| Elmo Aardvark | |
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| First appearance |
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| Created by | Will Ryan |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Aardvark |
Elmo Aardvark is a cartoon character, created by Will Ryan in the late 20th century and featured in print media, music albums, and web animation.
Elmo is an anthropomorphic aardvark usually drawn in the style of the golden age of American animation; his fictional backstory is that he was the first animated cartoon character ever created. The backstory, embellished by Ryan and others in various media during the 1990s, traces Elmo's history from beginnings in pre-film flip books through widespread stardom in the 1920s and 1930s, and recurring reappearances and reboots in ensuing decades.
While attempts in the mid-1990s to adapt Elmo's backstory as a feature-length mockumentary fell through, the character went on to star in the 2000 web series Elmo Aardvark: Outer Space Detective and has been featured in comics as well as in four music albums recorded by Ryan.