Foxy (Merrie Melodies)

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Foxy is an early Warner Bros. cartoon fox created by Rudolf Ising, and he appears in the first three Merrie Melodies cartoons released in 1931. He is notable for looking a lot like Mickey Mouse, a famous character from Disney.

First appeared in Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (1931). This Western-set short shows Foxy falling for a tavern singer who becomes his girlfriend. The next 1931 short, Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!, features Foxy and his unnamed girlfriend on a trolley. The third short, One More Time (1931), is a cops-and-robbers musical; it ends with a crow shooting Foxy after he captures a street gang, leading some to think he died.

Disney asked Ising not to use a character that looked too much like Mickey, so Foxy was replaced by Piggy in the following Merrie Melodies cartoons. At the end of each Foxy short, he sneaks behind a bass drum reading "A MERRIE MELODY," steps out, and says "So long, folks!"—a sign-off used by Merrie Melodies until 1934.

After leaving Warner Bros., Ising took Foxy (and other characters) with him. The three Foxy shorts later fell into the public domain. Foxy later appeared in the 1992 Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Two-Tone Town" with his girlfriend (named Roxy) and Goopy Geer. Foxy was voiced by Rob Paulsen, and Roxy by Desirée Goyette, with a design update to look more fox-like.

In 2025, Roxy and Foxy were added to the mobile game Looney Tunes World of Mayhem during its Western Takeover event, using their appearances from Lady, Play Your Mandolin!.