The beloved comic strip Marmaduke has been entertaining readers for nearly 70 years. But is the main character, the lovable Great Dane Marmaduke, a real dog? While many readers have come to know and love Marmaduke over the years, the answer to this question may surprise you. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at the evidence to see whether or not the character of Marmaduke is based on a real-life canine. We will explore the creator’s background, the breed of dog, and other elements of Marmaduke’s character to get a better picture of the real story behind the beloved comic strip. At the end of the post, you should have a better understanding of whether Marmaduke is a real or fictional canine.
Marmaduke: Is It A Name Of A Dog Breed?
I am aware that using Marmaduke throughout this post gives the impression that I am talking about a particular breed of dog. So I will like to clear the air. Marmaduke started as a comic strip featured in a newspaper. Brad Anderson created the drawing, which featured the Winslow family and their distinctive Great Dane.
The cartoon started in 1954 and ended in 2015. Thus, I would like to state that Marmaduke is not a breed of dog. It’s a name Brad uses in his comic strip, and it was also made into a movie. The dog used for this movie was a Great Dane.
Therefore, when someone mentions having or planning to get a Marmaduke, they are talking about the Great Dane. According to the Guinness Book of Records, this breed of dog is currently the tallest dog breed in the world.
Great Dane Facts and Care Info
It’s true that Great Danes are thought of as being enormous, kind, and lovable. Although Marmaduke is a powerful and clumsy dog, not all Great Danes are like that. Being a lifelong commitment, they are very large, so if you decide to adopt one, be ready.
The greatest reputation of Great Danes is their enormous height and long limbs. However, this size does prove a challenge for potential owners. Because of their size, they eat a lot and need 6 to 10 cups of food per day. When deciding whether a Great Dane is the right dog for your household, keep in mind that their size makes them very difficult to transport.
Great Danes are also prone to certain health issues. These include gastric torsion, bone cancer, elbow and hip dysplasia, and cardiomyopathy. Keep in mind that these potential health issues could significantly deplete your bank account.
Be careful where you buy your Great Dane. Do your research because some breeders can be cruel. Breeders are your best option if you want a guaranteed purebred Great Dane, like Marmaduke. While it is possible to find a purebred at a shelter or pet shop, purchasing from a reputable breeder is much better and more credible.
Before choosing a breeder, make sure you do your research because it’s possible that they’ll be a front for puppy mills. Reputable breeders will guarantee that your new dog is healthy and free from genetic diseases or injuries.
My working hypothesis is that the team behind Netflix’s new full-length Marmaduke film was unaware of the great Dane’s nearly 60-year comic strip and instead used this hallucinatory webcomic that was probably put together by a lunatic in 20 minutes as their source material. The new film (a term generously applied to this haphazard sequence of moving images) has far more in common with the hectic, ugly delirium of online obscurities than the newspaper’s funny pages due to the carelessness of its slapdash construction, the off-putting flatness of its style, its brazen resistance to basic foundations of logic, and its hostility toward conventional humor that borders on the avant-garde. It was quietly released and hidden away in the Big Red N’s content library before being put right where it belonged: as a minor, off-brand digital oddity that hardly qualifies as existing at all.
Which would be a huge favor for the film’s star Pete Davidson, who is obviously following in Adam Sandler’s footsteps by starring in the same type of soul-crushing kiddie movie that gave the Sandman enough self-loathing to fuel Funny People. Every line the SNL lothario reads sounds sarcastic, as if he wants informed viewers to understand that he took this job as a scare-quoted bit, lending his nasal Staten Island brogue to our canine friend. The sleazy texture of a vocal performance hasn’t been so violently at odds with the stomach-itching creature mouthing the words since Eric Roberts growled his way through A Talking Cat!? Contrarily, this dissonance does blend with the rest of the movie, which also exhibits a certain lack of fluency in even the most basic cinematic vocabulary. Additionally, the English language’s vocabulary can occasionally be problematic.
The SNL breakout receives a simple payment for portraying a disastrous mutt in a crudely produced children’s adventure.
Forget about maintaining a consistent tone; after a while, that seems like a lot to ask of a script that struggles to make sense of the straightforward arrangement of plot points in a linear sequence. An unusually human animal is propelled from one mischief to the next by animal-brain impulses rather than by deep, primal urges that our civilization has no name for. The neighborhood is drowned by a hurricane’s worth of water after Marmaduke first charges into a birthday party while hunting for pork chops and destroys an above-ground pool. History’s cruelest child, Marmaduke, becomes not only a source of great shame for his family but also an instant internet sensation after declaring, “No one at school wants to be my friend because my dog is a loser!” This attracts the attention of haughty trainer Guy Hilton (voice of Brian Hull), who is convinced that making this disaster on four legs into a dog-show champion will be his life’s greatest accomplishment. He has his work cut out for him because Marmaduke farts so loudly during the qualifying round that many spectators pass out and die.
Axis of incompetence is formed by co-directors Phil Nibbelink (of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West fame), Mark AZ Dippé (credited with 1997’s Spawn and 2017’s equally horrifying Michael Jackson’s Halloween), and Youngki Lee (a producer of direct-to-video ephemera taking the director’s chair for the first time). Despite having nearly a century of combined industry experience, they still reach a level of aesthetic amateurism more commonly found in DVD menu screens, computer games designed to teach kids the basics of phonics, or, yes, MS Paint abominations like the unauthorized scene at Luigi’s pizza parlor.
FAQ
Did they use real dogs in Marmaduke?
Several Great Danes were alternated in the role of Marmaduke. The animals’ “talking” mouths were added in post-production. In between shots, the dogs and cats were given plenty of food, water, and praise.
What kind of dog is Marmaduke in real life?
Marmaduke isn’t the only famous Great Dane. Both Scooby Doo and Astro from the adored cartoon “The Jetsons” are Great Danes.
Is Marmaduke a mastiff?
Marmaduke, a Great Dane, and Carlos, his closest pal who is Balinese, reside in rural Kansas. Their proprietor Phil Winslow is the marketing director for a manufacturer of dog food.
What breed of dog is Marmaduke in the comic strip?
From June 1954 to 2015, Brad Anderson drew the newspaper comic strip Marmaduke, which featured the Winslow family, their Great Dane, Marmaduke, and Carlos, his best friend and a Balinese cat.