Pooch the Pup is a cartoon animal character, an anthropomorphic dog, appearing in Walter Lantz cartoons during the studio's black-and-white era. The character appeared in 13 shorts made in 1932 and 1933.
Biography In 1931, Walter Lantz was encountering slight financial troubles. One way to cope with the problems was to conceive a new series featuring a new character, thus leading to the appearance of Pooch the Pup. While Lantz went on to direct the Pooch the Pup shorts, his colleague Bill Nolan would focus on the long-running Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons.
When surprised about something, Pooch would say "Heh!" in a squeaky fashion. When his girlfriend is in trouble, he pounds his chest and makes a Tarzan-esque shout before moving.
Pooch made his debut in The Athlete. Here, he was a white-furred bloodhound with long black ears. In Pin Feathers, he had black fur, making him appear very similar to Oswald, except for his long, hairless tail.
Pooch's last short was in She Done Him Right, a parody of the film called She Done Him Wrong. Following his retirement from the screen, Oswald was seen in two cartoons wearing a jacket similar to Pooch's. It was suggested that the two Oswald shorts were initially designed to feature Pooch.
Filmography
The Athlete (August 29, 1932)The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: 1932 , Big Cartoon DataBase The Butcher Boy (September 26, 1932), bcdb.com The Crowd Snores (October 24, 1932), bcdb.com The Under Dog (November 7, 1932), bcdb.com Cats and Dogs (December 5, 1932), bcdb.com Merry Dog (January 2, 1933)The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: 1933 , bcdb.com The Terrible Troubadour (January 30, 1933), bcdb.com The Lumber Champ (March 13, 1933), bcdb.com Nature's Workshop (June 5, 1933), bcdb.com Pin Feathers (July 3, 1933), bcdb.com Hot and Cold (August 14, 1933), bcdb.com King Klunk (September 4, 1933), bcdb.com She Done Him Right (October 9, 1933), bcdb.com
Note: One source listed S.O.S. Icicle (May 8, 1933) as a separate cartoon,, bcdb.com while another claimed it was a working title for Hot & Cold.
See also Walter Lantz Productions List of Walter Lantz cartoon characters
References
External links The Walter Lantz-o-Pedia