Where To Watch
Road rage inspired Mel Blanc's voice for Yosemite Sam
The secret to a perfect Yosemite Sam impression is screaming!
Have you ever been stuck in traffic and wanted to scream at the top of your lungs? Maybe you've gotten cut off and felt compelled to scream something like "Watch where you're going, you crazy galoot!" or "Say your prayers, varmint!" Of course you have, everyone has, including Mel Blanc! The Man of a Thousand Voices turned a moment of road rage into a stroke of genius, inspiring his performance for one of his greatest characters, Yosemite Sam.
Yosemite Sam was developed because Elmer Fudd was not challenging enough for Bugs Bunny. Audiences liked Elmer, but Bugs was running circles around him, and it was beginning to feel a little pathetic. Director Friz Freleng set about creating a new feisty, ornery character who could provide more of a fair fight for Bugs.
Mel Blanc recalled seeing Freleng's sketches in his book That's Not All, Folks!,
"When Friz first showed me the rough sketches, I had to laugh, for Sam was ridiculous looking: not much more than an oversized cowboy hat roosting atop eyes that peered out from under bushy eyebrows; a bulbous nose; and a droopy, flaming-red mustache that would take hedge shears to trim."
Blanc also noticed that Yosemite Sam appeared to be a caricature of his creator, Friz Freleng, who also was short and had a "hare"-trigger temper. So, Blanc began developing the voice so that Yosemite Sam wouldn't sound exactly like Freleng.
"I originally bestowed the truncated desperado with a mild Western drawl, but neither the director nor I were pleased with it," Blanc wrote, "Practicing the voice while tooling down Santa Monica Boulevard one day, I was cut off by another driver and yelled at him with all the volume I could muster. It occurred to me, 'That's what Sam should sound like!' Volume was just the ticket".
With the voice secured, they began making Yosemite Sam Looney Tunes. Suddenly, Sam was very popular, not just with Bugs but with other characters like Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales. But, over time, screaming his way through recording sessions began to take a toll on Blanc.
"Yosemite's vociferousness makes his the toughest voice for me to perform. Imagine screaming at the top of your lungs for an hour and a half, and you have an idea of what it's like." Despite having a wildly strong throat and rarely succumbing to sore throats, Blanc would grow hoarse after voicing Yosemite Sam. Freleng and Blanc came up with a practical solution: recording Yosemite Sam's lines last. Even with this solution, Blanc admitted: "Ornery hombre Yosemite Sam is the hardest character for me to voice."
