- “Pongo, you ol' rascal!”
- ―Roger Radcliffe
Pongo is the male protagonist of the 1961 Disney animated feature film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. He is the pet of Roger Radcliffe, the mate of Perdita, and the biological father of 15 Dalmatian puppies, as well as the adoptive father of 84 more Dalmatian puppies.
Background[]
Personality[]
Much like his owner, Roger, Pongo is laid-back, playful, and a tad goofy. Aside from this, he is extremely loyal, and actually took note of Roger's loneliness as a songwriting bachelor, thus making it his mission to find his good friend a suitable companion. With this, Pongo is the reason Roger and his wife, Anita, actually came together. This was an example of Pongo's love for Roger, and the two were shown to be the best of friends, having a mutual understanding of one another. Roger affectionately refers to Pongo as "Pongo, ol' boy" and the two were even shown to share their own dance, which they engaged in whenever something celebratory occurred.
After the marriages of Roger and Anita, and Pongo and Perdita, the male Dalmatian retained his laid-back nature, though his fun-loving personality tone down considerably upon the birth of his and Perdita's fifteen puppies. With their arrival, Pongo remained playful but proved to be a responsible and loving father. His children, such as Patch and Penny, notably looked up to their father and admired him greatly. His love for his children was put to the test when the thieving Cruella De Vil hatched a plot to use their skin for fur coats, resulting in both Pongo and Perdita embarking on a perilous journey to save both their children and the other eighty-four puppies being held in captivity.
Throughout the adventure, different sides of Pongo's personality were showcased. He was shown to be intelligent, tactical, and stealthy. With his wits, he was easily able to outsmart the cunning Cruella, and her bumbling henchman, almost flawlessly, and with these assets, Pongo and his family were able to return home safely.
Appearances[]
One Hundred and One Dalmatians[]
Pongo in the original film.
In the original film, Pongo is the narrator. Having grown bored with bachelor life, Pongo is first seen trying his best to find his master (dogs call them pets) Roger, a suitable wife. So far, he has no luck until he sees mates that will suit both him and Roger: a woman named Anita and her pet Dalmatian Perdita. Pongo gets Roger to follow them into the park. Once there, Pongo tries to get their attention, but it ends in apparent failure. Although it seems terrible, Roger and Anita fall in love as do Pongo and Perdita. A few months later, the happy couples reside right down the block from the park, also living with Nanny. At this time, Perdita is expecting puppies, making Pongo proud. Just then, Anita's school friend, Cruella De Vil, makes a visit.
She quickly demands the whereabouts of the puppies but does not reveal the reason for her interest in them. Perdita, knowing the woman is a monster and could have no genuine love for pets, now worries over the very idea of having children. In October, the puppies arrive on schedule, much to the relief of a worried Pongo, who licks Roger happily when Roger is able to revive one of the puppies after he was born. Cruella makes another visit. She is initially repulsed by the puppies spotless appearance calling them "mongrels" but calms once she learns that the Dalmatian puppies will get their spots several weeks after birth. She begins to write a check for the puppies' purchase, while Pongo and Roger glare intensely at her. Roger refuses to sell the puppies for any price, angering Cruella, who furiously departs after ending her friendship with Anita and claims that she'll get even. With Cruella apparently gone, Pongo quickly tells the resting Perdita the good news. A few months later, Pongo and Perdita are happier than ever with fifteen wonderful puppies. During their walk in the park, two hoodlums by the name of Jasper and Horace, break into Roger and Anita's home, and, after trapping Nanny in the attic, kidnap the puppies. After realizing that there is little hope of the humans finding their puppies, Pongo uses the Twilight Bark, normally a gossip chain, to spread the news of their kidnapped puppies to the dogs of London.
When the news spreads beyond London all over England, it eventually reaches the Colonel far away in the English countryside. According to his associate, Sergeant Tibbs, puppy barking was heard over in an old mansion that has recently been occupied. Colonel and Tibbs head over to investigate, learning that Jasper and Horace are working for Cruella and that she plans to use the fur from Pongo and Perdita's puppies, as well as another eighty-four, to make dog-skin coats. The news is relayed back to Pongo and Perdita, who immediately head to the area to rescue their puppies. Pongo and Perdita arrive just in time to rescue their puppies as well as eighty-four more puppies from Jasper and Horace. Pongo fights Jasper while Perdita fights Horace, eventually resulting in a big part of the mansion's ceiling collapsing on the Baduns. Upon learning that there are now ninety-nine puppies, Pongo decides to adopt the extras, knowing Roger and Anita would never turn them out.
The Dalmatians begin to make their way home through the help of several dogs. While Perdita leads the puppies, Pongo brings up the rear and keeps count of all the puppies. Cruella learns about their escape and she along with the Baduns go on the hunt for the dogs, forcing the Dalmatians to avoid them by any means necessary.
