# Cats and Dogs in Cartoons **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084 "2005-05-30T13:44:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084/21 "2005-05-31T02:22:01Z")
Krazy Kat was just as dim as the brick that would him her. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084/22 "2005-05-31T02:28:28Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Krazy Kat was just as dim as the brick that would him her. Wasn’t Ignatz the mouse the smart one there? Same dynamic as Tom and Jerry. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084/23 "2005-05-31T05:51:00Z")
Two Lumps. One Eeeeevil World Dominating Wannabe kitty, and one dumber-than-dumb kitty. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084/24 "2005-05-31T06:06:04Z")
> [@Longgrain](#): > > Ren and Stimpy? Where the cat (Stimpy) was a brain dead childish buffoon. While the Dog (Ren) was the intelligent one of the dyad. While you’re right that Stimpy is dumb as a bag of hammers (and shaped like one, too), I wouldn’t call Ren ‘the intelligent one’. He’s cynical and nasty, and certainly THINKS he’s the smart one - and he’s the brains of the operation, mostly by dint of Stimpy’s willingness to go along with him - but he’s really not all that bright himself. It’s much the same dynamic as Satch/Bucky in Get Fuzzy, only without the human playing straightman for the boys, and the species reversed. Satch and Stimpy are good natured, dumpy and dumb. Ren and Bucky are nasty, cynical, and nowhere near as smart as they think they are. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084/25 "2005-05-31T06:06:15Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > So you made me go a-Googling, and it turns out I remembered right! Faron _was_ that cat’s name. (The Cat Next Door, who came along later, did not have a name and never actually appeared “onscreen.”) When that cat in Peanuts “appeared” it was only a big swipe sound and the cat always leaving his response scratched in Snoopy’s doghouse. Regarding this discussion: the cat showed how smart he was by scratching in one swipe a nice violin in reply to a musical question Snoopy made! ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084/26 "2005-05-31T21:28:22Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > (The Cat Next Door, who came along later, did not have a name and never actually appeared “onscreen.”) Although the cat next door never appeared “onscreen,” it did have a name: World War II (as mentioned earlier in this thread). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084/27 "2005-06-01T03:42:56Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > **The prey, and/or the “little guy,” outsmarts the predator/big guy**. I really think this is most of the reason. And it’s not just applicable to cats. Cats are smarter than dogs, but then mice and canaries are smarter than cats, wabbits are smarter than Elmers, roosters are smarter than dogs, chickenhawks or weasels and so forth. IMO part of it is that we all like to see the underdog win. The weak should triumph over the strong, especially of the stroing osbeing aggresive. Another factor is that we need to be able to avoid violence. If the predator is stronger, faster, smarter and with bigger teeth or guns then there’s gonna be violence. and that’s not conceivable in a kid’s cartoon. The little guy needs some way to escape and that will usually be through brains. In some cases of course the little guy has other ways such as Speedy Gonzales or the Roadrunner and in those cases they aren’t portrayed as any smarter than the predator. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084/28 "2005-06-01T03:49:33Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Although the cat next door never appeared “onscreen,” it did have a name: World War II (as mentioned earlier in this thread). Now that you mention it, that sounds right! :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-dogs-in-cartoons/306084.md?page=1)