Rantanplan (; alternatively spelled Ran-Tan-Plan and Ran Tan Plan) is a fictional hound dog created by a Belgian cartoonist

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia * St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Man ...

and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

writer

René Goscinny René Goscinny (; ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Asterix, Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Born in France to a Jewish family from Poland, he spent his chil ...

. Originally a supporting character in the ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western (genre), Western bande dessinée, comic album series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris (cartoonist), Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborati ...

'' series, Rantanplan later starred in self-titled series. Rantanplan is a spoof of the male

German Shepherd The German Shepherd, also known in Britain as an Alsatian, is a German Dog breed, breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various Old German herding dogs, traditional German herding dog ...

Rin Tin Tin Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin (October 10, 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, ...

. In the Turkish translations of the series, he is indeed named Rin Tin Tin.Red Kit Istanbul'da
(Lucky Luke in Istanbul), Haberturk, 5 June 2012. English versions of the books have renamed him "Rin-Tin-Can" and "Bushwack" in the 1983

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

'', as well as "Rintindumb" in the

comedy animated TV series '' The Daltons'' produced by

animation studio

Xilam Xilam (also known as Xilam Animation) is a French animation studio which specializes in making animated television series and feature films. Marc du Pontavice and his wife Alix founded it in 1999 as a replacement for the animation division of ...

Publication history

The character first appeared in the earliest panels of the story ''

Sur la piste des Dalton This is a list of Belgian comics albums featuring the character Lucky Luke, written and drawn by Morris. ''La Mine d'or de Dick Digger'' ''La Mine d'or de Dick Digger'' contains two stories published in '' Le Journal de Spirou'' in 1947: nam ...

'', published on 4 February 1960 in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou'', and later as an album in 1962. The character remained a fixture over a long series of ''Lucky Luke'' publications, resulting in a series of its own

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

publications starting in 1987. Ten years after the death of Goscinny, for the production of the ''Rantanplan'' series, Morris collaborated with

scenarist A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

s such as Jean Léturgie,

Bob de Groot Robert de Groot (26 October 1941 – 17 November 2023) was a Belgian comic books artist and writer. Career While still a young art student de Groot got his first comics experience as an assistant to Maurice Tillieux on ''Félix''. He began cr ...

and

Vittorio Leonardo Vittorio Leonardo (25 November 1938) is an Italians, Italian colorist of some famous Franco-Belgian comics series. He worked for ''Spirou (magazine), Spirou'' magazine and founded the ''Studio Leonardo'', which continued his work. Biography Vittor ...

Personality

Rantanplan is a prison

guard dog A guard dog or watchdog is a dog used to watch for and guard people or property against unwanted human or animal intruders. A dog trained to attack intruders is known as an attack dog. History Dogs have been used as guardians since ancient ...

, often tasked with watching over the Daltons or assisting Lucky Luke track them down when they escape. However, he is unable to understand this and often mistakes Joe Dalton, who hates him psychotically, for a beloved owner. As well as being stupid, Rantanplan is extremely slow and accident-prone. However, he is usually very good-natured and loyal. Like Averell Dalton, he has a huge appetite and will devour everything put in front of him, whether it is food or not, which has ranged from bars of soap to dishwater. Lucky Luke's horse,

Jolly Jumper Jolly Jumper is a horse character in the Franco-Belgian comics series ''Lucky Luke'', created by Belgium, Belgian artist Morris (comics), Morris. Described as "the smartest horse in the west" and able to perform tasks such as chess-playing and tig ...

, a very intelligent animal, holds Rantanplan in contempt, regarding him as one of nature's great mistakes.

Animated series

In 2006, French animation studio

produced an animated television series of Morris's ''Rantanplan'' stories in 90-second episodes, broadcast on the French television network

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

. It is broadcast on Canadian television network YTV in Canada under the name ''Rintindumb'', and distributed by

Mediatoon Société Dargaud (), doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud, publishing its first comics in 1943. ...

. It featured the voices of

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

and

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Pro ...

. It was on a Finnish family-friendly streaming service Toons.TV until 2015.

Bibliography

Dargaud *''La Mascotte,'' 1987, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''The Mascot'') *''Le Parrain,'' 1988, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''The Godfather'') Lucky Productions *''Rantanplan otage,'' 1992, written by Léturgie, Janiver and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''Rantanplan hostage'') *''Le Clown,'' 1993, written by Léturgie, Janiver and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''The Clown'') *''Bêtisier 1,'' 1993, written by Léturgie, Janiver and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''Bloopers 1'') *''Bêtisier 2,'' 1993, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bloopers 2'') *''Le Fugitif,'' 1994, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''The Fugitive'') *''Bêtisier 3,'' 1995, written by Leonardo, drawn by Morris (''Bloopers 3'') *''Le Messager,'' 1995, written by Léturgie and Fauche (''The Messenger'') *''Les Cerveaux,'' 1996, written by de Groot, drawn by Morris (''The Brains'') *''Le Chameau,'' 1997, written by Léturgie, Adam and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''The Camel'') *''Bêtisier 4,'' 1998, written by de Groot, drawn by Morris (''Bloopers 4'') *''Le Grand Voyage,'' 1998, written by de Groot, drawn by Morris (''The Big Trip'') Lucky Comics *''Bêtisier 5,'' 2000, written by Leonardo, drawn by Morris (''Bloopers 5'') *''La Belle et le Bête'', 2000, written by Leonardo and de Groot, drawn by Morris (''Beauty and the Beast'') *''Le Chien plus bête que son ombre'', 2000, written by de Groot, drawn by Morris (''The Dog more stupid than his shadow'') *''Bêtisier 6: Le Noël de Rantanplan'', 2001, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bloopers 6: Rantanplan's Christmas'') *''Chien perché!,'' 2002, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Perched dog!'') *''Haut les pattes!,'' 2003, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''High legs!'') *''Le Joli Cœur,'' 2003, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''The Pretty Heart'') *''Bêtisier 7: Sur le Pied de Guerre,'' 2008, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bloopers 7: On the Warparth'') *''Bêtisier 8: Chien D'arrêt'', 2009, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bloopers 8: Stop Dog'') *''Morts de Rire'', 2010, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Deaths of Laughing'') *''Carré D'os'', 2011, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bone Square'')

References

;Additional sources
''Rantanplan'' albums
Bedetheque

External links

{{Lucky Luke by Morris Comic book sidekicks Fictional dogs Comics about dogs Bandes dessinées Lucky Luke Comics characters introduced in 1960 1987 comics debuts 2011 comics endings Belgian comic strips Humor comics Western (genre) comics Comics spinoffs Belgian comics characters Male characters in comics Comics adapted into animated series Rin Tin Tin