Sniffles is a tiny, chattering mouse with a permanent cold, and the first recurring star Chuck Jones created as a director. Wide-eyed and endlessly curious, he wanders into situations far too big for him and survives mostly by luck. The early Sniffles cartoons show Jones working in a softer, storybook style before he found the sharp timing of his later work, which makes them a useful window into how his comedy developed.
| Species: | Mouse |
|---|---|
| First appearance: | Naughty but Mice (1939) |
| Created by: | Chuck Jones; design with Charles Thorson |
| Original voice: | Margaret Hill-Talbot (1939 to 1941); Marjorie Talton (1943 to 1944); Mel Blanc (1946) |
| Frequent co-stars: | The Bookworm |
| Chuck Jones cartoons: | 12, from 1939 to 1946 |
Sniffles debuted in Naughty but Mice (1939), Jones’s second year as a director. He starred in 12 shorts through Hush My Mouse (1946), his only Looney Tunes entry; the rest were Merrie Melodies. Sniffles is often called Jones’s first character, but Jones’s first directed short, The Night Watchman (1938), introduced a kitten named Tommy (see Tommy Cat). Sniffles is more accurately his first recurring star.
Sniffles talks constantly and is both frightened and fascinated by the world. His round head, big eyes and small body reflect the cute style many studios favored in the late 1930s, before Jones moved toward leaner, more expressive designs.
