Pongo

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, the biological father of 15 Dalmatian puppies, and the adoptive father of 84 more Dalmatian puppies.

## Pongo

### Relatives

Perdita (mate)Lucky, Patch, Rolly, Penny, Freckles, Pepper, and the other puppies (children)

## Appearances

### Portrayed by

Rod Taylor (original film)Max Smith (barking sound; original film)Will Ryan (DTV series)Michael Gough (Animated Storybook)Kevin Schon (TV series)Samuel West (sequel)Frank Welker (barking sound; sequel)Michael Bell (House of Mouse)

### Appears in

One Hundred and One Dalmatians101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London AdventureOliver and Company (cameo)101 DalmatiansMickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of MouseRalph Breaks the Internet (cameo)The Further Adventures of ThunderboltWalt Disney anthology series (cameo)DTV ValentineDTV Doggone Valentine101 Dalmatians: The SeriesHouse of MouseOnce Upon a TimeMickey Mouse (cameo)101 Dalmatian Street (picture cameos)101 Dalmatians: Escape from DeVil Manor102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue (demo version)Animated StoryBook: 101 DalmatiansKingdom Hearts

### Debut

One Hundred and One Dalmatians

In the original film, Pongo is the narrator. Having grown bored with the bachelor's life, Pongo is first seen trying his best to find his master (dogs call them pets) Roger, a suitable wife. So far, there's no luck until Pongo 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 seemed 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 having puppies, and Pongo would be proud. Just then, Anita's school friend, Cruella De Vil, makes a visit.

She quickly demands the whereabouts for the puppies but does not reveal the reason for her interest in them. Perdita, knowing the woman is a monster, now worries over the very idea of having children. In October, the puppies arrive, 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 but calms once she learns that the Dalmatian puppies will get their spots three weeks after birth. She begins to write a check for the puppies' purchase, while Pongo and Roger glare at her. Roger refuses to sell the puppies, angering Cruella, who furiously departs after ending her friendship with Anita and claims that she'll get even. With Cruella 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 goes on a 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 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 nudges 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 appears once again in the film's television series but has a very minor 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 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 his son's disappearance until later in the film when he and Roger read the newspaper and see a photo of Thunderbolt with Patch in it. Pongo shocked at the fact that one of his own has once again disappeared, blames himself for Patch being missing because he lost count as Perdita tells him to stop blaming himself. 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.

## 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.

## 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.
* In some book adaptations of the film, the live-action remake and in 101 Dalmatians: Escape from DeVil Manor, Pongo is seen wearing a blue collar.
* In the animated film, Pongo wears a red collar and Perdita wears a blue collar. But in the live-action version of the film, it's the other way around.