Sam Sheepdog is the calmest guard in animation. Hair covers his eyes, he barely moves, and he always knows exactly where Ralph Wolf is. When Ralph reaches for a sheep, Sam’s hand appears and one punch settles the matter. At the end of the shift, Sam clocks out, says good night and goes home. Chuck Jones built him as the opposite of the Road Runner: a target who never needs to run.
| Species: | Sheepdog |
|---|---|
| First appearance: | Don't Give Up the Sheep (1953) |
| Created by: | Chuck Jones (director) and Michael Maltese (writer) |
| Original voice: | Mel Blanc (1953 to 1963) |
| Frequent co-stars: | Ralph Wolf |
Sam debuted with Ralph in Don’t Give Up the Sheep (1953) and appeared in all seven classic shorts. See the Ralph Wolf page for the full series and its roots in Friz Freleng’s The Sheepish Wolf (1942).
Jones wrote that Sam simply sits solidly on the ground. Long hair covers his entire body, eyes and feet included, with a fringe where he sits, yet he never misses a move. His strength is total and unhurried.
In pitting Ralph Wolf against Sam Sheepdog, I was trying to discover if I could do the opposite of the chase at the heart of the Road Runner cartoons. The Road Runner is moving all the time, and at a great speed. I therefore wanted the wolf’s opponent not to move at all. And that is exactly what happens–or doesn’t. Sam just sits very solidly on the ground. He doesn’t move: he is there.
The sheepdog is always aware of Ralph’s every move, but I don’t know how he sees through that curtain of hair. I could have drawn long hair only over his nose, but I felt that his hair should be long everywhere. Even his feet are hairy, and when he sits down, I put a little fringe of hair where his bottom meets the ground.
The story of Ralph and Sam comes down to Lewis Brown’s idea that there are no judges, only people judging, no tramps, only people tramping, and so on. What does a judge do when he gets home at night? He is probably treated with the same disrespect as any other husband and father. When my daughter, Linda, was a little girl, she had real trouble convincing the other kids in the theater that her father had drawn the Bugs Bunny cartoon they were watching. They simply didn’t believe her. On one occasion when she saw my name on the screen, she pointed to it and exclaimed, “That’s my father.” The child next to her said, “Yeah, sure, and my father’s Clark Gable.” Linda does not know to this day whether he was or not.
– Chuck Jones
Every piece in our Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog collection is certified by the Chuck Jones family. Browse originals, limited editions and prints below, or contact our art consultants with any questions.
