances. Elmyra is a young, 12-year-old redheaded, female human with a white skirt
Skirt
A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.In the western world, skirts are usually considered women's clothing. However, there are exceptions...

, light blue shirt
Shirt
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...

 and bowed ribbon
Ribbon
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth ribbons, most commonly silk, are often used in connection with clothing, but are also applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolic purposes...

 in her hair that has an animal's skull in the middle, black shoes and white socks
SOCKS
SOCKS is an Internet protocol that routes network packets between a client and server through a proxy server. SOCKS5 additionally provides authentication so only authorized users may access a server...

. She attends Acme Looniversity and lives in Acme Acres. She also serves as the school nurse to the point of duplicating herself like in The Acme Bowl where two Elmyras were happily skipping along carrying a winch with an injured Hamton, Furrball and Calamity onboard.

Elmyra Duff is based superficially on her name derivative and mentor, Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...

; 'Elmyra' being a female form of 'Elmer' and her last name, 'Duff', as 'Fudd' pronounced backwards. Elmyra strongly resembles a younger version of the feminized Elmer Fudd from the 1946 cartoon The Big Snooze
The Big Snooze
The Big Snooze is a 1946 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by an uncredited Bob Clampett, his final cartoon for Warner. Its title was inspired by the 1939 book The Big Sleep, and its 1946 film adaptation, also a Warner release. The Big Snooze features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, voiced as...

, in which Elmer's peaceful retirement dream became a nightmare where he was transformed into a shapely female by Bugs Bunny. She behaves quite a bit like Little Suzie, a child from a fairly obscure 1955 Freleng
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....

 short called "A Kiddie's Kitty". Here a girl adopts Sylvester Pussycat and unwittingly abuses him with her childish antics, to the point that he decides he would rather take his chances with a bulldog
Bulldog
Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose...

 who had been tormenting him earlier in the picture.

Personality

Elmyra is quite young and obsessed with animals and cute things (which is probably why she works as a nurse at Acme Looniversity), even chasing after animals whom she knows are her classmates at Acme Looniversity, obliviously causing great discomfort or serious injury to potential pets from her overenthusiastic affection and complete lack of even the most rudimentary knowledge of pet care. In this she is reminiscent of the aforementioned Suzie, or even Hugo the Abominable Snowman (who, in turn, is influenced by Lenny from Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....

). This is in contrast to Elmer's well-armed actual intent to violence, although she is dismissed by Buster and Babs Bunny in the pilot as extremely lame for a 'villain'. The two share a distinct similarity in that both hunt animals; while Elmer hunts them for sport, Elmyra hunts them to love and baby them to death (sometimes literally)--often even diapering the animals (such as Plucky in the episode Pollution Solution). She does not really mean to mistreat her pets, she simply doesn't understand the negative effects of her behavior. Each time animals manage to get away from Elmyra and she's unable to get them back, she often cries and wails. Unlike other Tiny Toons, she doesn't get hurt (from an anvil dropping on her head, for example) but gets dazed. Curiously, at least once, Elmyra was shown to be bald like her inspiration, with her hair depicted as a wig (although whether she is really bald or this is simply cartoon humor is up for debate).

This danger is balanced by her complete and utter gullibility. Her abject stupidity is pocked with occasional instances of cleverness, and her character is toned down as needed. Buster Bunny and Babs Bunny explain in the series' pilot that Elmyra is a pushover — unlike Montana Max
Montana Max
Montana "Monty" Master Max is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. He is one of the main characters on the show. and also one of the main antagonists of the show. Monty is voiced by Danny Cooksey. Montana Max is a young, brown haired, male...

 — but that they needed nominal "villains" to pitch their series. This is a nod to the original Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

, in which Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...

 (the basis for Montana Max) was created due to the fact that Elmer Fudd was seen as too easy and mild-mannered to be an effective enemy for Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...

.

Elmyra looks sweet and is somewhat a major dunce (in one episode it shows that mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...

 has a higher IQ than she), she speaks in semi-perpetual baby talk
Baby talk
Baby talk, also referred to as caretaker speech, infant-directed speech or child-directed speech and informally as "motherese", "parentese", "mommy talk", or "daddy talk" is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults in talking to toddlers and infants.It is usually delivered with a "cooing"...

