Was This Elephant Gay?

Looking back on this as an adult, I now have a sneaky suspicion that he was.

Juanita Merrick, the transgender elephant queen.

Short answer -yes. Longer answer - it’s a cultural reference to a trope that has been lost over time.

See - Comedian Joe Besser; and the stock character of The Nance in early 20th century comedy - Burlesque / Radio / Film.

Companion article to review of The Nance play discusses the history of the stock character.

The Goofy Gophers I think were definitely gay, and polite. My favorite line in one of the cartoons is when one gopher throws some wood shavings on his head and does a little drag act, the other gopher slaps him and says "There's a time and place for everything."

You can spot that elephant’s gayness from space! Tooty fruity!

Have you ever seen an elephant’s penis before? If you were an elephant, you’d be gay too.

Gayer than Juan Gabriel doing the coochie coochie.

I've always had suspicions about Chip and Dale, Pixie and Dixie, and most of all Yogi and Boo Boo, who shared the same bed.

The elephant voice is Mel Blanc as he would do Daffy Duck.

R2, great citation. That website is a goldmine of show biz history.

Unclear from r2’s article what the connection is between the “I’ll give you such a pinch” meme and Joe Besser. Was it a catch phrase of his?

It was, but it was also his voice. When Besser played the little sissy that was something he'd say. (Looked for a YouTube citation but haven't found one yet.). This link embodies it. Go to 17:29.

So much of Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Bugs Bunny, and all rest of Warner Bros cartoons were heavily influenced by vaudeville. Various skits, gags like Bugs in drag, etc.. and more were directly out of that genre. Of course many comedy actors in Warner Bros studio system lot got their start in Vaudeville, so there's another connection.

What might seen corny today was funny and fresh right through post war years.

Recognize these two kitties?