Alfred E. Neuman - One of the most legendary cartoon characters of all time?

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ilikeeatingchicken

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Alfred E. Neuman, the mascot of Mad Magazine has, for several decades, represented the "freedom of the press," if you will, of American values...parody, making fun of government and popular culture, etc. Though not as "iconically child friendly" as legends like Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse, and a victim of one major disadvantage - being print-only, never having been part of a cartoon series or anything related - the character who made the phrase "What - me worry?" legendary is without a doubt well-known throughout the country. Do you think Alfred E. Neuman should go down as one of the most legendary cartoon characters of all time?
 
Not really, he was only a mascot, and in fact, didnt even involve himself in any storylines (other humor magazine mascots like obnoxio the clown, forbush man, and sylvester p smythe actually did have their own storylines, but thats off-topic). I loved mad magazine growing up, but alfred was only a small part of why i liked it (however, spy vs spy do qualify, and in fact did have animated shorts on mad tv).
 
Well the whole purpose of this thread is fundamentally flawed since Alfred E. Neuman has never been animated outside of say his cameo in the "The City of New York Vs. Homer Simpson". So you can't call him a cartoon character because he's not.

And yeah he's barely been anything other than a mascot for reasons Masaki just listed.
 
It should be noted that Alfred E. Neuman was not even created by or specifically for Mad Magazine. The picture, along with the "What, me worry?" tag, was a stock photo that had existed for several decades prior to Mad claiming it as their mascot, and I believe all Mad did was give the boy his name.
 
Alfred E. also made a brief cameo in the Daffy Duck short "Night of the Living Duck", directed by Greg Ford and Terry Lennon, and his face appeared as the sun at the end of the Charlie Brown story "Sack", which aired on TV as part of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show.

But yeah, none of those appearances are enough to consider Alfred E. Neuman a true cartoon character, let alone a legendary one. He's more of a mascot, like the Gerber baby or Bibendum, the Michelin Man.
 
I think Alfred's image, and likeness originated from a dentist poster where a kid had his tooth removed saying 'i didn't feel a thing'. Alfred was also named after the composer of the 20th Century Fox theme, Alfred Neuman.
 
Sorta kinda.

WHile it's true the inspiration behind Neuman was from a stock photo of a toothy boy, MAD changed the picture and the look of the boy enough to become arguably a (somewhat) original creation.

I'll agree he's one of the most iconic images of all time, at least.
 
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