Basset Hound - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

Basset Hounds have been featured in popular culture many times. Some artists, such as director Mamoru Oshii and webcomic artist Scott Kurtz regularly feature their pet Bassets in their work.

On February 27, 1928, Time magazine featured a basset hound on the front cover. The accompanying story was about the 52nd annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden as if observed by the basset hound puppy.

Many cartoon dogs are based on the basset, such as Tex Avery's Droopy, with several Bassets appearing in animated Disney films. Syndicated comic strip Fred Basset has been a regular feature in newspapers since 1963. There is a basset hound character named Fred in the Smokey and the Bandit movie series.

In the early days of television, Elvis Presley famously sang "Hound Dog" to a basset hound named Sherlock on The Steve Allen Show on July 1, 1956. Lassie had a basset friend named Pokey early in the Lassie television series. Other famous TV bassets are the wisecracking Cleo from The People's Choice, Columbo's dog Dog, and the sheriff's dog Flash in The Dukes of Hazzard.

Basset hounds are often used as advertising logos. The logo for Hush Puppies brand shoes prominently features a basset hound whose real name is Jason. Basset hounds are occasionally referred to as "hush puppies" for that reason. A basset hound also serves as the companion to the lonely Maytag Man in Maytag appliance advertisements. Tidewater Petroleum advertised its "Flying A" gasoline using a basset hound named Axelrod.

• Lafayette in The Aristocats and The Aristocats 2
• Toby from The Great Mouse Detective
• Buster in Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3
• The Dog (The musicians from Bremen)