, and her hair bow is decorated with a small gerbil skull
Skull
The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

, which may hint at her sinister side. Elmyra sometimes removes the skull to tell Mr. Skullhead
Mr. Skullhead
Mr. Skullhead is a character from the animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. He originated on Tiny Toons when the character Elmyra Duff removed the tiny skull in the center of the bow she wears and imagined he had a show and created his theme song. Later he made the...

 stories.

One of the animals in her vast menagerie is Byron Basset, a near-gelatinous basset hound
Basset Hound
The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog of the hound family. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt rabbits and hare by scent. Their sense of smell for tracking is second only to that of the Bloodhound....

 who drew most of his humor from his odd appearance. In contrast to her other pets, Byron seems to feel a grudging love for his owner despite her clumsiness. Li'l Sneezer was also shown to be one of the few "pets" capable of enduring Elmyra's well intentioned zeal, but even Elmyra had trouble coping with Sneezer's allergies and explosive, gale
Gale
A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...

-force sneezes. Less enthusiastic pets have included Buster, Furrball
Furrball
Furrball is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. He is one of the main characters on the show.-Description:Furrball is a young, blue male cat with a hole on his right ear and a bandage on his tail...

, Fifi La Fume, and Tyrone the Turtle.

One of the few characters that Elmyra doesn't think is cute and cuddly is Hamton J. Pig
Hamton J. Pig
Hamton J. Pig is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. He is arguably the fourth main character on the show. Hamton is voiced by Don Messick. Hamton is a young male pig with blue overalls. He attends Acme Looniversity and lives in Acme...

, for she thinks he's a dirty pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

 in need of a good bath
Bathing
Bathing is the washing or cleansing of the body in a fluid, usually water or an aqueous solution. It may be practised for personal hygiene, religious ritual or therapeutic purposes or as a recreational activity....

, which is ironic, because Hamton is obsessed with cleanliness
Cleanliness
Cleanliness is both the abstract state of being clean and free from dirt, and the process of achieving and maintaining that state.Cleanliness may be endowed with a moral quality, as indicated by the aphorism "cleanliness is next to godliness," and may be regarded as contributing to other ideals...

 and dislikes filth and bad odors.

The Duffs

The creators decided to give her character two entire episodes later in the series. The family, which had been previously unmentioned, appeared in two episodes, "Take Elmyra Please" and "Grandma's Dead." Soleil Moon Frye
Soleil Moon Frye
Soleil Moon Frye is an American actress, director and screenwriter. Frye is best known for her childhood role as the title character in sitcom Punky Brewster, and as Roxie King in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.-Early life:...

 voiced Elmyra's eldest sister, Amanda; Matt Frewer
Matt Frewer
Matthew "Matt" Frewer is a Canadian American stage, TV and film actor. Acting since 1983, he is known for portraying the 1980s icon Max Headroom and the retired villain Moloch in the film adaptation of Watchmen.-Life and career:...

 was her frazzled inventor father, Mac. As these episodes featured none of the rest of the regular Tiny Toons cast, other than Furrball and Byron Basset, they may have been a test to see if Elmyra's character could get her own spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 series, centered around her family. Elmyra's dad is a spaced-out inventor whose inventions either succeed, fail, or are used in another purpose. Elmyra's mom, Emily, voiced by Tress MacNeille
Tress MacNeille
Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the...

, is patronizing and doesn't pay too much attention to her children's behavior, save for her baby son who demonstrates incredible strength, a cause of concern. Elmyra's brother, Duncan (voiced by Whitby Hertford), thinks he's a superhero and usually winds up saving Elmyra every time she gets in trouble. Amanda is the typical version of a teenage girl and is embarrassed by her family's behavior. They also have a dimwitted maid, Queegee, also voiced by Tress MacNeille, who shows superhuman strength at some times. Elmyra's grandmother is voiced by Fran Ryan
Fran Ryan
Fran Ryan was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born in Los Angeles, California....

