Barnyard Dawg
Encyclopedia
Barnyard Dawg (also known as George P. Dog) is a Looney Tunes
character. An adult anthropomorphic basset hound
, he is the archenemy
of Foghorn Leghorn. He was created by Robert McKimson
, who also created Foghorn and was voiced by Mel Blanc
. Dawg vies with other enemies such as Henery Hawk
, the Weasel, Daffy Duck
and Sylvester
.
(1946), the same Henery Hawk
cartoon in which Foghorn himself first appeared. Although, in that cartoon, Dawg initiates hostilities with Foghorn by dropping a watermelon
on his head (prompting Foghorn to grumble "Every day, it's the same thing!"), Dawg is usually seen sleeping in his kennel at a cartoon's beginning, with Foghorn provoking him by slapping his hindquarters with a wood
en fencepost, setting the stage for Dawg to seek vengeance, often by manipulating Henery Hawk.
Dawg, called "Mandrake," was cast as pet to Porky Pig
in 1947's One Meat Brawl
, where the pair pursue one-shot star Grover Groundhog, who gives the hunting dog a sob story ("Wife and 72 children!...No coal in the cellar...!") that has him weeping sympathetic tears, much to Porky's disgust. Dawg/Mandrake uses this ploy himself in 1949's Daffy Duck Hunt
, where, still Porky's pet and hunting companion, he persuades Daffy Duck
to play along at being captured so he can avoid punishment from Porky, promising to free the duck later. However, once Daffy is tucked into Porky's freezer, Mandrake goes back on the bargain, although Daffy has little trouble outwitting both him and Porky.
In 1958's Don't Axe Me, Dawg, now the pet of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Fudd
and renamed "Wover," again matches wits with Daffy after convincing Mrs. Fudd to designate the duck
as Sunday dinner; surprisingly, Daffy is the loser in this cartoon, although he escapes doom when a guest requests a vegetarian meal instead. In 1958's Gopher Broke
, Dawg is the subject of "psychological wearing down" by the Goofy Gophers, Mac and Tosh, who are trying to get their vegetables back. After the gophers initiate phase no. 4 of their plan, which leaves Dawg on top of a telephone pole, he flips out and flies off (literally) after a crow, causing a deadpan pig, whose been witnessing the aftermath of the gophers' abuse against Dawg, to also flip out. While the pig has gone to see an animal psychiatrist, the doctor sees Dawg fly by his window and also flips out enough to join the pig on the couch.
Henery mistakes Dawg for a chicken in The Foghorn Leghorn
, because his father told him that chickens are great big monsters with real huge teeth who live in caves. Henery notices Dawg's mouth and presumes Dawg's doghouse is a kind of cave.
Although Dawg is normally portrayed as the straight man
for Foghorn's pranks, in Mother was a Rooster
, he is portrayed in a very negative light, as he not only steals an ostrich egg (he justifies this by explaining that it's been kind of dull round the farm lately, giving reference to his four year peace between him and Foghorn between "Weasel While You Work" and "Mother Was A Rooster"), he mocks the hatched ostrich, which Foghorn has adopted, and cheats in a boxing match with the rooster.
Dawg also appeared in Space Jam
as a member of the Tune Squad, and in Looney Tunes: Back in Action
playing cards with other dogs
in Yosemite Sam
's casino. In Baby Looney Tunes
, Dawg appears as a puppy who chases the cool roosters, until Foghorn Leghorn shows the cool roosters how to deal with dogs (through a game of fetch), and instead of joining them, just befriends Dawg.
Barnyard Dawg first appeared in The Looney Tunes Show
episode "Fish and Visitor's" Merrie Melodie's segment, "Chickenhawk" singing voice by Ben Falcone. He had a brief cameo at the end of the segment where it was shown that he sung the song the whole time.
, Barnyard Dawg through the years has also been voiced by Joe Alaskey
, Frank Welker
, Greg Burson
, and Maurice LaMarche
.
