Hector the Bulldog

Hector
Species:	Bulldog
Gender:	Male
Debut appearance:	"Peck Up Your Troubles" (20 October 1945)
Created by:	Friz Freleng Michael Maltese
Portrayed by:	Mel Blanc (1947–1983) Frank Welker (1995–2022) Frank Todaro (Bugs Bunny Builders)

Hector the Bulldog, sometimes unofficially known as Spike, Butch, or as Tweety refers to him as "putty dog", is a bulldog, usually the pet of Granny. He is muscle-bound and has grey fur, although his colorization varies in some shorts. He is the best friend and guardian of Tweety.

He is a gruff, tough bulldog who is particularly disapproving of cats (particularly Sylvester), but is a softie when it comes to birds (particularly Tweety), innocent characters, and his son in "Pappy's Puppy". Normally, he clobbers Sylvester so that he will not eat Tweety, usually under Granny's orders.

History

Hector's first appearance is often disputed, but many considered the 1945 short "Peck Up Your Troubles", where he is paired with Sylvester and a woodpecker, to be his official debut.

Prior to this (and in several later cartoons), several bulldogs that resembled him appeared, although these bulldogs are often confused by fans to be Hector. These preliminary bulldog characters were seen in Friz Freleng's "Double Chaser" and "Ding Dog Daddy", Chuck Jones' "The Aristo-cat", "Trap Happy Porky" and later "Roughly Squeaking", Bob Clampett's "Birdy and the Beast" and "A Gruesome Twosome" and Frank Tashlin's "Behind the Meat-Ball". Robert McKimson would also create his own bulldog character that he would use following Hector's debut as well.

His second appearance was in "A Hare Grows in Manhattan", where he was under his "Spike" persona. After that, Hector was a minor player in many Sylvester (and Tweety) cartoons, including 1954's "Satan's Waitin'". Outside the Tweety cartoons, Hector is usually also Sylvester's arch-enemy (such as in "Little Red Rodent Hood", "A Kiddies Kitty", "Pappy's Puppy"). In one cartoon in particular, "Stooge for a Mouse", both Sylvester and Hector (known as "Mike") start off as friends, but turn into sworn enemies thanks to a mouse Sylvester had chased earlier. 1953's "Fowl Weather" would be the first cartoon where Hector is referred to by actual name.

A more anthropomorphic gangster version of Hector reappeared in the two cartoons alongside a terrier dog named Chester, where he was named "Spike" and adopts a more antagonistic persona than his usual appearances in the cartoons "Tree for Two", and Alfie in "Dr. Jerkyl's Hide". In these cartoons as "Spike", he is often seen wearing a red sweater and a brown bowler hat.

Chuck Jones' famous bulldog who paired with Pussyfoot, Marc Anthony, although bearing a close resemblance to Hector, is not the same character. Jerry Beck says in the book Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide that in "Pappy's Puppy", Butch J. Bulldog is meant to be the same bulldog as Hector from the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons which Friz Freleng also directed at the same time.

In addition to Marc Anthony, there are various bulldogs that resemble Hector that are often confused as him, such as Butcher from "Mouse-Warming" and "To Itch His Own", Belvedere from "Dog Gone South", the unnamed bulldog from "Go Fly a Kit", and the Talking Bulldog.

Post Golden-Age

He also has a role in the series The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, where Sylvester is constantly outwitting him. He also made a cameo appearance in Tweety's High-Flying Adventure, and appears in the webtoons, "Full Metal Racket!" and "Fast Feud".

In both the movies Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island and Space Jam, both of these two different versions of Hector appear in brief cameos in two different scenes as both his "official" and his "Spike" personas as two completely separate characters, with the latter persona paired alongside Chester, hence marking the only time in history where both Hectors appear in the same media as two separate bulldogs instead of one of the same bulldog.

He also appeared in the 1993 Sega Genesis video game Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers, where he appeared in the first three level as an enemy, and in the fourth level, alongside Chester, as a silhouette in the window.

Filmography

Cartoons

1.  "Peck Up Your Troubles" (1945)  (named Rover)
2.  "A Hare Grows in Manhattan" (1947) (Spike persona)
3.  "I Taw a Putty Tat" (1948) 
4.  "Home, Tweet Home" (1950) 
5.  "Stooge for a Mouse" (1950)  (named Mike)
6.  "All a Bir-r-r-d" (1950) 
7.  "Room and Bird" (1951) 
8.  "Gift Wrapped" (1952) 
9.  "Ain't She Tweet" (1952)  (multiple)
10.  "Little Red Rodent Hood" (1952)
11.  "Tree for Two" (1952) (Spike persona)
12.  "Fowl Weather" (1953) 
13.  "A Street Cat Named Sylvester" (1953)
14.  "Dog Pounded" (1954)  (multiple)
15.  "Dr. Jerkyl's Hide" (1954) (Spike persona, named Alf)
16.  "Muzzle Tough" (1954)
17.  "Satan's Waitin'" (1954) 
18.  "A Kiddies Kitty" (1955) 
19.  "Pappy's Puppy" (1955) (named Butch J. Bulldog)
20.  "Too Hop to Handle" (1956)  (multiple, cameo)
21.  "Tweety and the Beanstalk" (1957)
22.  "Greedy for Tweety" (1957) 
23.  "Tweet and Lovely" (1959)
24.  "D' Fightin' Ones" (1961)
25.  "The Pied Piper of Guadalupe" (1961) 
26.  "Fast Buck Duck" (1963) (named Percy)
27.  "Cats and Bruises" (1965) (multiple)
28.  "Carrotblanca" (1995) (Spike persona)

After the Golden Age

Official

• Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (cameo)
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit (cameo)
• The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
• Space Jam (cameo)
• Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (cameo)
• Looney Tunes Cartoons:
  • "Red White and Bruised"
  • "Hot Air Buffoon" (multiple, cameo)
  • "Happy Birdy to You!"
  • "Boarding Games" (cameo)

As his "Spike" persona

• Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (cameo)
• Space Jam (cameo)
• Looney Tunes Back in Action (cameo)
• The Looney Tunes Show
  • "Blow My Stack" (cameo)
• Bugs Bunny Builders
  • "Game Time"

Notes

• Hector shares many similarities with Spike Bulldog from the Tom and Jerry franchise, as they are both bulldogs who are known for pulverizing the main feline and protecting their prey of the respective cartoon from them.