Dogfaces or ‘’’Dognoses’’’ is the term used by fans to designate the anthropomorphic characters and extras in comic books, comic strips, and animated cartoons.[1] Dogfaces usually resemble cartoon human beings, but with some special characteristics:
- They have four digits on each hand and as few as three toes on each foot.
- They have the round black noses typical of dogs (in one Mickey Mouse comic strip, the statue of a Middle East ruler had a nose that was a giant black pearl).
- They have ears that are either pointed or droopy, like a dog's.
- They often have a prominent overbite.
The most famous dogface is probably Goofy. Bill Farmer, the current actor who voices Goofy in cartoons, suggested that Goofy is "the missing link between dog and man."[2]
Cartoonist Don Rosa apologized, tongue-in-cheek, for turning Theodore Roosevelt into a dogface for the sake of consistency in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. In such cases, it may be seen as a different artistic representation of humans: in another instance, Mickey Mouse supporting character Professor Dustibones went from dogface in his first appearance, to human.[3]
Dogheads
Long before modern comics and animation, dog-headed people (called cynocephalics, from Greek κυνοκέφαλοι (kynokephaloi), from κύων- (dog-) and κεφαλή (head)) have been depicted in art and legend in many cultures, beginning no later than ancient Egypt. Several ancient Egyptian gods, such as Anubis[4] and Duamutef, are dogheads.
See also
References
- ^ Andrae, Thomas (2006). Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity. University Press of Mississippi. p. 128. ISBN 978-1578068586.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "A Goofy Movie movie review & film summary (1995)". rogerebert.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
Is Goofy a human, or a dog? I once met Bill Farmer, who does the voice of Goofy, and he gave me the definitive answer: 'Pluto is definitely a dog. Goofy is sort of the missing link between dog and man.'
- ^ "Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #557". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
- ^ Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879). "cynŏcĕphălus , i, m., = κυνοκέφαλος". A Latin Dictionary. Retrieved December 22, 2021.