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
character. An adult anthropomorphic basset hound
Basset Hound
The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog of the hound family. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt rabbits and hare by scent. Their sense of smell for tracking is second only to that of the Bloodhound....
, he is the archenemy
Archenemy
An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy .- Etymology :The word archenemy or arch-enemy originated...
of Foghorn Leghorn. He was created by Robert McKimson
Robert McKimson
Robert "Bob" Porter McKimson, Sr. was an American animator, illustrator, and director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros., and later DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
, who also created Foghorn and was voiced by Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
. Dawg vies with other enemies such as Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk is a cartoon character from the American Looney Tunes series, who appeared in twelve cartoons. His first appearance was The Squawkin' Hawk, directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Leon Schlesinger. Henery's next appearance was Walky Talky Hawky which also featured Foghorn Leghorn and...
, the Weasel, Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
and Sylvester
Sylvester (Looney Tunes)
Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr., Sylvester the Cat or simply Sylvester, is a fictional character, a three-time Academy Award-winning anthropomorphic Tuxedo cat in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies repertory, often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper...
.
Biography
Dawg's first appearance came in Walky Talky HawkyWalky Talky Hawky
Walky Talky Hawky is a Henery Hawk/Foghorn Leghorn animated short film from Warner Bros. released in 1946 and directed by Robert McKimson. All voice characterizations are performed by Mel Blanc.-Plot:...
(1946), the same Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk is a cartoon character from the American Looney Tunes series, who appeared in twelve cartoons. His first appearance was The Squawkin' Hawk, directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Leon Schlesinger. Henery's next appearance was Walky Talky Hawky which also featured Foghorn Leghorn and...
cartoon in which Foghorn himself first appeared. Although, in that cartoon, Dawg initiates hostilities with Foghorn by dropping a watermelon
Watermelon
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...
on his head (prompting Foghorn to grumble "Every day, it's the same thing!"), Dawg is usually seen sleeping in his kennel at a cartoon's beginning, with Foghorn provoking him by slapping his hindquarters with a wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
en fencepost, setting the stage for Dawg to seek vengeance, often by manipulating Henery Hawk.
Dawg, called "Mandrake," was cast as pet to Porky Pig
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
in 1947's One Meat Brawl
One Meat Brawl
-Plot:In a forest dwells Grover Groundhog and today is Groundhog Day. Grover Groundhog does a dance with his shadow saying that his shadow means nothing in relation to the weather forecast. A radio broadcast prompts Grover to leave his burrow for photographers to see if his shadow appears or not...
, where the pair pursue one-shot star Grover Groundhog, who gives the hunting dog a sob story ("Wife and 72 children!...No coal in the cellar...!") that has him weeping sympathetic tears, much to Porky's disgust. Dawg/Mandrake uses this ploy himself in 1949's Daffy Duck Hunt
Daffy Duck Hunt
Daffy Duck Hunt is a 1949 animated Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson, and starring Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Barnyard Dawg...
, where, still Porky's pet and hunting companion, he persuades Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
to play along at being captured so he can avoid punishment from Porky, promising to free the duck later. However, once Daffy is tucked into Porky's freezer, Mandrake goes back on the bargain, although Daffy has little trouble outwitting both him and Porky.
In 1958's Don't Axe Me, Dawg, now the pet of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...
and renamed "Wover," again matches wits with Daffy after convincing Mrs. Fudd to designate the duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
as Sunday dinner; surprisingly, Daffy is the loser in this cartoon, although he escapes doom when a guest requests a vegetarian meal instead. In 1958's Gopher Broke
Gopher Broke
Gopher Broke is a "Looney Tunes" cartoon animated short starring the Goofy Gophers and the Barnyard Dawg . Released November 15, 1958, the cartoon is directed by Robert McKimson. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc and Stan Freberg...
, Dawg is the subject of "psychological wearing down" by the Goofy Gophers, Mac and Tosh, who are trying to get their vegetables back. After the gophers initiate phase no. 4 of their plan, which leaves Dawg on top of a telephone pole, he flips out and flies off (literally) after a crow, causing a deadpan pig, whose been witnessing the aftermath of the gophers' abuse against Dawg, to also flip out. While the pig has gone to see an animal psychiatrist, the doctor sees Dawg fly by his window and also flips out enough to join the pig on the couch.
