Heckle and Jeckle
| Heckle and Jeckle | |
|---|---|
| Terrytoons character | |
 | |
| First appearance | The Talking Magpies |
| Created by | Paul Terry |
| Voiced by | Dayton Allen Sid Raymond Roy Halee Ned Sparks Frank Welker |
| Species | Magpie |
| Gender | Male |
Heckle and Jeckle are cartoon characters created by Paul Terry, and released by his own studio, Terrytoons for 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical magpies who calmly outwitted their foes in the manner of Bugs Bunny, while maintaining a mischievous streak reminiscent of Woody Woodpecker. However, in a number (perhaps most) of their cartoons (Moose On The Loose, Free Enterprise, The Power of Thought, Hula Hula land) their foes win in the end. Their names were inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's famous novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.[citation needed]
Who's Who?
One magpie spoke with an English accent, while the other spoke with a New York dialect. Heckle often refers to Jeckle simply as 'chum' or 'pal', indicating a close friendship between them. Although there seemed to be a great deal of uncertainty as to which was which, in the short Bulldozing The Bulls, they clearly refer to each other by name, with the Brooklyn accent belonging to Heckle and the English accent belonging to Jeckle. In the later short Stunt Men, Jeckle, in an English accent, calls Heckle by name again. Furthermore, in the cartoon Rival Romeos, the magpies, after being simultaneously smitten by the same female, run home to get dressed. They are shown to occupy two sides of the same tree, and each character's home is marked with a sign—Heckle is clearly designated as the Brooklyn magpie with his jaunty hat, and Jeckle dons an English-looking bowtie and monocle. While they usually referred to each other by such names as Old Featherhead, these episodes clearly give the names to the accents. Both characters were voiced at different times by Dayton Allen, Sid Raymond, Roy Halee, Ned Sparks and Frank Welker.[1][2] In 1979's The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle, the birds introduced themselves by name in the opening credits; Heckle had the Brooklyn accent, and Jeckle the English one.
Characteristics
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Heckle is slightly more cynical than Jeckle. Both of them treat their mutual enemies with threats and rudeness, but Heckle will usually make his intentions clear from the outset, while Jeckle will (at first) treat enemies politely in order to lull them into a false sense of security before unleashing magpie mayhem. In the short Blind Date, Heckle is able to forcibly disguise the unwilling Jeckle as a girl, indicating that Heckle is physically stronger than Jeckle. In The Power of Thought, it is Jeckle who realizes the unlimited possibilities of being a cartoon character, although Heckle is quick enough to go along when this is pointed out to him.
The first Heckle and Jeckle cartoon premiered in 1946, the last in 1966. Their premiere short was entitled The Talking Magpies, which cast the duo as a husband and wife looking for a new home.
New Heckle and Jeckle productions ceased in 1966. They then reappeared 1979 in their own segment of Filmation's The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle.
Comic books
Heckle and Jeckle had their own comic book title for several years.
- St. John Publications, #1–24 (1951–55)
- Pines Comics, #25–34 (1956–59)
Popular culture
- Heckle and Jeckle made an unexplained appearance in Homer's vision of his funeral in The Simpsons episode "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace".
- Heckle and Jeckle make a cameo appearance along with the crows from Dumbo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit as some of the members of Jessica Rabbit's backup band during her performance at the "Ink n' Paint" club.
- Heckle and Jeckle appear in the ancillary cast in Ralph Bakshi's 1987 Mighty Mouse cartoon Mighty's Wedlock Whimsy.
- In "Mr. Monk and the Candidate", the first episode of the USA detective series Monk, Monk and Sharona have codenames Heckle and Jeckle on a stakeout. In "Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame", the famous baseball player refers to his bodyguards as "Heckle and Jeckle".
- A Heckle and Jeckle comic is seen in Justin Green's comic Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary.
- The song "Big Pink Heart" by Nothing Painted Blue has the repeated line, "Heckle and Jeckle had the right idea".
- In the film Alphaville by Jean-Luc Godard, a pair of characters are named Professors Eckel and Jeckel.
- In the episode of The Golden Girls "The Heart Attack," Sophia refers to Rose and Blanche as Heckle and Jeckle.
- In the last scene of Kill Bill Vol2, Beatrix's daughter B.B. is watching "The Talking Magpies" in the hotel room.
- In Coffee and Cigarettes, by Jim Jarmusch, Joie and Cinque Lee are called Heckle and Jeckle by Steve Buscemi
"Heckle and Jeckle" is frequently mentioned on "Laverne and Shirley" because it is Lenny and Squiggy's favorite show.
References
- ^ ""The Heckle and Jeckle Show"". Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ "Cartoon voice, actor Sid Raymond dead". CNN / AP. 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2006-12-15.