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Marvin the Martian crash-landed on our planet sixty-one years ago tomorrow. Maybe he’s your favorite and maybe he’s not (I would be in the latter category), but there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most beloved Looney Toons characters to many fans. Happy almost-birthday, Marvin, and please wait to destroy Earth until I’m no longer on it.
1. Marvin was invented because Bugs Bunny had already outwitted a loud, obnoxious blowhard whose follow-through wasn’t that great: Yosemite Sam. Animator Chuck Jones decided that what Bugs needed was a foil who was just the opposite of the red-headed hillbilly: quiet and soft-spoken, but super destructive.
2. Marvin’s debut on July 24, 1948, was in the animated short Haredevil Hare. Bugs is chosen to explore space, and when he gets to the moon, he discovers this strange little creature plotting to blow up the earth. At this point, Marvin didn’t have a name – or at least, we didn’t know it. See for yourself, and take note of how different Marvin’s voice is – Mel Blanc changed it after this appearance.
3. Marvin’s uniform is based on the uniform of Mars, the Roman god of war. You can see the resemblance, right? But instead of the impressive feather plume on top of the helmet that the god is often depicted wearing, poor Marvin has to make do with the head of a push-broom. No wonder he has such a complex!
4. He has a girlfriend – or at least, there’s a female Martian he wishes was his girlfriend. Her name is Queen Tyr’ahnee, and alas, she doesn’t love poor Marvin – her heart belongs to Duck Dodgers. She’s voiced by Tia Carrere.
5. He also has a dog, which you already know if you watched the whole Haredevil Hare video. He goes by the clever name K-9, and if he looks suspiciously like Pluto who has eaten some bad potato salad, that’s because he is rumored to be based on the famous Disney dog.
6. Trying to destroy Earth runs in the family, because on Tiny Toon Adventures, Marvin’s niece Marcia serves as his apprentice. Duck Dodgers shows up to battle Marvin, of course, and brings along Plucky Duck as his own little sidekick. By the end of the episode, though, Marcia and Plucky get sick of their elder counterparts fighting over the universe and run off to play.
7. Marvin has some unexpected fans – Ludacris among them. In his song “Mouthing Off,” Luda says, “Yo, I am goin’ to blow up the Earth with my ‘pew-36 explosive space modulator,” which is a reference to Marvin’s weapon of choice. T-Pain name drops the whole thing in “Time Machine”: “Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator, Goin’ on a trip I be back home, boy I’ll see you later.”
8. NASA seems to appreciate Marvin, even if he is rather obsessed with destroying our planet: his likeness has appeared on both the Spirit and
Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers.
9. If you’re a fan of destructive little dude, you’re in luck – the WB announced last year that they are working on a full-length film about Marvin’s attempts to make Earth go kaboom during the Christmas season. Sounds suspiciously like How the Grinch Stole Christmas to me, but something tells me Marvin may not be persuaded to love the Earth quite as easily as the Grinch switched over to the Who side. He has been trying to get rid of us for more than two millennia now…
10. Speaking of which, have you ever wondered exactly why Marvin is so hell-bent on blowing up or otherwise destroying the Earth? In case you’ve never caught it in one of the cartoons, the answer is that Earth blocks Marvin’s view of Venus.
Is Marvin one of your favorite Looney Toons characters? If not, who is? I think you all know that I would take Disney over Looney Toons any day, but I do have a certain affinity for Gossamer and Wile E. Coyote.
Comments (33)
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My favorite has always been Tweety Bird. I had a total obsession with him when I was in the 3rd and 4th grade. Everything you can imagine that had Tweety Bird’s face on it, I had. I even have a teething ring that has Baby Tweety on it so that I can give it to my baby someday.
posted by Colene on 7-23-2009 at 3:45 pm
I can’t believe anyone would take Disney over Looney Toons, but I digress. My favorite would have to be Sylvester.
posted by Brian on 7-23-2009 at 4:08 pm
In Haredevil Hare, Bugs and Marvin meet on the Moon, not Mars. Marvin’s spaceship says “Mars to Moon Expedition”.
posted by Van on 7-23-2009 at 4:14 pm
How can you possibly prefer Disney over Looney Tunes? That’s like choosing the Three Stooges over the Marx Brothers. Bugs Bunny is still- and will always be- my favorite.Like the Marx brothers, there is always a spirit of anarchy about him.
posted by harold on 7-23-2009 at 4:17 pm
Like Wile E. Coyote and Foghorn Leghorn a lot but Daffy Duck is definitely my favorite.
posted by Greco on 7-23-2009 at 4:25 pm
Claude the nervous cat has to be one of my favorites although Marvin certainly rates near the top.
posted by Mike on 7-23-2009 at 4:40 pm
I’m a Looney Tunes fan to the end. I appreciate Mickey and his crew but Bugs and his crew are my kind of group.
Daffy is my favorite. (I love Marvin as well but I have to go with Daffy)
Chuck Jones once said, “Bugs Bunny is the guy we all want to be. He always has the upper hand and can pull anything out of that Rabbit hole of his. Daffy on the other hand is the guy we all are. “
posted by Nathan on 7-23-2009 at 4:48 pm
I have always enjoyed Speedy Gonzales and his friend Slowpoke Rodríguez.
posted by Paul on 7-23-2009 at 4:58 pm
Definitely Bugs Bunny.
posted by Augustus on 7-23-2009 at 5:14 pm
Pepe LePew has always been a favorite of mine. There’s something to be said of unrequited love.
posted by tambalina on 7-23-2009 at 5:21 pm
Who do you think would win in a fight between Marvin the Martian and Starvin’ Marvin from South Park?
posted by Tamahome Jenkins on 7-23-2009 at 5:42 pm
My favorite – always Daffy Duck. His girlfriend or wife also had a pretty sweet name if I remember correctly.
posted by Daphne on 7-23-2009 at 6:49 pm
Marvin the Martian is the only cartoon character whose voice I can imitate. He’s a fave, but anything Looney Tunes is high on my list.
