Trivia / Mutts

• Anthropomorphic Shift: Word of God deliberately tries to avert this as much as possible, saying he does not want his comic to be about humans in animal costumes in which that act like humans as opposed to the animals that they're based on. Unfortunately, the animal characters became more anthropomorphic as time went on, even if they were already anthropomorphic to begin with, and has pretty much turned into an uncontrollable force for most of the comic.
  • Shtinky is a big example. He was originally portrayed as a regular tabby kitten who walked on four legs. Soon after he turned into an animal rights activist, he became bipedal and acted more human-like, to the point where he's rarely ever seen four-legged.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer:
  • Many sources say Mutts debuted in 1995 when it in fact debuted in 1994.
  • Chickpea and Chickpea's Brother are stated to debut on November 3, 2003. They actually debuted in a Sunday strip a day prior to that week's Shelter Stories beginning. On another note, Chickpea is incorrectly referred to as a "he", possibly due to her Viewer Gender Confusion. In the aforementioned Sunday strip, it clearly states that Chickpea is in fact a "she".
  • This also goes for Guard Dog, who was first seen chained in 1996, not 1995, the year when he first made his debut.
• He Also Did: While writing for Mutts, McDonnell provided concept art for the movie, Up. He also wrote the book, Me, Jane, a biography about Jane Goodall, which went on to win a Caldecott Honor in 2012 and is one of the most well-known of McDonnell's works.
• Recycled Script:
  • Many strips for March 1st use the exact same joke: Mooch asks Earl what day it is. Earl says "March 1st." Mooch marches, then asks again. In 2019, this joke was used on March 4th. The next day it got a Lampshade Hanging:
    Mooch: We did a version of yeshterday's strip a few times before, Earl.
    Earl: That's okay with me, Mooch. Dogs LOVE repetition!
    Mooch: We did a version of yeshterday's strip a few times before, Earl.
    (Earl gives an Aside Glance)
  • At least twice the strip has done a joke where Mooch answers the door, only for a lion to barge in, followed by him commenting that it must be March.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Mutts was originally going to be named Zero-Zero, Zero-0 or just Zero for short. It focused on a stray dog of the same name (who would later be renamed to Earl) wandering around the city and making friends along the way. However, it never came to fruition because an editor wanted McDonnell to focus his comic more on pets. Some of Zero's material was reworked into Mutts during the final stage.
  • There was originally going to be three other pets added to the main cast: Ozzie's bird, Flip/Jilly (or Flap in the sales kit), a pig named Mr. Chops, who was presumably going to be Butchie's pet, and a squirrel named Squirrely. Only Mooch (then named Puss), Earl and Sid made it to the final version, although Flip/Jilly was used in early promotional material and Squirrely was repurposed for characters Bip and Bop.
  • Blue Sky Studios was planning on doing a feature film based on the comic strip. However, the film had been in Development Hell for quite a long time. In addition to that, Blue Sky Studios ended up shutting down in 2021, making this whole effort pointless.
  • A children's book featuring Mutts characters titled Some Other Day, set to the tune of "Rain, Rain, Go Away", was planned, but ended up being put on hold by McDonnell's publisher. As of 2023, it's unknown whether or not Some Other Day will eventually be published.
• Write What You Know:
  • Mooch's character and personality is based on many of the cats McDonnell knew growing up. His speech impediment is inspired by many dialects found in older comics, with Krazy Kat being a huge influence. However, McDonnell has stated on at least one occasion that the lisp was actually based on a childhood friend that said, "Yesh" whenever he got in trouble.
  • The same goes for Mooch and his obsession with the Little Pink Sock; McDonnell witnessed and received mail or stories about cats playing with socks, which were always pink for some reason. Naturally he would apply it to Mooch, as he claimed it fitted him.
  • Earl is based on McDonnell's own dog, Earl, and later his rescue dog Amelie when the latter passed away in 2007.