Henery mistakes Dawg for a chicken in The Foghorn Leghorn
The Foghorn Leghorn
The Foghorn Leghorn is a Henery Hawk/Foghorn Leghorn animated short film from Warner Bros. released in 1948 and directed by Robert McKimson. Foghorn has to convince an unbelieving Henery Hawk that he really is a "chicken. Rooster, that is."...
, because his father told him that chickens are great big monsters with real huge teeth who live in caves. Henery notices Dawg's mouth and presumes Dawg's doghouse is a kind of cave.
Although Dawg is normally portrayed as the straight man
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
for Foghorn's pranks, in Mother was a Rooster
Mother Was a Rooster
Mother was a Rooster is a "Merrie Melodies" cartoon animated short starring Foghorn Leghorn and the Barnyard Dawg. Released October 20, 1962, the cartoon is directed by Robert McKimson. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc...
, he is portrayed in a very negative light, as he not only steals an ostrich egg (he justifies this by explaining that it's been kind of dull round the farm lately, giving reference to his four year peace between him and Foghorn between "Weasel While You Work" and "Mother Was A Rooster"), he mocks the hatched ostrich, which Foghorn has adopted, and cheats in a boxing match with the rooster.
Dawg also appeared in Space Jam
Space Jam
Aside from Jordan, a number of NBA players and coaches appeared in the film. Larry Bird portrays a friend of Jordan who joins him for a game of golf. When the Monstars steal the NBA players' talent, they invade a game between the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks, causing the Knicks' Patrick...
as a member of the Tune Squad, and in Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Looney Tunes: Back in Action is a 2003 American live action/animated adventure comedy film directed by Joe Dante and starring Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Timothy Dalton, and Steve Martin. The film is essentially a feature-length Looney Tunes cartoon, with all the wackiness and surrealism typical...
playing cards with other dogs
Dogs Playing Poker
Dogs Playing Poker refers collectively to a series of sixteen oil paintings by C. M. Coolidge, commissioned in 1903 by Brown & Bigelow to advertise cigars...
in Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...
's casino. In Baby Looney Tunes
Baby Looney Tunes
Baby Looney Tunes is a Canadian-American animated television series that shows Looney Tunes characters as toddlers. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation....
, Dawg appears as a puppy who chases the cool roosters, until Foghorn Leghorn shows the cool roosters how to deal with dogs (through a game of fetch), and instead of joining them, just befriends Dawg.
Barnyard Dawg first appeared in The Looney Tunes Show
The Looney Tunes Show
The Looney Tunes Show is a packaged show, created for Cartoon Network, and broadcast from 2002 to 2005. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The show featured cartoon shorts from the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon series produced from 1930 to 1969.-External links:...
episode "Fish and Visitor's" Merrie Melodie's segment, "Chickenhawk" singing voice by Ben Falcone. He had a brief cameo at the end of the segment where it was shown that he sung the song the whole time.
Voice
Originally voiced by Mel BlancMel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
, Barnyard Dawg through the years has also been voiced by Joe Alaskey
Joe Alaskey
Joseph "Joe" Alaskey is an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, credited as one of the successors of Mel Blanc in impersonating the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other characters from Warner Bros. cartoons. He was born in Watervliet, New York.-Other work:Alaskey has also done voices...
, Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
, Greg Burson
Greg Burson
-Biography:Greg Burson was given the responsibility of voicing Bugs Bunny in the 1995 Carrotblanca, a well-received 8-minute Looney Tunes cartoon originally shown in cinemas alongside The Amazing Panda Adventure and The Pebble and the Penguin...
, and Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche is an Emmy Award winning Canadian-American voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama as Kif Kroker, as Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters, Verminous Skumm and Duke Nukem in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Big Bob Pataki in Hey...
.