Line #6 WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yosemitesam.jpg]]
2
3	-> "''OOOOOHHHH, AHHH HATE THAT RABBIT!!!''"
4
5	Yosemite Sam is a cartoon character starring in ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. Having an intense hatred towards rabbits, he is another ArchEnemy of WesternAnimation/BugsBunny.
6
7	Yosemite Sam was introduced in 1945 by Creator/FrizFreleng as a less sympathetic enemy for Bugs Bunny than the rather mellow and well-mannered WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd. As an aggressive jerk with a fondness for shootin', Sam gives Bugs moral license to unleash his KarmicTrickster on him without losing any audience sympathy. Sam was one of the rare characters to see exclusive use by only one of the Termite Terrace directors -- his creator, Freleng (save for ''Dumb Patrol'', which was directed by Freleng's longtime animator, Gerry Chiniquy). He never appeared in any Creator/ChuckJones or Creator/RobertMcKimson cartoons, with three exceptions: ''Hare-abian Nights'', a ClipShow from 1959 directed by Ken Harris (an animator from Jones' unit) featuring archive footage from Freleng shorts, ''Dog Tales'', a spot-gag short from 1958 directed by [=McKimson=] where he appears via reused animation from ''Piker's Peak'', and ''From Hare to Eternity'', a short from 1996 directed by Jones as a tribute to the then-recently deceased Freleng.
8
9	Sam has been used either as a prospector, outlaw, pirate, cowboy, {{black knight}}, prison guard etc., depending on the cartoon, sometimes with a different alias if the setting isn't based on Western. At heart, he stays a (usually gunslinging) cowboy, anyway.
10
11	Chuck Jones had a great-uncle who used to stay with his family sometimes; he was a retired Texas Ranger, short, redheaded, with a huge mustache and a hair-trigger temper, and generally thought to be the model of Sam. Others, however, say he was based on his own creator Creator/FrizFreleng, himself a short, mustachioed man with a large nose and (according to his daughter) a very bad temper.
12
13	[[folder: Filmography]]
14	!1940s
15	* ''Hare Trigger'' (1945): Debut.
16	* ''WesternAnimation/AlongCameDaffy'' (1947): As a recolored [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute starving hermit]]; first pairing with WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck.
17	* ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunnyRidesAgain'' (1948)
18	* ''WesternAnimation/BuccaneerBunny'' (1948)
19	* ''WesternAnimation/HighDivingHare'' (1949)
20	!1950s
21	* ''Mutiny on the Bunny'' (1950)
22	* ''WesternAnimation/BigHouseBunny'' (1950)
23	* ''Bunker Hill Bunny'' (1950)
24	* ''WesternAnimation/RabbitEveryMonday'' (1951)
25	* ''The Fair Haired Hare'' (1951)
26	* ''WesternAnimation/BallotBoxBunny'' (1951)
27	* ''WesternAnimation/FourteenCarrotRabbit'' (1952)
28	* ''WesternAnimation/HareLift'' (1952)
29	* ''Southern Fried Rabbit'' (1953)
30	* ''WesternAnimation/HareTrimmed'' (1953)
31	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainHareblower'' (1954)
32	* ''WesternAnimation/SaharaHare'' (1955)
33	* ''This is a Life?'' (1955): First pairing with WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd.
34	* ''WesternAnimation/RomanLegionHare'' (1955)
35	* ''WesternAnimation/RabbitsonCrusoe'' (1956)
36	* ''WesternAnimation/AStarIsBored'' (1956)
37	* ''Piker's Peak'' (1957)
38	* ''Dog Tales'' (1958): Only cartoon directed by Creator/RobertMcKimson, via RecycledAnimation from "Piker's Peak".
39	* ''WesternAnimation/KnightyKnightBugs'' (1958): Academy Award winner.
40	* ''Hare-abian Nights'' (1959): Only cartoon directed by Ken Harris.
41	* ''WesternAnimation/WildAndWoollyHare'' (1959)
42	! 1960s
43	* ''Horse Hare'' (1960)
44	* ''WesternAnimation/FromHareToHeir'' (1960)
45	* ''WesternAnimation/LighterThanHare'' (1961)
46	* ''WesternAnimation/HoneysMoney'' (1962): His only solo cartoon.
47	* ''Shishkabugs'' (1962)
48	* ''Devil's Feud Cake'' (1963)
49	* ''WesternAnimation/DumbPatrol'' (1964)
50	* ''Pancho's Hideaway'' (1964): Recolored as [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Pancho Vanilla]].
