This lovable penguin--whose major motivations were generally limited to the search for food and the desire to keep warm--made his cartoon premiere in Walter Lantz's December 1953 cartoon short Chilly Willy. This short and the two that followed (I'm Cold and The Legend of Rockabye Point, which was nominated for an Academy Award), established Chilly as a cartoon superstar in his own right. Of all the Walter Lantz characters, only the estimable Woody Woodpecker appeared in more short subject cartoons than ol' Chilly. This was certainly at least partially due to the fact that the little guy looks so cute in his little pom-pom hat and scarf.
Chilly's ascent to celebrity owed much to a convergence of cartoon legends: Walter Lantz, of course; Michael Maltese, a veteran of the Warner Brothers cartoon studio, wrote several early Chilly scripts; Chilly's voice was provided by the multitalented Daws Butler of Huckleberry Hound fame; and last but not least, two of Chilly's first three cartoons were directed by one of the cartoon world's enduring giants, Tex Avery. But I personally most enjoyed the rivalry between Chilly and Smedley, an anthropomorphic dog whose voice--strangely enough--possessed the kind of Southern twang popularized by Huckleberry Hound. Smedley was usually employed in a guard dog capacity, guarding some stock of fuel or food or something else that Chilly was trying to steal. Sure, Smedley was the enemy; but you just couldn't bring yourself to dislike him. Such subtleties make many of the early Chilly Willy cartoons a pleasure to watch.
Chilly's last short cartoon was produced in 1972, but he lives on, not only in repeats and comic books, but in the hearts of anyone who's ever been locked out in the cold.
BTW, there are two Chilly Willy theme songs. The second and shorter of the two goes:
I'm Chilly Willy the penguin
Oh gee oh gosh I'm chilly all the time.
Poor me! I quiver and I quake!
Poor me! Gee oh gosh for goodness sake!
I'm Chilly Willy the penguin
Oh gee oh gosh I'm chilly all the time. | 
