| Charlie Dog | |
|---|---|
| Looney Tunes character | |
| First appearance | Prototype:Porky's Pooch (1941) Official:Little Orphan Airedale (1947) |
| Created by | Bob Clampett (prototype) Chuck Jones (official) |
| Voiced by | Mel Blanc (1941-1947–1958) Larry Storch (1972) Frank Welker (1990-1992)[1] Joe Alaskey (1997) Eric Bauza (2021–present) |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Mixed-breeddog |
| Gender | Male |
Charlie Dog (also known asRover,Charlie, and sometimesCharles the Dog) is ananimatedcartoon character in theWarner BrothersLooney Tunes series of cartoons. The character was featured in nine cartoons between 1941 and 1958. He is generally characterized as a wise-guy type.[2]
Bob Clampett minted the scenario that Charlie Dog would later inherit in his cartoon shortPorky's Pooch, first released on 27 December 1941.[3] In that cartoon, a homeless hound pulls out all the stops to get adopted by bachelorPorky Pig.Mel Blanc provided the dog's gruff,Brooklyn-Bugs Bunny-like voice and accent which became Charlie's standard voice.
As he did for otherLooney Tunes characters,Chuck Jones took Clampett's hound and reworked him, with the help of writer Michael Maltese. Jones first used the dog inLittle Orphan Airedale (4 October 1947) which saw Clampett's "Rover" renamed "Charlie."[4][5] The film was a success, and Jones would create two more Charlie Dog/Porky Pig cartoons in 1949:Awful Orphan (29 January)[6] andOften an Orphan (13 August).[7] Jones also starred Charlie without Porky in a couple of shorts:Dog Gone South (26 August 1950)[8] which seesYankee Charlie searching for a fine gentleman of theSouthern United States,[9] andA Hound for Trouble (28 April 1951)[10] which sends Charlie toItaly where he searches for a master who speaksEnglish.
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 percentCollie! Fifty percent setter,Irish Setter! Fifty PercentBoxer! Fifty percentDoberman Pinscher! Fifty percentPointer—dere it is! Dere it is! Dere it is! But, mostly, I'm allLabrador 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-talkingmutt who rarely realizes that his own aggressive obnoxiousness is sabotaging his appeal to any potential guardian. He is called "the most obnoxious salesman on four legs". He believes that everybody needs a dog to call their own, and he tackles all sorts of schemes to find a home.[11]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 has a verbal quirk which recurs. If a word contains another word in full, he will say it like that...vege-TABLE. Immi-GRANT.
Charlie makes a brief cameo appearance (via re-used animation fromOften an Orphan) in theBob McKimson-directed shortDog Tales (1958). Jones shelved the Charlie Dog series of films in the 1950s, along with characters he had himself introduced, such asThe Three Bears andHubie and Bertie. He was turning his efforts to new characters, such asPepé Le Pew andWile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
TheFrisky Puppy character that Jones paired withClaude Cat in several '50s shorts bears a close physical resemblance to Charlie.
Recent Warner Brothers merchandising and series and films such as episodes ofTiny Toon Adventures, andSpace Jam (1996) feature Charlie in the crowd scenes, one in which he throws a basketball toLola Bunny,The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries in the episodeYelp (here performed byJoe Alaskey), andTweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000) in Italy have brought Charlie back out of retirement. InLooney 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 inSpace 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 inThe Looney Tunes Show episode "Father Figures." He was seen in a pet store where he was attacked byHenery Hawk (who was looking for a chicken at the time when Porky Pig was being a father figure to him). Charlie Dog appears inLooney Tunes Cartoons (voiced byEric Bauza) in the episode "Adopt Me".
