Witch Hazel

Witch Hazel is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons and TV shows. Witch Hazel is a fairy tale witch antagonist with green skin, a round figure, bulbous facial features, and a single tooth. The name is a pun on the witch-hazel plant and folk remedies based on it. Created by Chuck Jones during the golden age of American animation, the character was originally voiced by Bea Benaderet in 1954's Bewitched Bunny. Benaderet would later be replaced by June Foray, who voiced the character almost exclusively beginning with 1956's Broom-Stick Bunny and concluding with 2002's Twick or Tweety. Tress MacNeille would briefly voice Witch Hazel from 1992 to 1994 for episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. After Foray's departure from the role, the character was voiced by Roz Ryan from 2011 to 2013 for The Looney Tunes Show (as Witch Lezah) and by Candi Milo from 2017 onward. Concept and creation Different characters of the same name appeared in several studios' short films throughout the golden age of American animation: the first was in the Disney cartoon Trick or Treat (1952), voiced by June Foray. Inspired by this character, Chuck Jones created his own witch for Warner Bros., reusing the same pun. Jones could do this because the name was already in use in commercial products; Foray said that the characters were also not expected to have any longevity. In her initial appearance, Bewitched Bunny (1954), she is voiced by Bea Benaderet. Starting with Broom-Stick Bunny (1956), Foray took over voicing the character. To differentiate the characters, Foray said that she performed the Disney version with a British accent, but the Warner Bros. version was "all American". Despite their common name, Jones' Witch Hazel is a much different witch from her Disney counterpart. The Looney Tunes character is a highly stylized villainess. Her rotund, green-skinned body is wrapped in a plain, blue dress and supported by twig-like legs. She has wild black hair from which hairpins fly and spin in midair whenever she zooms off on her broom or cackles in glee over her next evil scheme and she wears a crumpled black hat. Her nose and chin jut bulbously from her face and her mouth sports a single tooth. She has two pets: a tarantula named Paul, and a black cat. She also has two magic brooms: one for sweeping the floor and one for flying.