In the small town of Dinsford, a Labrador reveals to the group that a moving truck is heading to London, and there is enough room for the entire group. Perdita worries about how to get on, for Jasper, Horace, and Cruella are roaming the town. After some inspiration from Lucky and Patch, who had been fighting in a nearby pile of soot, Pongo is inspired to disguise everyone as Labradors by rolling in the soot. The Dalmatians are barely able to get on the truck before it leaves, but their cover is blown when Pongo is seen carrying Lucky, whose disguise had been washed off by the snow. Cruella chases them down and nearly forces the van off the road, but when Jasper and Horace lose control of their truck it violently crashes into Cruella's car destroying both of the vehicles, ultimately foiling her plans. Back in London, Roger, Anita, and Nanny mourn for the lost dogs but are greeted by a wonderful Christmas Day gift when Pongo and the others arrive. Roger and Anita decide to keep the other eighty-four pups and move to a bigger property in the country, giving the Dalmatians enough room to roam freely.
101 Dalmatians: The Series[]
Pongo with Roger in 101 Dalmatians: The Series.
Pongo appears once again in the film's television series but has a supporting role. Pongo has moved to a farm plantation with his family and takes the role to be a good father and best friend of pet Roger. As shown in "The Dogs of DeVil" and "Splishing and Splashing", he is more laid back than Perdita but is notably less mischievous and sterner in the series as seen in "Snow Bounders" and "Food for Thought".
His demotion to a side character is mentioned in "The Making of...", where he mentions that "The producers decided to go for a "younger" look".
Pongo made appearances in the episodes "Home is Where the Bark Is", "The Dogs of DeVil", "Lucky to be Alone", "No Train, No Gain", "Four Stories Up", "You Say It's Your Birthday", "Lord of the Termites", "Hail to the Chief", "Food for Thought", "Film Fatale", "Snow Bounders", "Splishing and Splashing", "Un-Lucky", "The Making of...", "Animal House Party", and "Dalmatian Vacation, Part 2: Cross-Country Chaos".
101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure[]
Pongo in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure.
Pongo reappears in the film's sequel. Although he provides the opening narration as he had done in the first film, his role is reduced to that of a secondary one much like in the TV series. He first appears as Pongo thinks one of the puppies feels lost. As his son, Patch likes to be Thunderbolt's sidekick. When Patch falls down the stairs, Pongo comes down and comforts him to enjoy the life on a farm.
Pongo is accidentally the true reason Patch felt as if he was nothing more than a Dalmatian puppy (Pongo was talking in his sleep while Patch was asking him questions), prompting the puppy to leave on a soul-searching journey. Pongo is initially unaware of Patch being left behind when they leave as he loses count of how the puppies going in and coming out of the moving van. Later in the film however, when he and Roger look at the newspaper and see a photo of Thunderbolt with Patch in it, they immediately go into shock and panic to see that one of his own puppies has been lost in London. Pongo then takes the blame for this situation because he lost count. Perdita however, tells him to stop blaming himself as the only important thing is they find Patch before Cruella De Vil does. Pongo, along with Perdita, Roger, and Anita head back to London to look for him.
At the end of the film, when they do, he happily tells his son how much they've missed him, and thanks Thunderbolt for saving his family, though Thunderbolt tells him not to thank because it was Patch who did all of the amazing heroics.
House of Mouse[]
Pongo in House of Mouse.
Pongo makes several cameo appearances in the series as a guest at the club. Pongo's most notable appearance is at the beginning of "Dennis the Duck", where the House of Mouse had a black and white day, a tribute to the classic black and white cartoons. When Mickey Mouse informs the club of the tribute, Pongo comments, "It's about time."
In "House of Crime", Perdita and Pongo accuse Cruella De Vil of stealing their puppies, while he snarls at Cruella, while she protests, "You make one movie and you're labeled for life."
In the episode "The Stolen Cartoons", Pongo was seen with his family as Daisy Duck ordered for a table for one hundred and one.
In "The Mouse Who Came to Dinner", Goofy demanded that the magic brooms ensure that the club was "spotless" in time for a critic's arrival, resulting in the brooms wiping away the spots of Pongo and the other Dalmatians.
Pongo can also be seen several times during "Ask Von Drake"; specifically during the headcount of all the Disney character guests.
In the episode "Donald and the Aracuan Bird", Pongo and Perdita are seen looking shocked when Daisy says, "Great. Somebody get the spot remover." after the Aracuan Bird zooms by them at the front lobby's desk.
101 Dalmatian Street[]
Pongo and Perdita on Hunter's laptop.
