Rantanplan (; alternatively spelled Ran-Tan-Plan and Ran Tan Plan) is a fictional hound dog created by a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

cartoonist

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

and French writer

René Goscinny René Goscinny (, ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Raised largely in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French schoo ...

. Originally a supporting character in the ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western '' bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their ...

'' series, Rantanplan later starred in self-titled series. Rantanplan is a spoof of the male

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...

Rin Tin Tin Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin (September 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, L ...

. In the Turkish translations of the series, he is indeed named Rin Tin Tin.Red Kit Istanbul'da
(Lucky Luke in Istanbul), Haberturk, 5 June 2012. English versions of the books have renamed him "Rin-Tin-Can" and "Bushwack" in the 1983 Hanna-Barbera animated television series

, as well as "Rintindumb" in the French comedy animated television series The Daltons produced by a French animation studio

Xilam Xilam is a French production company that specializes in animated television series and feature films. Marc du Pontavice and his wife Alix founded it in 1999 as a replacement for the animation division of Gaumont Multimédia; though Gaumo ...

Publication history

The character first appeared in the earliest panels of the story ''

Sur la piste des Dalton ''Sur la piste des Dalton'' is a '' Lucky Luke'' comic written by Goscinny and Morris. It is the seventeenth title in the ''Lucky Luke'' series. The comic was printed by Dupuis in 1962 and by Cinebook Cinebook Ltd is a British publishing co ...

'', published on 4 February 1960 in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou'', and later as an album in 1962. The character remained a fixture over a long series of ''Lucky Luke'' publications, resulting in a series of its own spin-off publications starting in 1987. Ten years after the death of Goscinny, for the production of the ''Rantanplan'' series, Morris collaborated with

scenarist A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

s such as Jean Léturgie, Bob de Groot and Vittorio Leonardo.

Personality

Rantanplan is a prison

guard dog A guard dog or watchdog (not to be confused with an attack dog) is a dog used to watch for and guard property against unwanted or unexpected human or animal intruders. The dog is discerning so that it does not annoy or attack the resident hum ...

, often tasked with watching over the Daltons or assisting Lucky Luke track them down when they escape. However, he is unable to understand this and often mistakes Joe Dalton, who hates him psychotically, for a beloved owner. As well as being stupid, Rantanplan is extremely slow and accident-prone. However, he is usually very good-natured and loyal. Like Averell Dalton, he has a huge appetite and will devour everything put in front of him, whether it is food or not, which has ranged from bars of soap to dishwater. Lucky Luke's horse,

Jolly Jumper Jolly Jumper is a horse character in the Franco-Belgian comics series ''Lucky Luke'', created by Belgian artist Morris. Described as "the smartest horse in the west" and able to perform tasks such as chess-playing and tightrope walking, Jolly Ju ...

, a very intelligent animal, holds Rantanplan in contempt, regarding him as one of nature's great mistakes.

Animated series

In 2006, French animation studio

produced an animated television series of Morris's ''Rantanplan'' stories in 90 second episodes, broadcast on the French television network

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services provi ...

. It is broadcast on Canadian television network YTV in Canada under the name ''Rintindumb'', and was distributed by

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

. It featured the voices of

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...

and Rob Paulsen. It was on a Finnish family-friendly streaming service

Toons.TV Toons.TV was a multiplatform entertainment channel owned and operated by the Rovio Animation division of Rovio Entertainment (known best for creating the ''Angry Birds'' franchise). It was available on most Rovio app-on-demand providers, smart T ...

until 2015.

Bibliography

Dargaud *''La Mascotte,'' 1987, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''The Mascot'') *''Le Parrain,'' 1988, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''The Godfather'') Lucky Productions *''Rantanplan otage,'' 1992, written by Léturgie, Janiver and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''Rantanplan hostage'') *''Le Clown,'' 1993, written by Léturgie, Janiver and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''The Clown'') *''Bêtisier 1,'' 1993, written by Léturgie, Janiver and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''Bloopers 1'') *''Bêtisier 2,'' 1993, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bloopers 2'') *''Le Fugitif,'' 1994, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''The Fugitive'') *''Bêtisier 3,'' 1995, written by Leonardo, drawn by Morris (''Bloopers 3'') *''Le Messager,'' 1995, written by Léturgie and Fauche (''The Messenger'') *''Les Cerveaux,'' 1996, written by de Groot, drawn by Morris (''The Brains'') *''Le Chameau,'' 1997, written by Léturgie, Adam and Fauche, drawn by Morris (''The Camel'') *''Bêtisier 4,'' 1998, written by de Groot, drawn by Morris (''Bloopers 4'') *''Le Grand Voyage,'' 1998, written by de Groot, drawn by Morris (''The Big Trip'') Lucky Comics *''Bêtisier 5,'' 2000, written by Leonardo, drawn by Morris (''Bloopers 5'') *''La Belle et le Bête'', 2000, written by Leonardo and de Groot, drawn by Morris (''Beauty and the Beast'') *''Le Chien plus bête que son ombre'', 2000, written by de Groot, drawn by Morris (''The Dog more stupid than his shadow'') *''Bêtisier 6: Le Noël de Rantanplan'', 2001, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bloopers 6: Rantanplan's Christmas'') *''Chien perché!,'' 2002, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Perched dog!'') *''Haut les pattes!,'' 2003, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''High legs!'') *''Le Joli Cœur,'' 2003, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''The Pretty Heart'') *''Bêtisier 7: Sur le Pied de Guerre,'' 2008, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bloopers 7: On the Warparth'') *''Bêtisier 8: Chien D'arrêt'', 2009, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bloopers 8: Stop Dog'') *''Morts de Rire'', 2010, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Deaths of Laughing'') *''Carré D'os'', 2011, written by Léturgie and Fauche, drawn by Janiver (''Bone Square'')

References

;Additional sources
''Rantanplan'' albums
Bedetheque

External links

{{Lucky Luke by Morris Comic book sidekicks Fictional dogs Comics about dogs Lucky Luke Comics characters introduced in 1960 1987 comics debuts 2011 comics endings Belgian comic strips Humor comics Western (genre) comics Comics spin-offs Children's comics Belgian comics characters Male characters in comics Comics adapted into animated series Rin Tin Tin