Santa's Little Helper - Role in The Simpsons

Role in The Simpsons

Santa's Little Helper is a fictional greyhound that appears on the animated television series The Simpsons and is the pet dog of the Simpson family. He can often be seen on the show in minor appearances, although there have been some episodes that feature him heavily, including the first episode of The Simpsons. In that episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (season one, 1989), Homer discovers that he has no money to buy Christmas presents for the family. Desperate for a miracle, he and Bart go to the greyhound racing track on Christmas Eve in hopes of earning some money. Although Homer has inside information on which dog is the most likely to win, he instead bets on a last-minute entry, Santa's Little Helper, believing the dog's Christmas-inspired name to be a sign. However, the greyhound finishes last. As Homer and Bart leave the track, they watch the dog's owner abandon him for losing the race. Bart pleads with Homer to keep the dog as a pet and he agrees after it affectionately licks him on the cheek. When Bart and Homer return home, Santa's Little Helper is assumed by the rest of the family to be a Christmas present.

In various episodes, Santa's Little Helper can be seen chewing on newspapers and other objects in the Simpsons' household, destroying furniture, and digging holes in the backyard. In "Bart's Dog Gets an F" (season two, 1991), he manages to infuriate the entire family by destroying valued items in the home. As a result, Homer and Marge want to get rid of the dog, but Bart and Lisa convince them that he can be trained at an obedience school. Santa's Little Helper does not do well there as Bart is unwilling to use a choke chain suggested by the instructor. The night before the final exam, Bart and Santa's Little Helper play, thinking it will be their last few hours together. This bonding breaks down the communication barrier, allowing the dog to understand Bart's commands, and consequently pass the obedience school.

Santa's Little Helper has fathered several puppies. In "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" (season six, 1995), he runs away to the dog racing track where he mates with a female greyhound named She's the Fastest. She later gives birth to 25 puppies and when the Simpsons cannot take care of them any longer, they decide to sell them; however, Mr. Burns steals the puppies and decides to make a tuxedo out of them. Before he does this, however, he becomes emotionally touched by them. This convinces him to never to wear fur again and instead raise the puppies to be world-class racing dogs. Santa's Little Helper sires another litter of puppies with Dr. Hibbert's poodle in the episode "Today I Am a Clown" (season 15, 2003). These puppies are given away to townspeople.

The dog has been neglected or treated unfavorably by the family in some episodes. In "Dog of Death" (season three, 1992), he nearly dies of bloat and they decide to make budget cuts in order to pay for the required operation. Although the dog's life is saved, the family begins to feel the strain of their sacrifices and starts treating him badly, causing him to run away. Santa's Little Helper ends up in the possession of Mr. Burns, who trains him to become a vicious attack dog. Several days later, Bart stumbles upon the trained Santa's Little Helper and is attacked, but the greyhound eventually recognizes his old friend and stops. In "The Canine Mutiny" (season eight, 1997), Bart uses a fake charge card to buy a well-trained rough collie named Laddie from a mail-order catalog. Laddie learns many tricks that Santa's Little Helper is completely unable to perform, and the Simpson family nearly forgets about their old pet. Bart eventually gives Santa's Little Helper away instead of Laddie when repo men take back everything he fraudulently purchased. Feeling guilty about this disloyalty and bored with his too perfect new dog, Bart tries to get Santa's Little Helper back. When he finally finds him, Santa's Little Helper is serving as a seeing-eye dog for a blind man, but eventually decides to return to the family.

In "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot" (season 18, 2007), Santa's Little Helper becomes a local hero after finding a lost Homer, and the Simpsons decide to enroll him in the Animal Police Academy. However, his new crime-fighting job makes him jaded and one day at home he bites Bart. The Simpsons must therefore send the dog away to live with officer Lou. However, he gets to return after saving Bart from a toxic smoke cloud at school and then leaving the police force. In "How Munched is That Birdie in the Window?" (season 22, 2010), after Santa's Little Helper devours a pigeon with a broken leg that Bart was nursing, Bart gets mad at the dog and is unable to forgive him. The Simpsons therefore give Santa's Little Helper away to an ostrich farm. There, Bart says goodbye to him and explains that he should never, ever devour a bird. Bart then gets into a fight with an angry ostrich. After remembering that he was told that it is wrong to kill birds, Santa's Little Helper ceases to aid Bart in the fight, confused at his own loyalty (for Bart's sake or his orders) leaving Bart to strangle the ostrich to death. Bart then realizes that Santa's Little Helper could not help killing the pigeon and apologizes. Afterwards, the family goes back home with the dog.

The dog once replaced Duffman as the mascot for Duff Beer in the episode "Old Yeller Belly" (season 14, 2003), after he was seen drinking from a can of beer by balancing it on his nose. He becomes known as Suds McDuff and boosts sales of Duff Beer, making the family's fortunes explode. However, this prompts Santa's Little Helper's original sleazy owner and racing trainer to visit the Simpsons and prove that he is the owner of the dog. The family later figures that if they can get Duffman to replace Suds as the Duff mascot, they can get their dog back. They plan to turn Duffman into a hero at a Duff Beer-sponsored beach volleyball event; however, their plan fails and a drunk shark that is discovered at the event becomes the new mascot instead. Santa's Little Helper gladly returns to the Simpson family.