Top Ten Worst Cartoon Characters - Dishonerable Mention

Now that I've completed my postings of "Top Ten Worst Cartoon Characters of all Time," it's time to take a moment and look back at the many, many bad characters who, for whatever reason, didn't make the list.  Many of you have been kind enough to post your choices on the Cartoon Research Facebook page, and I am grateful for your feedback.  It certainly brought back many stomach-churning memories.   Here's some of the characters that didn't make the list, and why.

In compiling my list, I knew I had to put some restrictions on my selections.   If we listed any character they ever appeared in an animated film, the list could go on forever.   So I restricted myself to characters that fell under the following stipulations:

1.  The candidate must be the star of a series of cartoons.
This left a lot of popular characters out of the running.   I received comments from readers nominating The Great Gazoo, Bat-mite, all the characters from Jabberjaw, and other such supporting
players that deserved the honor of Worst Cartoon Character.  I must confess, those are all great choices.  However, to keep this list down to ten I had to draw some lines.   The one character I felt the worst about leaving off the list was, of course, Scrappy Doo, the poster child for antipathy.  However, I felt he was a supporting player, not the star, so I begrudgingly left him off.   Just as well; he's had enough hateful comments spewed on him in the last few years.   He deserves a break.
A lot of readers suggested entire shows, such as The Barkleys, The Robotic Stooges, Uncle Croc's Block, Fonz and the Happy Days Gang...  all terrible shows to be certain.   But they should be on a list of Worst Cartoon Shows of all Time, which I may try to do in a subsequent post.   That's a list that could go on for quite some time...

2.  The candidate must be a cartoon series suitable for everyone in the family.
Beevis and Butthead were originally on the list, but I felt that would open up a large window of characters who were designed to be edgy, extreme or obnoxious.   How can The Beary Family compare with Family Guy?  Don't answer that.  I decided to use only characters that were meant to be beloved by one and all, and failed miserably at it.

3.  The candidate had to be a cartoon character I had heard of.

Sorry, I haven't watched every cartoon show that has ever existed, so I have probably missed some good ones.   Jeffrey suggested FooFur, which I remember avoiding as a kid at all costs.   If I had ever seen an episode, Foofur would have probably made the list.  What ugly character design.   Doug suggested CatDog, another excellent choice.  Evidently I need to spend more time in front of the TV.   Darn that stupid full-time job!

Other great suggestions: 
Kwicky Koala:  Kwicky Koala was a cartoon series created by the legendary Tex Avery, one of the very last things he did before he died.   A bad cartoon character to be sure, but the show had a couple of great Tex Avery gags in it.   That saved it from making the list.

Rubik the Amazing Cube:  OK, this one probably should have made the list.   More puzzling than the cube itself is how this show ever made it to television.

Pepe Le Pew:  Some people love Pepe, some people hate Pepe.  I'm in the middle.   While there are some fairly bad cartoons along his film career, I must confess that his Academy Award winning short, For Scent-imental Reasons is a great little cartoon.   So he escaped making the list.

Merlin the Magic Mouse:  Yeah, he probably should be on the list.  One of the last cartoon series made by Warner Bros. before closing up for good.  A blight on the good name Warner Brothers.

Hunky and Spunky:  The adventures of two mules.   Sounds exciting, doesn't it?  While I certainly don't care for the cartoons, I don't end up hating the characters at the end.  I hate myself for wasting my time.

Gabby:  Another one that probably should have made the list.   Darn!   How'd I miss Gabby?  Is it too late to make this The Top Eleven Worst Cartoon Characters of all Time?   Gabby was a supporting character in Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels that ended up with a series of his own.   Loud, obnoxious and with a terrible temper, he failed to catch on with 1940's audiences.

Sniffles:   Gee Willickers!  I couldn't put Sniffles on the list!   While his early cartoons were unbearably slow, his last three films were pretty entertaining.  Lost and Foundling is one of my favorites.

