Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier are animated cartoon characters in the

Warner Bros. 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'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Spike is a burly, gray

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

, and a perpetual scowl. Chester is a

Jack Russell terrier The Jack Russell Terrier is a small terrier that has its origins in fox hunting in England. It is principally white-bodied and smooth, rough or broken-coated and can be any colour. Small tan and white terriers that technically belong to ot ...

who is just the opposite, small and jumpy with yellow fur and brown, perky ears.

History

The characters starred in only two shorts, both directed by animator Friz Freleng. The first of these films was ''

Tree for Two In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

'' (1952). In it, Chester tells his idol Spike that he knows of a

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

that they can beat up. The cat is Freleng's own Sylvester, but every time Spike thinks he has the cat cornered, a runaway zoo black panther appears in Sylvester's place, thrashing the dog instead. When Chester decides to have a go of it, however, Sylvester finds himself at the little dog's mercy. By the cartoon's end, Spike and Chester have switched roles; Spike is the fawning sycophant, and Chester the smug prizefighter. The characters' second outing was in the short film '' Dr. Jerkyl's Hide'' (1954). Spike (here called "Alfie" and with an English accent) is once again after Sylvester, only this time it is Sylvester himself who pummels the poor pooch, thanks to a potion that transforms him into a feline monster. Chester, of course, never sees this transformed Sylvester, thinking his buddy is being beaten by the tiny tomcat. The final loss of face for Alfie is his being thrashed by a fly that has also been affected by the potion, as it occurs in front of Chester's eyes.

Later appearances

* Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier appear in the movie ''

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). They are seen as a pair of paramedics during the basketball game, who take Stan Podolak away after he was flattened by the Monstars. * Spike the Bulldog appears 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 "The Jailbird and Jailbunny". He is seen during the "Blow My Stack" song as a member of

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...

's anger management group. * A live action version of Spike and Chester appeared in a 1988 commercial for

Kibbles 'n Bits Kibbles 'n Bits is a brand name of dog food currently owned by The J.M. Smucker Company since it acquired its previous owner, Big Heart Pet Brands, in 2015. The brand was originally created in 1981 as the first dual textured dog food, having sof ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spike The Bulldog And Chester The Terrier Film characters introduced in 1952 Fictional dogs Anthropomorphic dogs Male characters in animation Animated duos Looney Tunes characters