Pogo

Pogo was the title of a long-running daily comic strip created by Walt Kelly, as well as the name of its principal character. Pogo, set in the Georgia section of the Okefenokee Swamp, often engaged in social and political satire through the adventures of the strip's funny animals. The strip also used much slapstick physical humor; the same series of strips could often be enjoyed by young children and by savvy adults on different levels.

Characters

No definitive list has ever been made of every character that appeared in Pogo over the 27 years the strip ran, but the best estimates put the total cast at over 300. Kelly would create characters as he needed them, and discarded them when they ceased to be funny, or had served their purpose. Most characters were at least nominally male, but a few female characters appeared regularly. Kelly has been quoted as saying that all the characters reflect different aspects of his personality.

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Even though most characters had full names, in many cases other characters would refer to them by nicknames or simply by their species. For example, Howland Owl was almost always referred to as "Owl." Churchy LaFemme, a turtle, would occasionally be referred to as "Turtle" (or "Turkle," in Swamp-speak). Beauregard was usually be referred to as "Hound Dog," and so on.

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The main recurring characters in the strip included:

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Pogo: an opossum (or "possum"), Kelly's lead character served as an everyman, sharing simple homespun wisdom with the strip's readers. Pogo was the most honest, and wisest, character in the swamp, and usually did his best to stay out of the hairbrained schemes dreamt up by other characters, preferring to go fishing in flat-bottomed, slab-sided scows (many of which were named after Kelly's friends, family, and people he wanted to honor in some small way).

Related Topics:
Opossum - Scow

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Albert: an alligator. Usually the comic foil for Pogo, Albert was rather dimwitted and found himself bumbling into one catastrophe after another. Having an alligator's voracious appetite, Albert would often eat things indiscriminately, and was accused on more than one occasion of eating another character.

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Churchy LaFemme: a turtle. His name is a play on the French phrase "cherchez la femme" originated by Alexandre Dumas, meaning "look for the woman" (or, as Garry Trudeau translated it, "keep an eye peeled for broads"). Superstitious to a fault (for example, panicking when he discovers that Friday the 13th falls on a Wednesday that month), Churchy usually tries to avoid trouble but always ends up caught in whatever the current ongoing scheme is. Churchy may have once been a pirate, as for the longest time he wore a buccaneer's hat and was sometimes referred to as "Captain LaFemme."

Related Topics:
Turtle - Alexandre Dumas - Garry Trudeau - Pirate - Buccaneer's

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Howland Owl: Owl is the swamp's resident scientist, and not a very good one. In his earliest appearances, he wore a pointed wizard's cap. The most learned man in the swamp, he once tried to open a school but had to close it due to lack of interest. Most of the hairbrained schemes come from the mind of Owl.

Related Topics:
Owl - Wizard

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Porkypine: porcupine, usually referred to as "Porky," a misanthrope and cynic. Porky never smiled in the strip (except for one time when the lights were out). Pogo's best friend, and probably the second wisest character in the strip, Porky has two weaknesses. One is his infatuation for Mis Mam'selle, and the other is his complete inability to properly tell a joke. Porky also has a doppleganger, Uncle Baldwin, who wears a trenchcoat to hide the fact that he is bald from the neck down. Porky's inability to properly tell a joke is a recurring gag.

Related Topics:
Porcupine - Misanthrope - Cynic

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Beauregard Fontleroy Bugleboy: a dog and occasional policeman. Loyal to a fault -- many faults, actually.

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Miss Mam'selle Hepzibah: a beautiful French skunk (modelled after Kelly's mistress, who would later become his second wife), Miz Mam'selle is sought by a number of men in the swamp (most notably Porky), but she only has eyes for Pogo.

Related Topics:
French - Skunk

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Miz Beaver: a beaver, washerwoman for the Swamp, and best friend to (and occasional match-maker for) Miss Mam'selle.

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Deacon Mushrat: the local holy man, the Deacon speaks in Old English style gothic lettering. He usually ends up playing straight man to the other con-men that live in the Swamp.

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Molester Mole (nee Mole MacCarony): usually referred to simply as "Mole," is a nearsighted grifter living in the Swamp. Modeled somewhat after recluse Howard Hughes (early on he carried a spray bottle full of disinfectant wherever he went), Mole is always looking for a get-rich quick scheme. He is also often portrayed as intolerant, and used as a parody of right-wing reactionaries.

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P.T. Bridgeport: a bear and circus man, modeled after P.T. Barnum, the most famous resident of Kelly's boyhood home of Bridgeport, Connecticut. His speech baloons resemble classic circus posters.

Related Topics:
Bear - Circus - P.T. Barnum

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Seminole Sam: a fox and con man. He takes his name from the Seminole tribe of Native Americans.

Related Topics:
Fox - Seminole

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