Other choices I had that were cut from the original list:
Hoot Kloot:  Who decided to base a cartoon series on a character from a Toyota Dodge commercial?   I'm not sure, but that's the genesis of Hoot Kloot.   The adventures of a loudmouthed southern sheriff in a western town.  The animation in most of these cartoons is fairly good, but Depatie-Freleng sub-contracted a few Hoot Kloot cartoons to other studios outside of the US.   The quality went 'way down.

Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har:  Another cartoon series from Hanna Barbera.  This was a cartoon series based on those great comedy teams of the past, such as Laurel and Hardy.  Only these cartoons weren't funny. 
Spunky and Tadpole:  I've never watched an episode, so I didn't feel qualified to judge.
The Chipettes, from Alvin and the Chipmunks:   Boy, they were lucky they didn't star in a series...   They would've been on this list quicker than cheese on a cheeseburger.
Scrappy Doo:  Looking back, I should've put him on the list.   Darn again!

Thanks, everyone, for patronizing me through this list!   I'll end this thing be posting the opening to a cartoon show from Filmation that was so bad, so utterly dismal that after it aired, ABC cut all ties with Filmation and would not buy another series from them.  I speak, of course, of the infamous Uncle Croc's Block, which I actually remember watching when it premiered in 1975.  I remember standing there stupefied and what was blaring from the TV.   Meant to be a satire of children's cartoon shows of the 1950's the whole thing just came off as a mess.   The cartoon segments , M*U*S*H (a parody of M*A*S*H), Wacky and Packy, and Waldo Kitty were also nothing to be proud of.   Shield your eyes one last time as you watch Uncle Croc's Block...

The Ten Worst Cartoon Characters of all Time - Number 8

We're now at number eight in our listing of the ten worst cartoon characters of all time.   I've received a few emails and messages giving me your suggestions for worst cartoon character, so now may be a good time to post one of the rules I just made up for this little venture.   To qualify as Worst Cartoon Character, the cartoon character must actually star in a series of cartoons.  So this leaves out sidekicks and supporting characters.   As annoying as The Great Gazoo might be, he does not qualify.   Neither do characters from full-length animated films.  You need to appear is a series of films to qualify   More rules may be posted as I think them up.

Now, onto my choice for the number eight Worst Cartoon Character of all Time:

10. Baby Huey
9.  Squiddly Diddly
8.  Buzzy, the Funny Crow

It's pretty sad when you have to have "funny" as part of your billing so that audiences will understand that you are supposed to be funny.  Buzzy the Crow starred in a series of cartoons for Paramount / Famous studios, the studio that brought senseless cartoon violence to a peak.  Buzzy was not only pointless and violent but he was also offensive to boot.   His voice, an imitation of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, has been pointed out as an example of black stereotypes in cartoons.   In recent years, his voice has been dubbed over to remove the black dialect.   

A Buzzy Book

Every Buzzy cartoon follows the same format:  the dumb cat (usually Katnip) has some ailment or habit that he needs to kick.  It could be smoking, baldness, hiccups, insomnia - all of these were tastefully dealt with in a Buzzy cartoon.  The cat researches a cure and finds that every book recommends eating fresh crow meat to remedy his condition (does the FDA know about this?).  So, the cat will try and catch Buzzy, who then offers the cat his own home remedy in exchange for his life.  Violence ensues.  And as i mentioned in my previous post about Baby Huey, there was nothing subtle or sophisticated about the violence in a Paramount cartoon.  The biggest problem with these cartoons is that your sympathy is on the wrong character from the start of the film.  You feel for the cat, so all the violence that befalls him makes you hate that darn bird all the more.

Buzzy began his screen life in 1947 and made several films through the late 40's and early 50's.   He was eventually features on merchandise and in the Harvey comic books as a back feature. 

Here is an example of a typical Buzzy Cartoon.   Black Stereotypes, smoking and violence,,,  Yeah, I doubt you'll see this one on TV anytime soon.  It also has a gimmicky ending that had been cut from TV prints, now re-introduced for your enjoyment (I use the term loosely).