Wally first appeared in The Beach Nut (1944), and was the first major recurring foil to Woody Woodpecker since his inception, before he was more-or-less replaced by Buzz Buzzard in the late 40's. Nevertheless, Wally has appeared frequently in Woody-related media since then.
History
Wally is an anthropomorphicwalrus. In most of his appearances, he speaks with a pronounced Swedish accent, and is rather slow-witted and prone to anger when provoked. He often hums My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean to himself. He is depicted most frequently as one of Woody Woodpecker's main foils, sharing the same dynamic with him as with Buzz Buzzard.[6]
Wally was voiced in his original appearance and subsequent others by Jack Mather, who voiced The Cisco Kid on radio. Lantz stock player William Wright gave him a growly, non-Swedish voice in The Reckless Driver (1946). Wally also appeared with Andy Panda in Dog Tax Dodgers (1948), and with Chilly Willy in Clash and Carry (1961) and Tricky Trout (1961); in the latter two shorts he was voiced by Paul Frees.
The character's appearance changed somewhat over the years, with a complexion that ranged from dark to light flesh-tone and variously sized tusks, which Wally would be drawn with or without. A frequent animation error in The New Woody Woodpecker Show was to draw Wally's mouth separate from his tusks so it appeared they were protruding from his nostrils.
A character resembling Wally appeared in a cameo during the final scene of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and is featured in various print media and merchandise.
