There are a number of celebrity cartoon Great Danes who we are all familiar with. There is Marmaduke from the funny pages, Astro from the Jetsons and of course Scooby Doo. As a kid I got up early on Saturday mornings to watch Scooby Doo. I never thought I would end up with Great Danes having grown up terrified of dogs.
As Great Dane owners we all know just how true to life these cartoon caricatures really are.
Scooby Doo, the Saturday morning cartoon Great Dane
Scooby Doo was the loyal but goofy companion who spent most of his time running from anything scary, which is like most real Danes. There have been many times one of my Danes has ended up in my lap because they were scared by something. Ironically in the Middle Ages, Great Danes were thought to ward off evil spirits, ghosts and nightmares.
Initially Scooby’s character was pitched to the TV executives as a Sheepdog. After the first rejection they came back to the table with his character as a Great Dane and even consulted a breeder about how he should look.
“I decided to go the opposite [way] and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin and such. Even his colour is wrong.”
Iwao Takamoto
Iwao Takamoto designed the character and Don Messick voiced his unique speech pattern of beginning his words with “R”s. Another uniquely Scooby trait was that he had a prehensile tail. Don’t you think that would be a nice change over the table clearing one Danes really have?
Astro, cartoon Great Dane from the future
Astro from The Jetsons was also designed by Iwao Takamoto and voiced by Don Messick. Like Scooby Doo, Astro was fiercely loyal, easily scared and spoke with too many “R”s. He was also clumsy and liked to chase cats. While I know some Danes like cats, none of mine have! Or at least they haven’t liked them in a friendly way.
Marmaduke, the classic cartoon Great Dane
“no copyright infringement is intended”
What Great Dane owner hasn’t heard “hey look, it’s Marmaduke” when out and about with their dog? He is the classic toon Great Dane we all know. Brad Anderson penned Marmaduke from June 1954 until his death in 2015 at the age of 91. Strips co-drawn with his son, Paul Anderson, continue to be syndicated.
Marmaduke was originally inspired by a Boxer but Anderson wanted a larger breed.
“I wanted a dog that doesn’t know it’s a big dog, because big dogs don’t realize how large they are. They want to sit in your lap.”
Brad Anderson
Anderson and his wife did have a Great Dane named Marmaladee who liked to hold his hand in her mouth while he tried to draw.
It’s a Dane Thing
Today you can find another Great Dane comic being penned by Dale Santoiemma called “It’s a Dane Thing”. He can be found on Instagram and Facebook.