Recaptcha: adepter ernment. Is that like the X14 Laser Modulay-tor, another of Marvin’s favorite weapons?
posted by MerlinsMom on 7-23-2009 at 7:05 pm
Marvin the Martian has been my favorite Looney Tune since middle school (I’m now in college)! Thank you for posting this list about him!
posted by Megan on 7-24-2009 at 4:35 am
My favorite, surprisingly, is Marvin. My close runners-up would be the Henery Hawk, the “HELLO MY BABY…” frog, tazmanian devil, and the goofy gophers.
posted by Steven on 7-24-2009 at 8:43 am
The Road Runner has always been close to my heart, because he was my (now deceased) grandfather’s favorite cartoon, as has Wile E. Coyote for the obvious reason. My favorite? That’s hard to say. I may have to go with Sylvester on this one.
posted by AmyD on 7-24-2009 at 9:07 am
Stacy, I feel you need back up – I would definitely choose Disney over Loony Toons. On that note, I’ll pitch my vote in for Chip and Dale (cuz really, you can’t have one without the other)
recaptcha: Oriente Foreign
posted by Hastings on 7-24-2009 at 9:34 am
I’m a true dog lover so my favorite is Charlie the dog as well as Spike the bulldog & Lester the terrier. W.E. Coyote is up there as well!
posted by TC on 7-24-2009 at 9:40 am
Marvin Rocks! Second is the Hairy Monster who wears sneakers.
posted by Dave on 7-24-2009 at 10:26 am
I love the singing frog who only sings for his master. I laugh hysterically still and haven’t seen the cartoon in years. I also used to imitate Bugs Bunny doing Gossamer’s hair. That cartoon is just classic.
posted by Tricia on 7-24-2009 at 11:34 am
Daffy wins hands down.
gotta love elmer fudd
\Smell-a-vision replaces television!\
posted by eethec on 7-24-2009 at 11:42 am
Another one for Daffy Duck or early Bugs Bunny when he was still crazy.
“You don’t have to be crazy to do this… But it sure helps!” – Bugs Bunny
posted by Steve M on 7-24-2009 at 12:09 pm
I love Loony Tunes and Disney, but I think you can’t compare the two. The classic Loony Tunes contain a lot of adult humor and classic Disney are mostly kid centered.
If I had to pick I would say I am a fan of the OLD Loony Tunes (anything prior to “Space Jam”, and “Tiny Toons”.) Basically, before they removed the violence from those cartoons. I remember watching one Saturday morning and Daffy walks into a room and back out and his bill is full of holes. They had actually cut the gunshot because it was “too violent”. Ridiculous! My grandparents grew up watching the Loony Tune “violence” and none of them turned out to be axe murderers or anything.
I do have to put in my vote for Daffy Duck. I also have always loved the Honeymooners mice and the three bears. They only had a couple of episodes, but I always loved watching them.
My least favorite would have to be the baby kangaroo. Anybody else with me here? I never could get into them.
posted by bzzyb on 7-24-2009 at 12:25 pm
Love Marvin – I have a big vinyl placemat of Marvin’s face.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 7-24-2009 at 1:05 pm
Its a tie between Marvin the Martian and Pepe Le Pew… I love them both!
posted by Sarah on 7-24-2009 at 2:14 pm
@bzzyb
“My grandparents grew up watching the Loony Tune “violence” and none of them turned out to be axe murderers or anything.” — As far as you know:)
Whenever I think of Marvin the Martian I always think about the scene in Clueless when Tai (Brittany Murphy’s character) meets Travis (Breckin Meyer) and they talk about Marvin in the lunch line. :)
posted by OkieMelissa on 7-24-2009 at 2:20 pm
@ Tricia:
Michigan J Frog.
posted by Andy on 7-24-2009 at 2:56 pm
anyone remember the 3 little pigs who played jazz.
love the quotes :
Dew Drop inn did drop down
and
the big bad wolf finally learned the rules, you gotta get hip if you want to play cool!!
posted by ee the c on 7-24-2009 at 3:06 pm
The Abominal Snow Monster – “I will hug him and love him and call him George”. I had a big thing going for Taz while in highschool and still have alot of stuff with Taz on it.
These days I’ll throw in one of the DVD’s from one of the collections and sit and watch the old classics all day.
posted by Beth on 7-24-2009 at 3:09 pm
@ Beth: I had a pet rabbit that I named George, just because of that line:-).
I think my favorite characters were the 2 sheepdogs(Frank and Ralph?)I don’t know why but the scene where they change shifts and punch their time cards always makes me laugh:-).
posted by Eli on 7-24-2009 at 4:15 pm
@Eli; Most of my stuffed animals are now named George because of that line.
posted by Beth on 7-24-2009 at 10:05 pm
Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator!
posted by Ian on 7-28-2009 at 11:21 am
I was Marvin for Halloween one year. A dad taking his kid around saw me and told his poorly costumed son, “Now that’s a costume!”
posted by az on 7-29-2009 at 1:06 am