Santa's Little Helper - Creation and Development

Creation and Development

Santa's Little Helper's initial appearance on The Simpsons was in the first episode of the series, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", which aired on December 17, 1989. Since then, the dog has become a recurring character. The Simpsons creator Matt Groening told TV Guide in 2000 that "we painted ourselves into a corner with our Christmas episode. Once we wrote the dog into the show, we were stuck with him." The name "Santa's Little Helper" was chosen because, according to writer Al Jean in the same TV Guide article, "we needed a name that would inspire Homer to bet on him, an omen, a Christmas name since he was betting on Christmas Eve. But, at that point, nobody was thinking long-term. We weren't considering what might happen in ten years, when we've got to use this name." Although "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" was the first episode of the series to air on television, it was the eighth episode produced by the staff. It was chosen to air first because there were animation problems with the other episodes. Jean told the Houston Chronicle in 2001 that after the first episode was broadcast and "the next seven didn't have the dog, people wondered why." He also said in 2003 that the staff enjoyed the first episodes that centered on Santa's Little Helper, particularly "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", which is the reason that more episodes about him were written.

Writer John Swartzwelder has noted that the staff members of the show write the character Homer in the same way that they write Santa's Little Helper: "Both are loyal. Both have the same emotional range. And both will growl and possibly snap if you try to take their food." Although animals in cartoons often behave with "semi-human awareness", Groening said on the DVD audio commentary for the episode "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" that he prefers animals in cartoons to behave exactly the way they do in real life. As a result, Santa's Little Helper is depicted in this way on the show. There have, however, been some exceptions for gags, but most of the time the staff of The Simpsons tries to keep animals acting realistically. Several journalists have commented on the greyhound's lack of intelligence. In an article that compared The Simpsons to the animated series Family Guy, Todd Camp of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noted that "though Santa's Little Helper may be the only Simpson who's dumber than Homer, the Griffins' pooch is the brainiest member of the household". In 1991, Copley News Service's Alison Ashton described Santa's Little Helper as a "sweet and stupid dog". Tom Coombe of The Morning Call wrote in 2002 that "fans of The Simpsons will tell you that the cartoon family's dog is often dumb, disobedient and skittish. Fans of the real-life breed will paint a different picture — of dogs that are peaceful, affectionate, not given to drooling, panting".

Some ideas for episodes featuring Santa's Little Helper come from reality. The plot of "Dog of Death" was based on Swartzwelder's experiences with his own dog, which had also suffered from bloat. However, unlike the events in the episode, Swartzwelder's dog did not receive treatment as the operation was too expensive and the dog was too old. The Gold Coast Bulletin's Ryan Ellem commented in 2005 that the Simpson family's dilemma with the cost of the veterinary procedure is a realistic dilemma faced by many families who own dogs. Other episode ideas come from popular culture. For example, Santa's Little Helper fathering 25 puppies in "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" is a parody of the Disney film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Mr. Burns' technique of brainwashing him into an attack dog in "Dog of Death" parodies A Clockwork Orange. Susan McHugh, who teaches theories of animals, literature, and culture at the University of New England, wrote in her 2004 book Dog that, "remaining loyal to his unlikely saviours, the boy Bart and his father Homer, this greyhound has prompted satires of contemporary dog culture, from Barbara Woodhouse's authoritarian training methods to Lassie's flawless service to the status quo ."