Bingo the Dog is a Bingo the Farmer character from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.
Bingo first appeared in the 1941 short Porky’s Party. He was given to Porky by his friend Daffy Duck as a birthday present.
Bingo is a yellow Labrador Retriever who loves to play games and eat pork rinds.
In Porky’s Party, Bingo takes part in a game of bingo with Porky, Daffy, and Elmer Fudd. The game quickly becomes chaotic, with Bingo jumping up and down and barking excitedly.
When it is Bingo’s turn to pick up a card, he accidentally grabs Daffy’s card instead of his own. Daffy protests, but it is too late; Bingo has already called out “bingo!” and scored a point for his team.
Bingo later appeared in several other shorts, including 1940’s Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid, 1942’s Dog Gone Merry Christmas, 1943’s Porky Pig’s Feathered Friend, and 1948’s Tweety Pie on vacation. In these shorts, he often played supporting roles alongside other characters such as Bugs Bunny or Tweety Pie.
In 1960’s What’s Up Doc?, Bingo participates in an animal version of bingo called “What’s My Name?” Doc plays the role of caller, selecting one animal at a time to answer questions about their name before giving them a card to mark off on the board. The goal of the game is to get all of the animals into the barn before Doc can call their name again.
Bingo appeared occasionally throughout the early 1970s but did not appear in any new shorts until 1980′s Quick Draw McGraw. In this short, Bingo helps Quick Draw McGraw investigate strange noises coming from inside an abandoned farmhouse.
They eventually find out that the noises are caused by an escaped cow named Juno who is trying to find her way back to her farm. The duo eventually recaptures Juno and return her to her farm along with a bag of loot they had collected during their adventure.
In 1990′s The Looney Tunes Show episode “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery”, Bingo helps Sheriff J.W.
Pepper solve a crime involving thieves who have stolen all of Pepper’s money from his piggy bank. The criminals are eventually apprehended thanks to Bingo’s help tracking them down using his sense of smell.
Bingo has also made occasional appearances in other media adaptations of Looney Tunes characters such as appearances in TV series The Bugs Bunny Show (1957), The Merrie Melodies Show (1961), Hanna-Barbera Cartoons (1964), Tom & Jerry Kids (1981), Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume One (1996), and Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes Collection: Volume Two (1997).
He has also been featured in several video games based on the cartoons, including 1991′s Space Ace for Super Nintendo Entertainment System and 1994′s Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive/PC Engine CD-ROM²/Saturn console platforms. In 2006′s Bugs Bunny: Crazy Castle 2 for PlayStation 2 computer platform, Bingo stars as one of the main playable characters alongside Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam.
Bingo has been praised by many fans for his quirky personality and hilarious appearances in the cartoons over the years. He has even been referred to as “the most beloved character in Looney Tunes history”.
