The 25 Most asked Questions to Animation Aficionados Everywhere Part 2 (6-10

These are all quoted from Jerry Beck and Mark Evanier's FAQ pages on their websites (Cartoon Research and News from Me). These are all of the quoted selections. The rest following this post are not quoted (but are suggested). 

6.  Why was Popeye’s Enemy called Bluto in Some Cartoons and Brutus in Others?

I’m going to quote Mark Evanier’s blog on this one:

“Popeye was created in a newspaper strip for King Features Syndicate called Thimble Theatre, written and drawn by Elzie Segar.  The sailor eventually took over the strip and it was renamed in his honor.

When the folks at the Max Fleischer studio licensed the right to make cartoons of the sailor, they decided to use Bluto, a villain in a then-recent (1932) newspaper strip sequence, as Popeye's nemesis.  Segar had only intended Bluto to be a one-shot antagonist but the bearded brute wound up appearing in most of the cartoons produced by Fleischer and later by Paramount Studios.  Because he was such a part of the cartoons, he became an intrinsic part of the Popeye comic books and the newspaper strip, as done by those who took over after Segar's death.

When Paramount stopped making the cartoons, the animation rights reverted to King Features.  In the early sixties, King Features decided to produce their own low-budget Popeye cartoons for television.  The way the old contract had been structured, they had the rights to anything that had appeared initially in the newspaper strip but not to any characters created by the Fleischer or Paramount operations.

Because Bluto had not appeared much in the Segar strips, someone at King Features made the mistake of thinking Bluto had first appeared in the cartoons and therefore could not be used in their new films.  As a replacement, they designed a new, similar villain and called him Brutus.  Jackson Beck, who had been the main voice of Bluto for Fleischer/Paramount, was engaged to provide the same voice for Brutus.

So that's why Brutus was in the TV cartoons in lieu of Bluto.  In the newspaper strip and comic books, Bud Sagendorf — Segar's assistant and main successor — kept drawing the same villain he'd previously called Bluto but started calling him Brutus.

Since then, they've largely reverted to the Bluto name…but every so often, he's called Brutus.  As for the character's look: There was one model for Brutus but Bluto went through several redesigns.  Nowadays on merchandise, any of these versions is likely to turn up and there are times when it appears the artist is trying to split the difference and do an amalgam.  So it's no wonder you're confused.”

7.       Since Mel Blanc passed away, doesn't his son do the voice of Bugs Bunny and his other characters?  And if not, why not? (Directly quoted from Mark Evanier’s News from Me Webpage)

Again Mark says it better:

Mel was amazing.  To "replace" him, it's required a whole squadron of voice actors including Greg Burson, Jeff Bergman, Billy West, Joe Alaskey, Bob Bergen, Maurice LaMarche, Mindy Segal, Neil Ross, Frank Welker, Frank Gorshin, Bill Farmer and at least ten others.  Some of these gents are the frequent voices of certain characters — Porky Pig is usually done by Bergen, Daffy by Alaskey, etc. — but no one seems to have an absolute exclusive on any role.  This is partly because various folks at Warner Brothers disagree on which actor does the best Bugs, who sounds most like Foghorn, and so on.  It is also because, by always having a large talent pool from which to pick, it prevents any one voice actor from demanding massive sums of cash…as Mel often did in his last decade or two.

In interviews he gave late in life, Mel sometimes said that his son Noel would take over his roles someday…and Noel reportedly did some small parts even while Mel was still with us.  Noel Blanc has also done a few roles here and there in the years since, usually as Tweety or Porky.  However, he is quite successful in other lines of work and apparently uninterested in spending his days locked in a recording studio.  So, by mutual agreement, others usually do Bugs and Friends.

8.       What is the Difference Between a Looney Tunes and a Merrie Melodies Cartoon (Quoted Directly from Jerry Beck’s Cartoon Research)?

After the 1944 releases: nothing. Before that, there was a difference.

First Looney Tunes were established to be the showcase of Warner Bros. latest “star” character – at various times “Bosko” (1930-1933), “Buddy” (1933-1935), “Beans” (1936) and finally “Porky Pig” or “Daffy Duck” (1936-1943). One-shot no-star Looney Tunes were made, but they are rare. The Merrie Melodies were established to feature one-shot characters and miscellaneous stories and settings, particularly themed around a Warner Bros. owned song. In 1934 the studio began producing Merrie Melodies in color while the Looney Tunes remained in black & white. By 1940, stars Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Sniffles and Daffy Duck were regularly appearing in Merrie Melodies. In 1944 the Looney Tunes switched to color and the distinctions between the two series officially ended.

9.       What are the Names of the Two Polite Gophers? (Quoted from Cartoon Research)

They were usually billed as “The Goofy Gophers”. Later, on The Bugs Bunny Show (ABC, 1960) they were named “Mac & Tosh”.

10.       What Is the Name of Mighty Mouse’s Girlfriend? (Quoted from Cartoon Research)

The girlfriend in the operetta Terrytoons, Filmation TV cartoons or the Bakshi series was Pearl Pureheart. In the comic books her name was Mitzi.