Miss Mam'selle Hepzibah
Encyclopedia
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, an anthropomorphic skunk
Skunk
Skunks are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae and to the order Carnivora...
from the classic Walt Kelly
Walt Kelly
Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. , or Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip, Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Kelly resigned in 1941 at the age of 28 to work at Post-Hall Syndicate,...
comic strip, Pogo. In the animated film, Pogo's Special Birthday Special, she was voiced by June Foray
June Foray
June Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...
.
Miz Mam'selle Hepzibah is a female Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
skunk, though a little more of the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
persuasion. The curvaceous Hepzibah was supposedly modeled after creator Walt Kelly
Walt Kelly
Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. , or Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip, Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Kelly resigned in 1941 at the age of 28 to work at Post-Hall Syndicate,...
's former mistress and, eventually, second wife. Her fur is the standard black and white skunk color scheme, though her hair is completely white. She wears a short skirt just about everywhere she goes, though she has several with varying patterns.
Personality and character history
In common with Warner Brother's Pepe Le PewPepé Le Pew
Pepé Le Pew is a fictional character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, first introduced in 1945. A French skunk that always strolls around in Paris in the springtime, when everyone's thoughts are of "love", Pepé is constantly seeking "l'amour" of his own...
(who predates her by several years), Hepzibah is a French flirt. (The humor being that the French were perhaps the most famous perfume makers of the day.) She has a crush on Pogo, and is rarely shy about it. A running gag concerns the swampland characters wondering when they will be married — marriage being an uncomfortable topic for Pogo.
Though flirty, Hepzibah is gentle, sweet, charming and polished. A hallmark is her mind-boggling speech. Her broken English can challenge readers to determine her meaning, and tends to result in the loss of subtlety expressing feelings; sometimes awkwardly expressed when courting the timid Pogo.
In contrast, the perpetually grumpy Porky Pine is in love with her. Telling her so does not come easily, especially considering that Hepzibah seems to only have eyes for Pogo.
In the animated movie, Pogo's Special Birthday Special, Porky Pine manages to express his feelings in a gentle way, presenting her a magnificent gift he'd accidentally tied to his finger and carried all day. Hepzibah was more than pleased.