History Main / TributeToFido

* Charles Schulz based [[{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]] on his childhood dog, Spike. Later, we meet Snoopy's brother, who is named Spike.

* In ''[[Lterature/WaysideSchool Sideways Stories From Wayside School]]'', there is an in-universe example: a boy named Nancy, who dislikes his name, trades names with a girl named Mac, who disliked hers because she had been named after a dog.

* In [[WaysideSchool Sideways Stories From Wayside School]], there is an in-universe example: a boy named Nancy, who dislikes his name, trades names with a girl named Mac, who disliked hers because she had been named after a dog.

[[quoteright:324:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tvtpongo_3533.jpg]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice: Invasion'', Wally and Artemis have adopted a sleepy white pit bull. According to the producers and StephanieLemelin, Artemis' voice actor, he's explicitly modeled after her own sleepy white pit bull, Brucely. When asked what the dog's name was, GregWeisman answered "I want to say Brucely."


[[folder:Real Life]]
* The word "jumbo" as a synonym for "really big" is a reference to the elephant Jumbo that was mentioned above.
* JohnWayne's nickname "Duke" comes from a dog he used to own, even back before he became famous.

* NaughtyDog, creators of ''CrashBandicoot'', ''JakAndDaxter'', ''{{Uncharted}}'', and ''TheLastOfUs'' (And ''WayOfTheWarrior'', but we're better off for forgetting it) originally had a mascot in the form of Morgan, the dog of one of the team's developers, before Crash would replace him.

* NaughtyDog, creators of ''CrashBandicoot'', ''JakAndDaxter'', ''{{Uncharted}}'', and ''TheLastOfUs'' (And ''WayOfTheWarrior'', [[SoBadItsTerrible but...]]) originally had a mascot in the form of Morgan, the dog of one of the team's developers.
** When Morgan passed away, he actually got a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming touching tribute]] in [[JakAndDaxter ''Jak 2'']] as an EasterEgg.

* Of the {{justified|Trope}} due to the animal playing the character variety, the dog Jed played the eponymous creature in Film/TheThing. He's also been in a couple other films. Interestingly, the dog is never named onscreen (only in the credits), but fans of the movie have taken to referring to the dog with this name.

* The DCComics miniseries ''A {{Superman}} for All Seasons'', by JephLoeb and Tim Sale, gave teenaged Clark Kent a dog named Shelby, after Sale's own dog. It was a two panel gag, but Shelby later became more notable as the golden retriever in ''{{Smallville}}''.

* Of the {{justified}} due to the animal playing the character variety, the dog Jed played the eponymous creature in Film/TheThing. He's also been in a couple other films. Interestingly, the dog is never named onscreen (only in the credits), but fans of the movie have taken to referring to the dog with this name.

!!!Examples:

* In Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys autobiography trilogy, there's a scene where the author's mother is painting a mural on the wall, adding in some pets of theirs that had died, such as a fox named Parkyacarcass.

* In the ''WarriorCats'' series, Brambleclaw and Sorreltail are named after author Cherith Baldry's cats, Bramble and Sorrel. Sol's appearance is based on a cat named Aslan, and Millie's appearance is based on the pet of one of Vicky Holmes' coworkers (her name comes not from his cat, but from the fact that he is a fan of the Millwall soccer team).

* Lady Jane, the evil-tempered gyrfalcon who is constantly attacking Hodgesaargh in ''{{Discworld}}'', is named after a real falcon, just as Hodgesaaargh is named after a real falconer.

* Dodie Smith's inspiration for ''TheHundredAndOneDalmatians'' was her dalmatian Pongo; naturally, she put him into the book as the main character.

[[quoteright:324:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tvtpongo_3533.jpg]]

-->-- '''Piers Anthony''', author's note of ''[[Literature/{{Xanth}} Demons Don't Dream]]''

Most people love animals, especially their pets. Some authors may even put some sort of reference to a real-life animal in their work. Most often, it will be their own pet, either as a memorial or just because they love him that much.

It may be just the animal's name, similar to the human equivalent, {{Tuckerization}}. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in a film if the pet themselves is playing the pet named after them; after all, it's much easier to get an animal to respond to its own name. The whole animal, not just the name, may be put into the work as well. Or, perhaps, they based an animal character off a real-life one, such as its appearance or mannerisms, even if they didn't use the name.