While set more than fifty years after the first animated film, Delilah and her puppies are descendants of Pongo and Perdita. A photo of both Pongo and Perdita can be seen on the staircase of the titular house.
In "London, We Have a Problem", Dolly sees a photo of them on Hunter's laptop and refers to them as her great-great-great-grandparents. Their wedding photo can also be seen later when Delilah and Doug get a sample of Cruella's hair.
Wish[]
Pongo was among the Disney animated characters that appeared during the credits.
Other appearances[]
In The Wonderful World of Disney episode "Adventures in Color", Pongo makes a brief cameo chasing after Ludwig Von Drake after the professor pulled out a large piece of steak to illustrate how dogs see in color.
Pongo can be briefly seen at the start of "The Saga of Windwagon Smith" amongst the inhabitants of the town.
Pongo makes a cameo in Oliver & Company. He is seen trying to break free from Roger Radcliffe to join Dodger in the song "Why Should I Worry", which he manages to do in the end. Why he and Roger were in New York remains unknown, but it is most likely Roger was there on a business trip and took Pongo with him.
Pongo makes an appearance in the Mickey Mouse short "You, Me and Fifi" when Mickey phones Pluto, we can see Pluto in a poker game with Pongo, as well as Goofy, Nana, Tramp, Peg, Tito, and Sultan.
An image of Pongo can be seen on banners at the Oh My Disney Website in Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Video games[]
Kingdom Hearts[]
Pongo makes a minor appearance in Kingdom Hearts, having been transported to Traverse Town with Perdita due to the destruction of their world. During the escape, his owners, Roger and Anita, disappeared during the destruction and the 99 puppies were separated and scattered across other worlds. Sora must locate the puppies throughout Kingdom Hearts and send them back to Pongo and Perdita in Traverse Town. To return Sora's helpfulness, Pongo and Perdita give gifts to Sora. When Sora sealed Kingdom Hearts, Pongo, Perdita, and all of their children returned home.
Animated StoryBook: 101 Dalmatians[]
In the Animated StoryBook: 101 Dalmatians, Pongo acts as a narrator for two pages; the first one being where Roger wakes up, and the third being when he arranges Roger and Anita's meeting in the park. Here, he is voiced by Michael Gough.
102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue[]
In an early demo version of 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue, Pongo would have been in Dipstick's role. Based on their dialogue, it is possible that this was either a placeholder name or the game was intended to be focused about Pongo and Perdita's pups (Patches and Dottie, rather than Domino and Oddball in the demo version) before being changed in production to be set about the time of 102 Dalmatians, possibly to coincide with the film.
Disney Parks[]
Walt Disney World Resort[]
At the resort's Disney's All-Star Movies Resort, an oversized statue of Pongo can be seen at the 101 Dalmatians section of the hotel.
Pongo has a prominent role in the Walt Disney World interactive game Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Here, Pongo serves as the guide for the mission to defeat Cruella on Main Street, U.S.A., and teams up with the park guests and Merlin the Wizard in a quest to stop Cruella from retrieving part of the crystal of the Magic Kingdom. In this attraction, Pongo communicates with the park guests through barks translated by Merlin. Pongo also has his own spell card called "Pongo's Soot Bucket".
Disney Cruise Line[]
Pongo is also featured in the interactive game Midship Detective Agency. Here, Pongo's puppies are once again stolen. To save them, he teams up with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy to search the ship to find them and discover which villain committed the crime.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to Disney animators, Pongo has 72 spots.
- According to the DisneyLife app, his pet peeve is humans who think they're as smart as canines.
- By size and behavior, in human years, he is 42 years old.
- In a number of Mel Brooks films, the name Pongo is used. Robin claims to have a dog named Pongo in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, while in Spaceballs, the name of the critic who is doing a review about a film called Rocky 5,000 is also called Pongo. Mel Brooks has confirmed this to be an intentional homage to 101 Dalmatians, as he himself has also had Dalmatians that he calls Pongo or Perdita.
- When Pongo and Perdita attack Jasper and Horace, their growls and snarls sound like Tramp's.
- Also, some of their growls and snarls are recycled sound effects from Old Yeller when he was fighting the wolf.
- Pongo's bark was later reused for Toby's in The Great Mouse Detective.
- Although he wears a red collar in the animated film and most of his appearances, in some book adaptations of the film and in 101 Dalmatians: Escape from DeVil Manor, Pongo is seen wearing a blue collar.
- In the animated film version, Pongo wears a red collar and Perdita wears a blue collar. But in the live-action version, it's the other way around.
- When Pongo jumps into Roger's arms after they are startled by Nanny's excited outburst of the puppies' arrival, it appears similar to how Scooby-Doo often jumps into the arms of his owner, Shaggy Rogers when both are scared during a mystery.
Variants[]
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