"Uncle, whatever happened to Mom and Dad?": Cartoon characters with nephews/nieces

[Anthonynotes]

A long-standing cliche of cartoons seems to be a character being revealed to be an uncle, with their nephew and/or niece showing up (the kid of some never-seen sister or brother). Presumably, besides being ripoffs conceptually of Donald Duck's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, wonder if what they said on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" about why TV has so many single parents (a similar category as the uncle/nephew situation) might be a reason why:

CROW T. ROBOT: All it is is just a cheap plot device that allows young men to behave like swinging bachelors, yet still have kids to come home and dispense folksy, home-spun advice to.


Heh.

Anyway, my question: which characters have nephews or nieces? I'll start:

Donald Duck's famous nephews, Huey Dewey and Louie.

Daisy Duck, in the comics, has a trio of identical nieces, April, May and June.

Scrooge McDuck has (among others) Donald Duck and Gladstone Gander (nephews) and H, D & L (grandnephews).

Popeye in the theatrical cartoons has four nephews: Pipeye, Pupeye, Poopeye, and Peepeye.

Inspector Gadget's niece, Penny.

Any others?

[langden alger]

tucan sam suddenly has some nephews in the new froot loops spots...

everyone's favorite;) scrappy doo

[nakak]

In the 1960s "Felix the Cat" cartoon, the Professor has a nephew, Poindexter.

Maggy Bell in "Calvin and the Colonel" has a grown nephew named Newton who's a conman just like her husband. Since Maggy Bell lives with her sister, and it's apparent that Newton is neither of their child, Maggy Bell and her Sister Sue has another sibling (last name is also different. Their maiden name is Culpepper and Newton's full name is Newton J. Newton)

[90'sCartoonMan]

Popeye in the theatrical cartoons has four nephews: Pipeye, Pupeye, Poopeye, and Peepeye.

His name was Poopeye?! That poor kid.

On Krypto, Streaky The Supercat has a nephew named Squeaky.

Hm, maybe family situations are just different for animals.

[Sharklady]

The Hunter (from the old King Leonardo cartoons), and Leonardo himself, both had interfering nephews. Their functions in the plot were always the same; they'd mess up situations but salvage them by episode's end.

Jackie Chan has a headstrong (natch!) niece named Jade, who plays a similar role.

I can see the practicality of giving the main character nieces & nephews to deal with, rather than kids of their own. You can put your main character into the funny/ challenging situations that can always come up when you're in charge of kids, but you can also shunt the kids aside (ie; back to their parents) when that is more convenient for the plot.
And, as mentioned, the situation of being unattached leaves the hero(ine) free to pursue romances (real or trecherously false.)

[Contrail]

Let's not forget Scrappy-Doo... on second thoughts, let's:D

[John Pannozzi]

Mickey Mouse's nephews Mortie and Ferdie.

[Mynd Hed]

Don't forget Philip J. Fry's uber-great grand-nephew Farnsie.

...Maybe anthropomorphic animals reproduce asexually via stork-induced clonage, and "nephew" is simply quasi-accurate shorthand for "non-sexually constituted test tube baby of spurious genetic relation whom I have decided to raise."

Interestingly, while Mickey and Donald have "nephews," Goofy has a "son," Max, whose mother is conspicuously absent. Traditionally, Goofy was romantically linked with Clarabell the Cow. I always wondered what ever became of her. I smell a conspiracy....

[Anthonynotes]

Don't forget Philip J. Fry's uber-great grand-nephew Farnsie.

...Maybe anthropomorphic animals reproduce asexually via stork-induced clonage, and "nephew" is simply quasi-accurate shorthand for "non-sexually constituted test tube baby of spurious genetic relation whom I have decided to raise."

Interestingly, while Mickey and Donald have "nephews," Goofy has a "son," Max, whose mother is conspicuously absent. Traditionally, Goofy was romantically linked with Clarabell the Cow. I always wondered what ever became of her. I smell a conspiracy....

To be fair, Huey Dewe and Louie *do* (or did) have a mother (named "Dumbella" in their theatrical debut, but "Della" in the comics)---Donald's twin sister, who appeared (in flashback to their childhoods) in the "Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" comic series. What happened to their parents remains a mystery, apparently...

More nieces/nephews:

"Perils of Penelope Pitstop": Sylvester Sneakly, aka the "Hooded Claw", is the uncle of Penelope Pitstop (guessing her mother's maiden name was "Sneakly").