51	! Post-Golden Age
52	* ''From Hare to Eternity'' (1996): Only cartoon directed by Creator/ChuckJones.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/BlooperBunny'' (1997)
54	* ''WesternAnimation/HareAndLoathingInLasVegas'' (2004)
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	!!"BEFORE ANY OF YOU START GITTIN' ANY IDEE-ERS, YA BETTER KNOW WHO YOU'RE TROPIN' WITH!":
58	* AdaptationalHeroism:
59	** In ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', where he's no longer such a jerkass and obeys the laws about not firing off his guns at random. According to his musical "Blow My Stack", he's taken several jobs to try and keep his temper under control, but he's just not able to hold himself back.
60	** In 2017 DC Comics published a series of one-off {{Crossover}} comics featuring the Looney Tunes cast interacting with DC characters. Yosemite Sam was paired off with ComicBook/JonahHex and in their comic he is depicted as a ''far'' more heroic character than in the original cartoons -- still hot-tempered and pistol-packing, but an honest prospector, loyal friend and even a bit of a HeartbrokenBadass whose wife had passed away.
61	* AmbiguouslyJewish: In ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', his last name is revealed to be Rosenbaum. Perhaps his nickname, Yo'''semite''' Sam, was a clue all along. Also worth noting that his [[Creator/FrizFreleng creator]] and [[Creator/MelBlanc original voice actor]] were both Jewish.
62	* {{Angrish}}: "Raggar fraggar friggin frazzer" is one of his catchphrases. He turns it up to eleven in ''WesternAnimation/FromHareToHeir''.
63	* ArchEnemy: Bugs Bunny is this to him, though when it comes to Bugs himself, Sam shares that spot with Elmer Fudd.
64	* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat:
65	** ''Bunker Hill Bunny'': Yosemite Sam charges towards Bugs Bunny's fortress... only to run inside a huge cannon. As soon as he realizes this, he screams "Retreat!". Doubles as an OhCrap moment.
66	** The same thing happens in ''Captain Hareblower'', in which, with a cry of "Charge!", Sam tries to board Bugs' ship, only to swing right into a cannon, after which he again screams "Retreat!"
67	** In both cases, it's all in vain, as Sam doesn't get out in time before the cannon fires him out.
68	* BadassBoast: At the start of almost every cartoon he's in.
69	* BadBoss: He is sometimes shown to be this he is shown beating or shooting his men for their failures. In one short sounds of beating and shooting come from his ship, and a man covered in bruises and tattered clothes runs out of the ship, telling the audience "I was a human being once".
70	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: He has a habit of abusing the animals he works with whenever they disobey him, which makes it even easier to root against him. The victims of his wrath include an elephant, a lion, a mule, a camel and even a dragon.
71	* {{Bandito}}: The Mexican bandito 'Pancho Vanilla' in the WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales short ''Pancho's Hideaway'' is basically just Sam with brown hair.
72	* BlackKnight: His role in the ''WesternAnimation/KnightyKnightBugs'' short, where he also rides a dragon.
73	* BottomlessMagazines: He can fire round after round out of a six-shooter without reloading, and never run out of bullets.
74	* CharacterCatchphrase:
75	** "I hates rabbits." / "I hate that rabbit!"
76	** "Great horny toads!"
77	** "[[RageBreakingPoint OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!]]"
78	** "Ya mule!" whenever he's riding an animal.
79	* TheChewToy: Being one of Bugs's enemies, his defeats are PlayedForLaughs. In fact, WordOfGod states that he was created specifically to one up Elmer Fudd in this role, as many viewers felt that Fudd was UnintentionallySympathetic.
80	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: A number of times he has offered Bugs an "alliance", but always quickly reneges as soon as he thinks Bugs' usefulness to him is at an end. It always backfires on him.
81	* ADayInTheLimelight: ''WesternAnimation/HoneysMoney'', the only short to feature Sam as the main protagonist and not contain any other Looney Tunes characters.
82	* DealWithTheDevil: Quite literally in ''Devil's Feud Cake'', as well as "Satan's Waitin'", an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBugsBunnyShow''. In both cases, Sam is killed and sent to Hell and has to deliver Bugs in order to stay on Earth. His efforts are presented through StockFootage.
83	* {{Determinator}}: He is capable of facing some of the biggest repeated defeats in his shorts and he always comes back for more.
84	* DidntThinkThisThrough: He'll always enact step one of a plan, and after repeated screw ups maybe have a step two, but find himself short of ideas of how to go on from there before everything blows up in his face without fail. In several cases, he's so impulsive that he'll get tunnel vision in the face of what seems like imminent victory only for it to be pulled over on him with LaserGuidedKarma.
