Mildew Wolf

Mildew Wolf
Species	Wolf (Timber)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Snagglepuss Lion
Works for	Laff-a-Lympics
Father	Not mentioned
Mother	Not mentioned
Marital status	Single
First appearance	ITW: "It's the Wolf" (1969)
Played by	Paul Lynde (1969-70) John Stephenson (1977-78) Bernardo de Paula (since 2021)
Wacky Races
Jellystone!

Mildew Wolf is an anthropomorphic wolf and the main antagonist in the It's the Wolf animated television shorts, and then was redeemed with a more hospitable side as co-host of Laff-a-Lympics in Laff-a-Lympics. His voice was originated by Paul Lynde.

Character description

Mildew is a brown wolf with an extremely skinny and tall frame. His normal attire consists of a white shirt collar, blueish overalls supported by only one suspender, and a short lime-green hat with a wide brim.

He is a typical "big bad wolf" archetype who constantly tries to eat Lambsy. He comes up with several paper-thin disguises in order to catch the lamb, but Lambsy always sees through his disguises in the end. While falling under this archetype, however, Mildew is uniquely characterized for his flamboyant vocal mannerisms, primairly in his delivery on eccentric wordplays or sarcastic jokes.

While never explored in most of his media appeareances, Mildew was suggested to be queer coded due to his flowery speech and personality. He later confirmed to be gay in the reboot series Jellystone!, where he momentarily tries to flirt with Shazzan but failing. Despite this, Mildew has also displayed either bisexual affections or experiencing internalized heteronormativity, as he owns a sock puppet ex-wife named Lady Sockington, whom he still claims to have feelings for.

Appearances

TV series

Expand

• It's the Wolf
  • 1.1 "It's the Wolf"
  • 1.2 "When My Sheep Comes In"
  • 1.3 "A Sheep in the Deep"
  • 1.4 "High Hopes"
  • 1.5 "Winter Blunder-Land!"
  • 1.6 "Merry Go Roundup!"
  • 1.7 "Super Sheep Sitting Service"
  • 1.8 "Any Sport in a Storm"
  • 1.9 "Magic Wanderer"
  • 1.10 "Runaway Home"
  • 1.11 "Smart Dummy"
  • 1.12 "Cat Caper"
  • 1.13 "Mask Me No Questions"
  • 1.14 "Freeway Frenzy"
  • 1.15 "Slumber Jacks"
  • 1.16 "Pow-Wow Wolf"
  • 1.17 "Ghost of a Chance"
  • 2.1 "Lamb Scout Cook Out"
  • 2.2 "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"
  • 2.3 "To Beach His Own"
  • 2.4 "Sheep Scene Stealer"
  • 2.5 "Kookie Cook Book Cook"
  • 2.6 "Train Tripped"
  • 2.7 "I Never Met a Lamb I Didn't Like!"
  • 2.8 "Channel Chasers"
• Laff-a-Lympics
  • 1.1 "The Swiss Alps and Tokyo, Japan"
  • 1.2 "Acapulco and England"
  • 1.3 "Florida and China"
  • 1.4 "The Sahara Desert and Scotland"
  • 1.5 "France and Australia"
  • 1.6 "Athens, Greece and the Ozarks"
  • 1.7 "Italy and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina"
  • 1.8 "Egypt and Sherwood Forest"
  • 1.9 "Spain and the Himalayas"
  • 1.10 "India and Israel"
  • 1.11 "Africa and San Francisco"
  • 1.12 "The Grand Canyon and Ireland"
  • 1.13 "Hawaii and Norway"
  • 1.14 "North Pole and Tahiti"
  • 1.15 "Arizona and Holland"
  • 1.16 "Quebec and Baghdad"
  • 2.1 "Russia and the Caribbean"
  • 2.2 "New York and Turkey"
  • 2.3 "South America and Transylvania"
  • 2.4 "French Riviera and New Zealand"
  • 2.5 "New Orleans and Atlantis"
  • 2.6 "Morocco and Washington D.C."
  • 2.7 "Canada and Warsaw, Poland"
  • 2.8 "Siam and the Moon"
• Wacky Races
  • 2.4 "Little Pink Riding Hood"
• Jellystone!
  • 1.1 "Yogi's Tummy Trouble" (no lines)
  • 1.4 "My Doggie Dave" (no lines)
  • 1.5 "A Coconut to Remember" (no lines)
  • 1.6 "Grocery Store" (no lines)
  • 1.12 "Ice Ice Daddy" (no lines)
  • 1.13 "DNA, A-OK!"
  • 1.14 "Face of the Town!" (no lines)
  • 1.18 "Jelly Wrestle Rumble!"
  • 1.19 "A Fish Sticky Situation" (no lines)
  • 1.20 "A Town Video: Welcome to Jellystone" (no lines)
  • 1.21 "Spell Book"
  • 1.22 "Lady Danjjer: Is It Wrong to Long for Kabong?" (no lines)
  • 1.24 "Bleep!" (no lines)
  • 1.25 "Yogi's Mid-Life Crisis" (no lines)
  • 1.26 "Jellystone Moon Platoon" (no lines)
  • 1.27 "The Sea Monster of Jellystone Cove" (no lines)
  • 1.30 "Uh Oh! It's a Burglar!" (no lines)
  • 1.31 "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Rat Race" (no lines)
  • 1.32 "The Brave Little Daddy"
  • 1.33 "The Big Stink"
  • 1.34 "Boo Boo and Benny: Little Buddy Trouble"
  • 1.35 "The Box Thief"
  • 1.36 "Jailcation" (no lines)
  • 1.38 "Augie's Baby" (no lines)
  • 1.39 "Heroes and Capes"
  • 1.40 "Sweet Dreams"
  • 2.1 "Meet the Jetsons"
  • 2.2 "Disco Fever" (no lines)
  • 2.3 "Cindy vs. Noodle Arms" (no lines)
  • 2.6 "LAFF Games"
  • 2.8 "Girl, You My Friend!"
  • 2.10 "Vote Raspberry"
  • 2.12 "Mummy Knows Best"
  • 2.13 "Augie-mented Reality"
  • 2.14 "Space Con"
  • 2.16 "Lil' Honk Honks!"
  • 2.17 "Epic Rager"

