Cartoon Dogs (Part 2)
|
It is nearly impossible not to love Odie, the relatively stupid, completely mute (he doesn’t even think in words), and incessantly slobbering canine companion of Garfield the cat in the Jim Davis strip Garfield. Odie was there simply to be abused by Garfield, no doubt about it, but there are plenty of times in the history of the comic that we get to see just how important the little dog is to the titular chubby cat.
1990 – Santa’s Little Helper
What better pet for the misfit Simpson family than Santa’s Little Helper, a weary greyhound that couldn’t win a race if his life depended on it? From the Christmas themed pilot episode of The Simpsons to the episodes airing today (as of this writing the show is in its 16th season), SLH has been a fixture in the constantly expanding Simpsons universe. Who can forget SLH destroying Homer’s prized giant cookie, learning to talk in an effort to distract the family’s attention away from their “new†dog Laddie, and being trained as an attack hound by Mr. Burns and the not quite in the closet Waylon Smithers? Santa’s Little Helper is everything the Simpson family dog should be and more. Watch for his Snoopy imitation at the end of one of the series’ famous Treehouse of Horror Halloween episodes.