85	* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: A Southern sheriff in ''Stage Door Cartoon'' (1944) with the same voice, personality, and look, but without the hair-trigger temper and with a white mustache and eyebrows instead of red, was the prototype for Sam before his true debut in ''Hare Trigger'' (1945).
86	* EvilIsHammy: "I'M THE FASTEST GUN NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, '''AAAANNNNDDD''' WEST OF THE PECOS!"
87	* EvilRedhead: Quite obviously combined with FieryRedhead.
88	* {{Expy}}:
89	** The Creator/DePatieFrelengEnterprises short ''Pancho's Hideaway'' features the bandit Pancho Vanilla, in terms of personality, role and design, Pancho's largest differences are his darker facial hair and Mexican accent.
90	** Creator/ChuckJones' ''Mississippi Hare'' has a character named Colonel Shuffle, who's similarly diminutive and hot-tempered but has a white beard and mustache with black eyebrows and talks in a thick Southern accent.
91	** Creator/RobertMcKimson's ''Oily Hare'' has a character named Devil Rich Texan who has the exact same personality and voice, a similar design, and even yells "OOOOOH!" when angered. The biggest differences are that his mustache is black, doesn’t cover his entire face, and he lacks a mask around his eyes.
92	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: When he, hunting for Bugs in ''Rabbit Every Monday'', catches an audience member excusing himself out of the theater and intimidates the man with his shotgun to sit down.
93	-->'''Sam:''' The first one is tries to get out of here to warn that rabbit gets his hide blown off! ''[turns towards the viewers] ''[[BreakingTheFourthWall And that goes for the rest of ya!]]
94	* FiringInTheAirALot: Sam will enter the scene shooting every which way, including propelling himself up in the air by firing down.
95	* FreudianExcuse: In a crossover comic, he tells Jonah Hex his hot temper is the result of being picked on for his short size.
96	* GracefulLoser: In ''Bunker Hill Bunny'', after being soundly defeated by Bugs, he admits he's a "Hessian without no aggression" and decides to defect to Bugs' side in the end.
97	* TheGunslinger: Sam is most commonly a trigger-happy gunslinger.
98	* HairTriggerTemper: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MYiIYBzrsc&list=PLFPBJZerHfE6WfVvdco9ucjM_s92Dd7G5&index=3 "Blow My Stack"]], his first musical number, in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' revolves around his temper. The 1960 short ''From Hare to Heir'' has Bugs exploit Yosemite's problems with anger management by deducting from his 1 million pound inheritance for each time he is observed (or even rumored to be) losing his temper (of course, [[TricksterMentor with Bugs aggravating him at every turn)]].
99	* HenpeckedHusband: He accidentally turns out to be one to a wealthy shrew in ''Honey's Money''. He ultimately decides the money [[WorthIt is worth the abuse]].
100	* HiddenDepths: In ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', where he admits to having worked at a library, is implied to practice meditation to try and control his temper, and attends Anger Management classes. At the end of ''You Got Hate Mail'', before angrily kicking out a book club, he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeWP8_vBZdg gives them a very accurate summary]] as to why their new novel's protagonist fails to be a meaningful character.
101	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: ''WesternAnimation/FromHareToHeir'' is a double whammy for him. Sawing through the ground right in front of the upstairs bathroom, covering the gap with a rug... WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong
102	* IdiotBall:
103	** Yosemite Sam digging for "buried treasure" on bottom of a ship... "What a maroon!".
104	** ''Mutiny on the Bunny'' is only the tip of the iceberg.
105	** Yelling loudly and shooting a gun right below a large avalanche-prone snow mass in "Piker's Peak".
106	* IHaveManyNames: Shanghai Sam, Sam von Schmamm, Riff-Raff Sam, Sam Schultz, [[AmbiguouslyJewish Samuel Rosenbaum]], etc.
107	* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Ironically offered as little a challenge to Bugs as Elmer at times. While designed to be a case downplayed from Elmer Fudd, his zeal and abuse still makes him somewhat pitiful.
108	* {{Jerkass}}: Created for the purpose of being more belligerent than Elmer, giving Bugs a more menacing opponent (or at the very least a palpable AssholeVictim) he could look heroic against.
109	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: There are times that he gives up against Bugs and waves the white flag, or begs Bugs to just get out of his life, or "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
110	* LargeHam: Practically all of his dialogue can be presented in all caps.
111	* TheNapoleon: Initially lots of jokes were about his height, and he sure is irascible.
112	* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: Never seems to have the same profession twice. He's not even a cowboy half the time.
113	* NoIndoorVoice: His major trademark. His yelling-to-regular-talking ratio is probably in the 3:1 range.
