Looney Tunes Wiki

Charlie Dog is a Looney Tunes character.

Background[]

Golden Age[]

Bob Clampett minted the scenario that Charlie Dog would later inherit in the cartoon short "Porky's Pooch", written by Warren Foster, released on 27 December 1941. A homeless hound pulls out all the stops to get adopted by bachelor Porky Pig. Unlike later Charlie Dog entries, however, this earlier character manages to succeed to get Porky to adopt him. Mel Blanc, Joe Alaskey and Eric Bauza would provide the dog's gruff Brooklyn Bugs Bunny-like voice and accent, giving him a sly and clever disposition.

However, as he did for so many other Looney Tunes characters, Chuck Jones took Clampett's hound and transformed him into something new. Jones first used the dog in "Little Orphan Airedale" (released on October 4, 1947), written by Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce, which saw Clampett's "Rover" renamed "Charlie." The film was a success, and Jones would create two more Charlie Dog & Porky Pig cartoons in 1949: "Awful Orphan" (29 January) and "Often an Orphan" (13 August).

Jones also starred Charlie without Porky in a couple of shorts: "Dog Gone South" (26 August 1950) which sees Yankee Charlie searching for a fine gentleman of the Southern United States, and "A Hound for Trouble" (28 April 1951) which sends Charlie to Italy where he searches for a master who speaks English.

In these five cartoons, Charlie Dog is defined by one desire: to find himself a master. To this end, Charlie is willing to pull out all the stops, from pulling "the big soulful eyes routine", acting dramatic e.g. breaking down crying to get Porky to sympathize with him in both "Little Orphan Airedale", "Awful Orphan" and "Often an Orphan", to boasting of his pedigree ("Fifty percent Collie! Fifty percent Irish Setter! Fifty percent Boxer! Fifty percent Doberman Pincher! But, mostly, I'm all Labrador Retriever!"). However, he is really a fast-talking obnoxious mutt and is often unaware that his personality is what prevents him from getting adopted.

Jones retired Charlie Dog in the 1950s, along with other humorous minor characters he had introduced in the 1940s, such as the Three Bears and Hubie and Bertie. However, Charlie himself appeared as a cameo in Robert McKimson's "Dog Tales" via reused animation from "Often an Orphan".

Although Charlie did not appear in the Porky Pig cartoon "Dog Collared", the unnamed dog's personality is based on him and he portrayed a role similar to him. The 1953 Bugs Bunny cartoon "Lumber Jack-Rabbit" featured a dog similar in appearance to Charlie known as "Smidgen".

Post-Golden Age[]

In recent years, Warner Bros. merchandising and series and films such as episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures, the movies Space Jam (1996), and Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000) have brought Charlie back out of retirement.

In Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies, Charlie is one of the knights of King Foghorn Leghorn.

Charlie made a cameo appearance in The Looney Tunes Show episode "Father Figures". He is in a pet store where he was attacked by Henery Hawk (who was looking for a chicken).

Charlie made a cameo appearance in the Looney Tunes Cartoons short "Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!" He would later star in the Season 2 short "Adopt Me!", where he is trying to get adopted in a pet store.

Appearances[]

Cartoons[]

  1. Looney Tunes "Little Orphan Airedale" (1947) Blue Ribbon
  2. Merrie Melodies "Awful Orphan" (1949) Blue Ribbon
  3. Merrie Melodies "Often an Orphan" (1949) Blue Ribbon
  4. Merrie Melodies "Dog Gone South" (1950) Blue Ribbon
  5. Merrie Melodies "A Hound for Trouble" (1951) Blue Ribbon
  6. Looney Tunes "Dog Tales" (1958) (cameo)

In other media[]

Notes[]

Gallery[]

References[]

Characters
Main Characters
Bugs Bunny (Prototype Bugs Bunny) Daffy Duck Elmer Fudd Foghorn Leghorn Lola Bunny (Honey Bunny) Marvin the Martian (K-9) Pepé Le Pew (Penelope Pussycat) Porky Pig Road Runner Speedy Gonzales Sylvester (Sylvester Jr.) Taz Tweety Wile E. Coyote Yosemite Sam
Recurring Golden Age Characters
1930s debuts

Bosko Honey Bruno Foxy Piggy Goopy Geer Buddy Cookie Beans Little Kitty Oliver Owl Ham and Ex Petunia Pig Piggy Hamhock Gabby Goat Egghead Big Bad Wolf Little Red Riding Hood Yoyo Dodo Mrs. Daffy Duck The Two Curious Puppies Sniffles Inki Minah Bird

1940s debuts

Willoughby Three Little Pigs Cecil Turtle Beaky Buzzard Mama Buzzard Leo the Lion Babbit and Catstello Conrad the Cat Hubie and Bertie Claude Cat A. Flea Three Bears Schnooks Hector the Bulldog The Drunk Stork Gossamer Rocky Barnyard Dawg Henery Hawk Charlie Dog Bobo the Elephant Goofy Gophers The Dog Wellington Gruesome Gorilla Hippety Hopper The Talking Bulldog The Crusher The Supreme Cat Playboy Penguin

1950s debuts

Melissa Duck Frisky Puppy Granny (Proto-Granny) Miss Prissy (Emily the Chicken) Sam Cat Nasty Canasta Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot Spike and Chester Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog The Weasel Witch Hazel Tasmanian She-Devil Ralph Phillips Egghead Jr. Mugsy Jose and Manuel The Honey-Mousers (Ralph Crumden, Ned Morton, Alice Crumden, Trixie Morton) Instant Martians Slowpoke Rodriguez Pappy and Elvis Blacque Jacque Shellacque

1960s debuts

Cool Cat Colonel Rimfire Merlin the Magic Mouse Second Banana Bunny and Claude

One-Off Golden Age Characters
1930s debuts

Owl Jolson

1940s debuts

The Gremlin The Dover Boys (Tom Dover, Dick Dover, Larry Dover, Dora Standpipe, Dan Backslide) Mr. Meek Russian Dog The Little Man from the Draft Board Colonel Shuffle Giovanni Jones

1950s debuts

The Martin Brothers Pete Puma George and Benny Toro the Bull Babyface Finster Michigan J. Frog Shropshire Slasher Mot Pablo and Fernando Charles M. Wolf Señor Vulturo Mighty Angelo

1960s debuts

Hugo the Abominable Snowman Nelly the Giraffe Count Bloodcount Spooky Rapid Rabbit and Quick Brown Fox

Post-Golden Age Characters
Tiny Toon Adventures

Buster Bunny Babs Bunny Plucky Duck Hamton J. Pig Fifi La Fume Shirley the Loon Sweetie Bird Elmyra Duff Montana Max

Taz-Mania

Jean Hugh Molly Jake Dog the Turtle Drew

Pinky and the Brain

Pinky The Brain

Baby Looney Tunes

Floyd Minton

Duck Dodgers

Dr. I.Q. Hi Captain Star Johnson Commander X2

Loonatics Unleashed

Ace Bunny Lexi Bunny Danger Duck Slam Tasmanian Tech E. Coyote Rev Runner

The Looney Tunes Show

Tina Russo

New Looney Tunes

Squeaks the Squirrel Bigfoot Barbarian Boyd Cal Carl the Grim Rabbit Claudette Dupri Dr. Clovenhoof Eagle Scout Elliot Sampson Horace the Horse Ivana Jack Thes Leslie P. Lilylegs Miss Cougar Pampreen Perdy and Paul Perdy Rhoda Roundhouse Shameless O'Scanty Sir Littlechin Slugsworthy the First Squint Eatswood Tad Tucker Trey Hugger Viktor Winter Stag