Columbus, Ohio — In the 1970 Beetle Bailey cartoon, a character known as Surge accused the uniformed dog Otto of mishandling.
“Think, Otto, think !!” Surge says.
“We can’t all be Snoopy,” replies disappointed Otto.
This confluence of two iconic cartoon dogs is on display alongside dozens of other images at the world’s largest cartoon museum as part of a new presentation of dog history in the cartoon world.
The “Dog Show: 2nd Century Dog Cartoons” at The Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum will run until October.
The origin of the exhibition was in 2018 by the late Brad Anderson, the creator of Marmaduke, including 16,000 original Marmaduke cartoons from 1954 to 2010, other original art, business communications, fan mail, books, etc. Born when he donated his collection. According to museum coordinator Anne Drozd, it began a conversation about plumbing the depths of the museum’s extensive collection for dog-related images.
“There were lots of comics, magazine comics, comics, and many different examples of dogs,” says Drozd. “It seemed easy to put everything together in one theme that so many people could be involved in and love.”
There are many cats stealing scenes in cartoons, such as Jim Davis’s Garfield and Bill Watterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes” stuffed tiger.
However, the dog’s personality fits perfectly with the cartoon’s shape, said exhibition curator Brian Walker.
“Dog has that enthusiasm and aims to please, so we actually make really good cartoon characters,” said Mort, a cartoonist, cartoon historian and creator of Beetle Bailey. Walker, Walker’s son, said.
Otto first appeared in Beetle Bailey in 1956, but was a regular four-legged dog until Mort Walker anthropomorphized him and provided Otto with his uniform and desk. Probably due to the influence of Charles Schutz’s peanut strip, Brian Snoopy. Walker said.
The oldest image on display is a reprint of the very bad weather illustration of British artist George Cruikshank, “Rainy Cats and Dogs.”
Over the years, famous dogs such as Little Orphan Annie’s “Sandy”, Blondie’s “Daisy” and Scott Adams’ Dilbert Strip “Dogbert” have been on display. George Booth’s awkward New Yorker cartoon dog appeared, an image by alternative newspaper cartoonist Lynda Barry, and Charlie Frenniken’s “The Girl Who Appeared in the National Lampoon from 1972 to 1990 and her talking dog. “Trot and Bonnie” is here.
Not only famous characters like “Dog Man” in the cartoonist Dav Pilkey’s book series, but also a famous detective in the 1940s Dick Tracy series featuring the appearance of a boxer temporarily named “Mag”. There is also a lesser-known mutt that contains 6 strips to take ownership.
The exhibit also includes videos showing animated dogs such as Scooby Doo, Huckleberry Hound, Disney Pluto and Goofy.
Slinky The Dog from the movie “Toy Story” and Santa’s Little Helper from “The Simpsons”.
According to Brian Walker, his favorite image on display is from the classic Disney movie Lady and the Tramp, showing a dog eating at an Italian restaurant.
“They both eat the same spaghetti and their lips fall in love together,” Walker said. “There is nothing better than that.”
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