Bluebeard

Bluebeard
Species	Wolf
Gender	Male
Occupation	Serial killer
First appearance	MM: Bye, Bye Bluebeard (1949)
Played by	Mel Blanc

Bluebeard is a serial killer and antagonist who appears in the Merrie Melodies short, Bye, Bye Bluebeard. He is voiced by Mel Blanc.

Character description

Bluebeard is an anthropomorphic wolf, whose key characteristic is a long, blue beard, and dark clothing consisting of a coat and hat. He is described by a radio announcer for being 6' feet and 11" inches (2.11 meters). He is a Russian-accented killer who feasts on murdering his victims, in addition to having an insatiable hunger for all sorts of food.

Appearances

Shorts

• Merrie Melodies
  • Bye Bye Bluebeard

Comics

• Looney Tunes (DC Comics)
  • Issue 262: "Stupor Duped" (no lines)

Biography

A Cold Case

Bluebeard was first seen hiding in Porky Pig's house, when the latter hears about a radio announcement that he had been on the loose. Bluebeard immediately straps Porky to a rocket before proceeding to eat his food, but then spots a mouse disguising as him. While attempting to eat the mouse in the middle of the chase, Porky manages to stop the rocket's fuse and Bluebeard, deciding to ignore the mouse, instead puts him on a guillotine.

Just as Bluebeard was about to execute Porky, the mouse decides to help Porky by tricking the murderer into eating some bombs, which he mistakes for popovers. Bluebeard, noticing the smoke emitting from his mouth, frantically goes over the bathroom to mix various medicines, but just as he was about to ingest his concoction, the bombs set off an explosion that immediately kill him.

Bluebeard in the Funny Pages

In the story for DC Comics' Looney Tunes #262, "Stupor Duped", Bluebeard appears robbing a bank along with Slug McSlug, Rocky and Mugsy, but ended up leaving when Stupor Duck arrived at the scene to "hand in" the stolen money.

Behind the scenes

• Bluebeard originates from the French folktale of the same name, of which the earliest surviving version was written by Charles Perrault in 1697. In that tale, Bluebeard was a wealthy nobleman with the habit of murdering his wives.
• His death in Bye Bye Bluebeard marks a rare example of a Warner Bros. short in which a character passes away without a comic postscript (e.g., reappearing as an angel or a ghost).