Dogfaces or Dognoses is the term used by fans to designate the anthropomorphic characters and extras in comic books, comic strips, and animated cartoons. [1] Dogfaces usually resemble cartoon human beings, but with some special characteristics:
The most famous dogface is probably Goofy. Bill Farmer, the current actor who voices Goofy in cartoons, suggested that Goofy is "the missing link between dog and man." [2]
Cartoonist Don Rosa apologized, tongue-in-cheek, for turning Theodore Roosevelt into a dogface for the sake of consistency in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck . In such cases, it may be seen as a different artistic representation of humans: in another instance, Mickey Mouse supporting character Professor Dustibones went from dogface in his first appearance, to human. [3]
Long before modern comics and animation, dog-headed people (called cynocephalics, from Greek κυνοκέφαλοι (kynokephaloi), from κύων- (dog-) and κεφαλή (head)) have been depicted in art and legend in many cultures, beginning no later than ancient Egypt. Several ancient Egyptian gods, such as Anubis [4] and Duamutef, are dogheads.
Is Goofy a human, or a dog? I once met Bill Farmer, who does the voice of Goofy, and he gave me the definitive answer: 'Pluto is definitely a dog. Goofy is sort of the missing link between dog and man.'