Charlie Dog (also known as Rover, Charlie, and sometimes Charles the Dog) is an
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
'' Looney Tunes'' series of cartoons. The character was featured in nine cartoons between 1941 and 1958.
Development
Bob Clampett minted the scenario that Charlie Dog would later inherit in his cartoon short ''
Porky's Pooch
''Porky's Pooch'' is a 1941 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on December 27, 1941, and stars Porky Pig.
This is the last short Bob Clampett directed that used his old unit, which would ultim ...
'', first released on 27 December 1941. In that cartoon, a homeless hound pulls out all the stops to get adopted by bachelor Porky Pig. Mel Blanc provided the dog's gruff,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
-
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...
-like voice and accent which became Charlie's standard voice.
History
As he did for other ''Looney Tunes'' characters, Chuck Jones took Clampett's hound and reworked him, with the help of writer Michael Maltese. Jones first used the dog in ''
Little Orphan Airedale
''Little Orphan Airedale'' is a Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Charles M. Jones and released on October 4, 1947. Its major significance is its status as the official debut of Jones' version of Robert "Bob" Clampett's character ...
'' (4 October 1947) 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
''Awful Orphan'' is a 1949 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It is a sequel to the 1947 ''Looney Tunes'' short '' Little Orphan Airedale''.
Plot
Charlie has a crowd around him as ...
'' (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
The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United S ...
Charlie searching for a fine gentleman of the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
where he searches for a master who speaks
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
In these 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" to boasting of his pedigree ("Fifty percent
Collie
Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...
! Fifty percent setter,
Irish Setter
The Irish Setter ( ga, sotar rua, literally "red setter") is a setter, a breed of gundog, and family dog. The term ''Irish Setter'' is commonly used to encompass the show-bred dog recognised by the American Kennel Club as well as the field-bred ...
! Fifty Percent
Boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
! Fifty percent
Doberman Pinscher
The Dobermann (; ), or Doberman Pinscher in the United States and Canada, is a medium-large breed of domestic dog that was originally developed around 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector from Germany.Pointer—dere it is! Dere it is! Dere it is! But, mostly, I'm all Labrador Retriever!"); when reminded by others that he is not a Labrador retriever, his response would be, "Look, if you doubt my woid, get me a Labrador and I'll retrieve it for you. Dat's fair, isn't it?" — though in reality, he is just a slick-talking mutt who rarely realizes that his own aggressive obnoxiousness is sabotaging his appeal to any potential guardian.
Especially in the Porky Pig shorts, the pig would usually try to mail him out of the country, usually accompanied by Porky laughing evilly and maniacally, only to have Charlie return dressed in the costume of that place he was sent, which would make Porky even more determined to get rid of him.
Charlie makes a brief cameo appearance (via re-used animation from ''Often an Orphan'') in the
Bob McKimson
Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePati ...
-directed short '' Dog Tales'' (1958). Jones shelved the Charlie Dog series of films in the 1950s, along with characters he had himself introduced, such as The Three Bears and
Hubie and Bertie
Hubie and Bertie are animated cartoon rodent characters in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Hubie and Bertie represent some of animator Chuck Jones' earliest work that was intended to be funny rather ...
. He was turning his efforts to new characters, such as Pepé Le Pew and
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode, ...
.
The Frisky Puppy character that Jones paired with Claude Cat in several '50s shorts bears a close physical resemblance to Charlie.
Later appearances
Recent Warner Brothers merchandising and series and films such as episodes of ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'', and ''
Space Jam
''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel ...
'' (1996) in the crowd scenes, ''
The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' in the episode ''Yelp'' (here performed by Joe Alaskey), ''
Tweety's High-Flying Adventure
''Tweety's High-Flying Adventure'' is a 2000 American animated musical slapstick comedy film produced by Tom Minton and James T. Walker, written by Tom Minton, Tim Cahill and Julie McNally, and directed by James T. Walker, Karl Toerge, Charles Vi ...
'' (2000) in Italy have brought Charlie back out of retirement. In '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' (2003), he can be spotted playing poker with other Looney Tunes dogs and at the end of the film bringing Bugs a plate of fruit, and in '' Space Jam: A New Legacy'' (2021), he can be seen briefly in Bugs Bunny's flashback leaving Tune World way in the front row with other Looney Tunes.
Charlie Dog made a cameo in ''
The Looney Tunes Show
''The Looney Tunes Show'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran from May 3, 2011, through November 2, 2013, on Cartoon Network. The series consists of two seasons, each containing 26 episodes, and features ch ...
'' episode "Father Figures." He was seen in a pet store where he was attacked by
Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk is an American cartoon character who appears in twelve comedy film shorts produced in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series. His first appearance is in the 1942 theatrical release '' The Squawkin' Hawk'', which was direct ...
(who was looking for a chicken at the time when Porky Pig was being a father figure to him). Charlie Dog appears in ''
Looney Tunes Cartoons
''Looney Tunes Cartoons'' is an American animated television series developed by Peter Browngardt and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies''. The series made its worldwide debu ...
'' (voiced by
Eric Bauza
Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on '' The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot '' Fairly Odder'', Thunderbol ...