Movies

• Yogi's Ark Lark (indirectly mentioned)

Specials

• Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration (no lines)

Comics

Expand

• Laff-a-Lympics
  • Issue #1: "The Meet at Mount Ono"
  • Issue #2: "Trouble at the Track Meet"
  • Issue #4: "Take Me Out to the Brawl Game!"
  • Issue #5: "The Day the Rottens Won!"
  • Issue #6: "The Discount of Monty Cristo"
  • Issue #7: "The Purple Pig Puzzle"
  • Issue #8: "The Beef of Bagdad"
  • Issue #9: "Go Rest, Old Man"
  • Issue #10: "Now You See Them..."
  • Issue #11: "The Toys from Tomorrow"
  • Issue #12: "The Ends of the Earth"
  • Issue #13: "No Laff-a-Lympics Today!"

Biography

It's the Wolf!

Mildew appears in every episode of the series, using a multitude of disguises to lure Lambsy into being eaten by him. However, once he is exposed, Bristlehound always throws him away. Mildew usually has an idiosyncratic insult for Bristlehound every time he tosses him with his cane, such as "party-pooper" and "roundhouse roustabout".

Crossover Era

Laff-a-Lympics!

He and Snagglepuss are the announcers for the Laff-a-Lympics. Unlike It's the Wolf, Mildew isn't a villain and is now just fussy and cynical. His catchphrase is "Savages. They're all savages."

Wacky Reboot

Mildew appeared in the episode "Little Pink Riding Hood", as one of the fairytale characters that prepared to give Dick Dastardly a "classic fairytale beat down". He was later turned into a cat with the rest of the fairytale characters by Winnie Witch, and eaten by Tiny Gruesome.

Everyone's Back in Jellystone!

Mildew is a recurring character in the series. He isn't antagonistic whatsoever, and no longer tries to eat sheep. Mildew holds a multitude of jobs in the town, such as a grocery store clerk, a wrestling match announcer, and an employee at the stink factory. Mildew has always been unlucky, and every time he appears, he gets misfortune thrown his way, such as Grape Ape destroying his house, not once, but twice.

Development

Mildew was likely inspired by Ralph Wolf from Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, a series of cartoons from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. His mannerisms were heavily inspired by Paul Lynde, who voiced him but is uncredited for his role.

Gallery

Main article: Mildew Wolf/Gallery

Behind the scenes

• In 1969, producer Jerry Eisenberg directed a short live-action film spoofing It's the Wolf. In it, Mildew was portrayed by storyboard artist Joel Seibel.
• In Jellystone!, Mildew's sexuality is likely a nod to his original actor Paul Lynde, who was a gay man during his lifetime but kept it a secret, in addition to his campy onscreen persona that he embued the character's personality.
• In a deleted scene for the episode "Sha-zogi," Mildew was supposed to hace in an on again, off again relationship with Wally Gator, but got cut in the final cut.

In popular culture

• In The Partridge Family episode "I Left My Heart in Cincinnati," the Partridge Family visit Kings Island, where various Hanna-Barbera costumed characters can be seen, including one of Mildew-like costume. A cartoon-accurate Mildew drawn on the lost parents shed appears later in the episode, where Danny and Tracy pick up Shirley.

• 
  Mildew costume at Kings Island.
• 
  Cartoon Mildew.