Cartoon Characters

Source: Speak Up

Language level: Pre-Intermediate

Standard: American

Speaker: Chuck Rollando.

Comic book heroes usually have good solid American names: Clark Kent (Superman) and Lois Lane, Peter Parker (Spiderman) and his girlfriend Mary Jane. Bruce Wayne (Batman) was named after the Scottish hero Robert the Bruce and the US general “Mad” Anthony Wayne (who also inspired actor John Wayne’s pseudonym).

LITERARY LABELS

Mary names are adapted from literature and history. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were named after Renaissance painters: Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. Calvin and Hobbes are named after theologian John Calvin and philosopher Thomas Hobbes. Garfield the cat is named after his creator’s grandfather, who is turn was named after James Garfield US president 1880-81. Yogi Bear sounds like Yogi Berra, a baseball hero famous for his comical sayings.

Nemo, in Finding Nemo, is certainly named after captain Nemo, the underwater explorer in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Nemo in Latin means nobody, so the name also recalls Odysseus, who tells the Cyclops that his name is Nobody.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Matt Groening named The Simpsons after his own family (he changed his own name to Bart, this is an anagram of “brat,” which means terrible child). Bart’s neighbor Millhouse was named after President Richard Milhous Nixon: the most unfortunate name the creators could think of! Flanders is named after the street in Portland, Oregon, where Groening grew up, while Krusty the Clown was based on a clown he saw as a child called Rusty Nails.

South Park’s Eric Cartman is based on the creator’s friend Matt Karpman. The Chipmunks – Alvin, Simon and Theodore – are named after the executives of Liberty Records, their label. ren and Stimpy were the creator’s former landlord and college roommate, while Bugs Bunny’s name came from artist Bugs Hardaway.

WHAT YOU SEE WHAT YOU GET

Daffy means daft or silly: perfect for Daffy Duck. Cruella de vil, from 101 Dalmatians, is obviously a cruel devil. Tintin’s little white dog is called snowy: his fishy friend is Captain Haddock, and the absent-minded physicist is Professor Calculus. In Toy Story Woody is made of wood cowboy outfit is like the costume of folk singer, Woody Guthrie. His sense of humor is more like Woody Allien’s. Buzz Lightyer takes his first name from astronaut Buzz Aldrin, while Rex the dinosaur is a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Any male cat is called a tom, but Tom and Jerry (originally Jasper and Jinx) make us think of the First World War. When British soldiers were called Tommies and Germans Jerries. Twenty Pie (from Sylvester and Tweety) probably got his name from his strange accent when he sings “I’m a sweet (tweet) little bird in a gilded cage.” Wile E. Coyote (in Road Runner) is a wily coyote.

ALLITERATION AND RHYME

Many names sound good because of alliteration or rhyme: Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker, Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole: Fred Flintstone, George Jetson (and his wife Jane and daughter Judy): Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, and their nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. Scooby Doo, originally named Too Much, got his name from Frank Sinatra’s improvised singing at the end of the song “Strangers in the Night.” Mickey Mouse was originally called Mortimer, and may reflect Mickey Rooney’s success with silent movie character Mickey McGuire.

Julius Caesar’s wars against Vercingetorix are to blame for the names in Asterix.Obelix is a big as an obelisk. Cacofonix sounds terrible. Dogmatix, Geriatrix, Unhygienix and Vitastatistix are obvious jokes: and Getafix the druid makes drugs for everyone.

Last, but not least, there are the sever dwarfs from Snow White, whose names reflect their characters: can you name them?