<P> A leghorn is a breed of chicken, and foghorn describes the character's loud, overbearing voice . </P> <P> According to Leonard Maltin the character's voice was also patterned after a hard - of - hearing West Coast - only radio character from the 1930s, known simply as The Sheriff, on a radio program called Blue Monday Jamboree . The voice has similarities to that of another Mel Blanc voice: Yosemite Sam (a strictly Friz Freleng character); and even more similar to a proto - Sam character in Stage Door Cartoon . </P> <P> Foghorn Leghorn is depicted as a large, anthropomorphic white adult Leghorn rooster with a stereotypically Southern accent, a "good ol' boy" speaking style, and a penchant for mischief . In addition to being a reference to the Senator Claghorn character, the first half of his name is a joke about him being loud and obnoxious, while the second half refers to a breed of chicken, a leghorn . He first appeared in 1946 in a Henery Hawk film titled Walky Talky Hawky . All of the motion picture Foghorn Leghorn cartoons were directed by Robert McKimson, and the rooster ties with the Tasmanian Devil as the most popular character associated with the director . </P> <P> Many of the gags involved Foghorn and a canine nemesis (formally known as The Barnyard Dawg within Warner today, though on early model sheets his name is given as George P. Dog) engaging in one - upmanship through a series of pranks . Unlike other Looney Tunes rivalries, with the notable exception of the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner series, Foghorn is often the initial aggressor out of self - amusement and subsequently on the' losing' end of gags (although the dog sometimes initiates). However it ends, the formula for how it begins is usually the same . Foghorn, humming "Camptown Races" to himself and carrying a wooden fencepost, sneaks up on Dawg while he is sleeping . Foghorn then pulls the Dawg up by his hindquarters and uses the fencepost to give him a thorough spanking . Dawg, now angry, chases after Foghorn barking angrily but can only go as far as the rope he is tied to can stretch . Thus, when the rope becomes taut and he cannot move, he is either yanked back or stopped . (In some cartoons, there's a sign Foghorn stands to one side of saying "Rope Limit" and Dawg stops just shy of it .) In the latter case, he keeps barking at Foghorn who tells him, "Ah, shaddap!" and does something to Dawg to force him to stop . This gag was passed down to the Leghorns' grandson in Feather Bluster, where Foghorn was puzzled as to why the kid was behaving that way and the Dog was all too happy to remind him: "Ain't nothin' wrong with' im, Foggy,' cept that he takes after you ." </P>

Where did the name foghorn leghorn come from