114	* OhCrap: He flashes this expression a lot when finding himself at the losing end of his latest confrontation with Bugs.
115	** In ''WesternAnimation/RomanLegionHare'', after bonking a lion over the head with a club for roaring at him, when the lion roars at him again after Bugs opens his cage, Sam begins hitting him over the head with the club again, until he realizes the cage is open.
116	--->'''Sam:''' How many times do I have to tell... ''[slowly realizes the cage is open]'' you... to... ''[stops hitting the lion with a ThisIsGonnaSuck face]'' shut... up?
117	** At the end of ''WesternAnimation/HareLift'', he bails out of a crashing plane with his bank-robbery loot and the last parachute.
118	--->"[[SoLongSuckers So long, sucker!]] Ah, ha, hah, hah, hah! Ah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Ah, hah... ''[Notices he's about to land [[FallingIntoJail right in an open-topped police car]] filled with officers.]'' Ah huh... Uh uh... ''[Lands]'' oooh!"
119	* {{Pirate}}: Apart from being a gunslinger, Sam's second most common role is that of a buccaneer.
120	** In fact, [[DubNameChange in the Francophone world]] he's known as Sam le pirate (Sam the pirate).
121	* PrehensileHair: Yosemite Sam sports a huge muttonchop mustache, along with a smaller beard. He even has a musical in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' where it ''sings to him'' about being his lifelong friend and persuading him to never shave it. In the song, it punches out WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck for laughing at Sam getting knocked down. [[BeardedBaby In the same show, it's revealed he's had it since he was a baby.]]
122	* PsychopathicManchild: Has the stature and temperament of a child, but packs heat (and a mighty fine 'stache, to boot).
123	* PushyGunTotingVillain: One of the ur-examples in western animation. He almost always threatened to shoot Bugs if he did not followed his orders or tried to do anything funny (of course, Bugs being Bugs, he always did and Sam got some painfully comedic retribution).
124	* RecycledInSpace: Has appeared in almost every stock villain role throughout his run, albeit always maintaining his bandit mask and western dialect. It literally happens in ''Lighter Than Hare''.
125	* RoguesGalleryTransplant: He and a black-haired lookalike brother are pitted against WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck in ''WesternAnimation/AlongCameDaffy''.
126	* SignatureHeadgear: A very large, light-colored cowboy hat.
127	* TriggerHappy: Sam is a FieryRedhead with no manners, no patience, and loves to draw his two six-guns as a universal solution to any problem. Sam will even fire off his guns into the air when he's in a rare good mood, such as cheering for Fearless Freep in ''High Diving Hare''.
128	* VilerNewVillain: Introduced as a worse antagonist compared to Elmer Fudd and thus deserving of the KarmicTrickster, being intentionally belligerent and a total {{Jerkass}}. It worked with varying degrees, though he's almost always written as viler than Elmer.
129	* VillainDecay: While Sam was always a bumbler to some degree, he originally existed as a counter opposite to Elmer Fudd; a persistently evil and violent antagonist that could keep Bugs on his toes. As years passed, while his obnoxious streak remained, he became even easier to dupe than Elmer.
130	* VillainyFreeVillain: Though normally a true villain, in ''Big House Bunny'', he's a police officer who thinks Bugs Bunny is a prisoner trying to escape when Bugs had only ended up there trying to escape hunters.
131	* VocalDissonance: He speaks with a comically exaggerated Texas drawl, yet he's named for a national park in California.
132	* TheVonTropeFamily: In two separate cartoons, Sam plays a German soldier aiding an enemy cause, both with a different name with the word "von" in it. In one, ''Bunker Hill Bunny'', set during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, Sam plays a Hessian named Sam von Schmamm. In the other, ''WesternAnimation/DumbPatrol'', set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he plays a German pilot named Baron Sam Von Shpamm.
133	* WorthIt: Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/HoneysMoney'' (see its own entry); subverted in ''WesternAnimation/HareTrimmed'' (when he beats a hasty retreat at the altar). Curiously, the former involved a $5 million inheritance and the latter was $50 million.
134	* WorthyOpponent: Created as a more formidable villain compared to Elmer, [[VillainDecay it didn't ''quite'' last, however]].
135	* WouldHurtAChild: In ''WesternAnimation/HoneysMoney'', he tries to get 7-year-old Wentworth killed, or at least injured out of commission by tricking him into grabbing a ball from the street and releasing alligators into a pool before he gets in.
136	----
137	->''[[TheStinger Ooooooh! I hate that trope!]]''

Context WesternAnimation / YosemiteSam