.

Also of note in these episodes is the introduction of the character Mr. Skullhead
Mr. Skullhead
Mr. Skullhead is a character from the animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. He originated on Tiny Toons when the character Elmyra Duff removed the tiny skull in the center of the bow she wears and imagined he had a show and created his theme song. Later he made the...

. Mr. Skullhead was created by Elmyra's imagination from the small skull she wears as a hair ornament. He starred in his own show, The Mr. Skullhead Show. The character later appeared regularly on the show Animaniacs
Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...

as the central character in a skit called "Good Idea, Bad Idea," in which Mr. Skullhead and the various members of his family would be violently maimed.

Quotes

"I'm gonna hug you and kiss you and love you forever (and never use you up)" (while squeezing Furrball to death)

"I love cats I love kitties, squeeze them into itty bittys!"

"I'm gonna start his motor!" (as she rubs a sleeping tiger's belly)

"Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone? There, there!"

"Let the show begin!" (stinger during the end credits)

Spin-offs

Though Animaniacs
Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...

was not technically a follow-up to Tiny Toons, several of the characters from Tiny Toons made cameos. The most notable of all of these is Elmyra's in the short "Lookit the Fuzzy Heads." Believing the Warners were dogs, Elmyra chased Yakko, Wakko, and Dot
Yakko, Wakko, and Dot
Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner, also known as "The Warner Brothers " or "The Warner Siblings", or just simply "The Warners", are the three titular cartoon characters featured on the animated series Animaniacs. The trio of red-nosed Warner siblings were considered to be the stars of the ensemble of...

 out of Dr. Scratchansniff's office and through the city, until finally the three tricked Elmyra into following Mindy, which resulted in Elmyra continually getting hurt (not to mention saving Buttons the trouble of the pursuit). In a way, this ending was especially appropriate in that Mindy and Elmyra were similar characters. Both are young girls who love their pets but are oblivious to the pain they inflict upon them. She made a cameo in the following episode, "The Warner's 65th Anniversery special", wishing Yakko, Wakko, and Dot a happy anniversary, and appeared a couple of times on A Hard Days Warners, as one of Their fans. Incidentally Yakko, Wakko, and Dot made a cameo on Tiny Toons Spring Break Special, but not being chased by Elmyra.
Elmyra later acquired newly-homeless Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain is an American animated television series.The characters Pinky and the Brain first appeared in 1993 as a recurring segment on the show Animaniacs...

 in a short-lived series in 1998 (in which Pinky is adjusting well to his new life but the Brain has problems living with his mistress, Elmyra) — notable only for the Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...

-esque madman who was pursuing the two mice for his own world domination plans. Although she has essentially the same personality and lives in Acme Acres, her character on Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain is different from her character on Tiny Toon Adventures in several ways: she goes to school with other human kids rather than her Tiny Toons co-stars, and she harbors an unrequited crush on a different boy, Rudy Mookich (voiced by Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...

), who does not return her affections either. A running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....

 here is that Elmyra continually washes Brain's mouth whenever he says either something that she would find offensive or merely scientific jargon that she can't understand (she calls it "naughty-waughty potty talk"). Curiously, Pinky and the Brain had earlier made a cameo as two of Elmyra's caged pets in the Tiny Toons Spring Break special. Also, when Brain makes a cameo in the Tiny Toons Night Ghoulery Special, Elmyra remarks, "I'll play with you later," a possible foreshadowing.
Elmyra appears in A.F.L.O.A.T. along with the rest of them like Plucky, Hamton, Dizzy, Little Beeper, Calamity Coyote, Shirley, Fifi, Furball, Sweetie, Sneezer, Concord, Barky Marky, Mary Melody and others for a cameo.

See also

  • Tiny Toon Adventures
    Tiny Toon Adventures
    Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros....

  • Animaniacs
    Animaniacs
    Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...

  • Elmer Fudd
    Elmer Fudd
    Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...

  • Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain

External links

  • Tiny Toon Adventures at the Big Cartoon DataBase
    Big Cartoon DataBase
    The Big Cartoon DataBase is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows and cartoon shorts....

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