“Zee cabbage does not run away from zee corn-beef.”
- Pepé Le Pew.

The irrepressibly amorous cartoon skunk Pepé Le Pew is a character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, and he was first introduced by Chuck Jones in the 1945 cartoon “The Odor-able Kitty”. Pepé is always seen strolling around in Paris in the springtime; when everyone’s thoughts are of “love”, Pepé is constantly seeking “l’amour” of his own. However, he has one huge turnoff to any prospective mates: his malodorous scent. Furthermore, he can’t take ‘no’ for an answer, blissfully convinced that his beloved “Penelope Pussycat” is flirting with him, even when she goes to extreme lengths to escape from his persistent declarations of love and overtures of affection.

Pepé’s unrequited love is made all the more tragic by the fact that “Penelope,” who he believes to be a “petite femme skunk,” is actually a black cat who has had a white stripe painted down her back (frequently as a result of an accident of some kind). Alas, Penelope usually runs away from him anyway due to his putrid odor or because of his overly aggressive manner. Jones allegedly based the character of Pepé on the personality of one of his colleagues, writer Ted Pierce, who considered himself quite the “ladies’ man,” and remained blissfully ignorant of the fact that his infatuations were unrequited.

Poor Pepé has been called as a misogynist (if he is guilty of anything, it is liking women a little too much) and a xenophobe (don’t even ask). by some P.C. nutjobs who don’t have anything better to do than rip on a romantic cartoon skunk. I think these humorless ding-dongs are playa’ haters who are jealous of Pepé’s je ne sais quoi…..

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