Chilly Willy was an anthropomorphic animated penguin originally created by Paul Smith for Walter Lantz Productions. However, the first design of Chilly Willy was not very successful. When Tex Avery returned to Walter Lantz Productions in 1954, Walter Lantz asked him to work on the character. Tex Avery did not think a little penguin character would be funny, so he complemented him with funny co-stars, such as Smedley the dog.