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!!!Examples:

[[folder:{{Comics}}]]
* The DCComics miniseries ''A {{Superman}} for All Seasons'', by JephLoeb and Tim Sale, gave teenaged Clark Kent a dog named Shelby, after Sale's own dog. It was a two panel gag, but Shelby later became more notable as the golden retriever in ''{{Smallville}}''.
* Charles Schulz based [[{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]] on his childhood dog, Spike. Later, we meet Snoopy's brother, who is named Spike.
* The cat, Horse, in ''FootrotFlats'' was based on a real cat who hung around the author's farm.
* In ''CalvinAndHobbes'', Hobbes was inspired by one of Bill Watterson's cats. He explains in the ''10th Anniversary Book'':
-->Hobbes was very much inspired by one of our cats, a gray tabby named Sprite. Sprite not only provided the long body and facial characteristics for Hobbes, she was also the model for his personality. She was good-natured, intelligent, friendly, and enthusiastic in a sneaking-up-and-pouncing sort of way.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* The character IndianaJones is named after creator GeorgeLucas's dog Indiana, who was also the inspiration for [[StarWars Chewbacca]]. There is also an in-universe example that reflects the RealLife situation: in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', it is shown that the character chose the nickname "Indiana" after his family's dog.
** This was taken even further in ''Film/TempleOfDoom'': Willie was the name of StevenSpielberg's dog, and Short Round another crew member's.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* There was a contest for the ''JoeGrey'' mysteries for fans to send in descriptions of their pet cats. Three were randomly selected as occasionally-recurring characters.
* In the ''WarriorCats'' series, Brambleclaw and Sorreltail are named after author Cherith Baldry's cats, Bramble and Sorrel. Sol's appearance is based on a cat named Aslan, and Millie's appearance is based on the pet of one of Vicky Holmes' coworkers (her name comes not from his cat, but from the fact that he is a fan of the Millwall soccer team).
* Dodie Smith's inspiration for ''TheHundredAndOneDalmatians'' was her dalmatian Pongo; naturally, she put him into the book as the main character.
* Lady Jane, the evil-tempered gyrfalcon who is constantly attacking Hodgesaargh in ''{{Discworld}}'', is named after a real falcon, just as Hodgesaaargh is named after a real falconer.
* JeanCraigheadGeorge has based many animals in her books on pets she's had in the past. One notable example is that the behavior of the owl in ''There's an Owl in the Shower'' is based on a pet owl, Yammer, that she used to have. She tells stories about her wild pets in ''The Tarantula in My Purse".
* In [[WaysideSchool Sideways Stories From Wayside School]], there is an in-universe example: a boy named Nancy, who dislikes his name, trades names with a girl named Mac, who disliked hers because she had been named after a dog.
* In Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys autobiography trilogy, there's a scene where the author's mother is painting a mural on the wall, adding in some pets of theirs that had died, such as a fox named Parkyacarcass.

[[folder:LiveActionTelevision]]
* Ubu Productions is named after producer Gary David Goldberg's dog Ubu Roi, a black labrador retriever. The Closing Tag for Ubu's productions is a photograph of Ubu Roi with a flying disc in his mouth. Along with the picture is Goldberg's voice saying "Sit, Ubu, sit! ...Good dog!", followed by the sound of a bark. This can be seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klG9G4BDLtA here]].

[[folder:{{Music}}]]
* HavalinaRailCo had a song about Laika, the Russian dog who became the first animal in space. (Though Havalina spelled it "Leica".)

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]
* Kirby, Cole's basset hound in ''Webcomic/{{PvP}}'', is named after (and modeled on) Scott Kurtz's own basset hound Kirby.

* Both of the cats in TwoLumps are based on the author's (now deceased) pets.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

[[folder:RealLife]]
* The word "jumbo" as a synonym for "really big" is a reference to the elephant Jumbo that was mentioned above.

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* Guineas, one of Grace's siblings in ''ElGoonishShive'', is based on a friend's guinea pig, due to a lack of ideas.

* The character IndianaJones is named after creator GeorgeLucas's dog Indiana. There is also an in-universe example that reflects the RealLife situation: in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', it is shown that the character chose the nickname "Indiana" after his family's dog.
** This was taken even further in ''Film/TempleOfDoom'': Willie was the name of Steven Spielberg's dog, and Short Round another crew member's.

* The character IndianaJones is named after creator GeorgeLucas's dog Indiana. There is also an in-universe example that reflects the RealLife situation: in ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', it is shown that the character chose the nickname "Indiana" after his family's dog.
** This was taken even further in ''Temple of Doom'': Willie was the name of Steven Spielberg's dog, and Short Round another crew member's.

* In Disney's ''{{Dumbo}}'', it is implied that [[DisappearedDad Dumbo's father]] is Jumbo, a famous elephant that appeared first at the London Zoo then at the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Dumbo was supposed to be named Jumbo Junior, but ended up being known by a mocking nickname instead.

->[Bubbles] was a mongrel, but a really nice dog, and she had fitted so well into our lives. So I brought her into Xanth, where she can live the life she could not continue with us.

* In Disney's ''{{Dumbo}}'', it is implied that [[DisappearedDad Dumbo's father]] is Jumbo, a famous elephant that appeared first at the London Zoo then at the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Dumbo was supposed to be named Jumbo Junior, but ended up being known by a mocking nickname instead.

* The composer of the song "Hamster Dance" actually got the song name from her dead hamster. [[Disney/RobinHood Guess where]] she got the lyrics from!