"Looney Tunes": Bugs Bunny has a nephew named Clyde, who shows up in several shorts.

"The Simpsons": Patty and Selma Bouvier are the aunts of Bart, Lisa and Maggie, plus there's Herb Powell (Homer's half-brother) as the kids' uncle.

Disney: Scrooge McDuck's nephew Donald, of course. In the comics, Donald's cousin (on his father's side) Gladstone Gander is also considered a nephew-"in-law" of Scrooge (Gladstone calls Scrooge "Uncle" as well). And of course, Huey Dewey and Louie are Scrooge's grand-nephews.

Re: Jackie Chan Adventures: There's also "Uncle". IIRC, an episode featuring relatives of theirs mentions "Uncle" is really just an older distant cousin, or somesuch...

Does seem weird to think that somewhere out there, there's a bunch of guys who're the brother or sister of famous cartoon characters, but apparently doomed to remain never seen or mentioned, or even remotely share in their siblings' limelight. Alas, poor Bugs' sister/brother, Mickey's brother/sister, etc.... (BUGS' SISTER/BROTHER: "Yeah, my brother's famous, but I wish he'd give me at least a *walk-on* with my son Clyde. Now if you'll excuse me, this Wal-Mart merchandise won't sell itself...")

-B.

[tb4000]

Don't forget grandparents...The Boondocks Huey and Riley with Granddad. That has yet to be addressed as to the whereabouts of their parents, if they're even alive.

[Anthonynotes]

Don't forget grandparents...The Boondocks Huey and Riley with Granddad. That has yet to be addressed as to the whereabouts of their parents, if they're even alive.

Just "nieces/nephews" in this topic---I'm saving the topic of "single parents" (or single grandparents in Huey and Riley's cases) for another thread. :-)

[straw_hat]

Probably the most baffiling of all is the existance of Godzilla's nephew Godzooky. The female scientist on the show also had a nephew.

[Scythemantis]

Patty and Selma don't count...what they're talking about here is main characters who are given nephews or neices with no real explanation, as there are LOADS of them.

[nakak]

In one of the 1960s "Krazy Kat" series, Ignatz had a nephew who throws bricks like his uncle. Of course, Ignatz is a mouse, so he must have loads of siblings :D

[Rover_Wow]

Anyone remember Stargate Infinity? Gus Bonner and Stacy Bonner were uncle/nephew, presumably to easily allow for E/I content (the penultimate episode, the one with the tattoo, sticks out in my mind).

[iggy]

Correct me if i', wrong but isn't Bugs Bunny the Uncle of Buster Bunny?

[Anthonynotes]

Correct me if i', wrong but isn't Bugs Bunny the Uncle of Buster Bunny?

You're wrong; they aren't related.

[Hordesman]

Interestingly, while Mickey and Donald have "nephews," Goofy has a "son," Max, whose mother is conspicuously absent. Traditionally, Goofy was romantically linked with Clarabell the Cow. I always wondered what ever became of her. I smell a conspiracy....

Years ago, I leafed through this Minnie book while waiting for the dentist and came across a female Goofy-type character named Pennny. http://users.cwnet.com/xephyr/rich/dzone/hoozoo/penny.html

[AdamYJ]

Actually, the whole "uncle" thing is so prevalent that it made me impressed with Goof Troop when it first came out. Rather than giving Goofy a nephew, they just went ahead and gave him a son. Interesting move for Disney.

[Toonlover]

Actually, the whole "uncle" thing is so prevalent that it made me impressed with Goof Troop when it first came out. Rather than giving Goofy a nephew, they just went ahead and gave him a son. Interesting move for Disney.

Then... who was the mother? :confused:

[J.E.Smith]

Of course, let's not forget Sonic's Uncle Chuck from Sonic SatAM(I'm not referring to Archie guys, so Jules and Bernie don't count here)

[AdamYJ]

Then... who was the mother? :confused:

I don't think it's supposed to matter. I think it's something that cartoon companies tend to do in order to try and show single parent families in a positive light. They just don't focus on the missing parent at all, as if they don't matter. That way, it's like saying "This family is whole and no different from any other". Just a theory, mind you. I think it's the same reason that we never heard anything about Max's father on Mighty Max also (are there a lot of cartoon kids named Max who have single parents?).

[veemonjosh]

Even though their parents are still alive, Ben and his cousin on Ben 10 travel around with their grandfather.

[Jeff Harris]

Actually, the whole "uncle" thing is so prevalent that it made me impressed with Goof Troop when it first came out. Rather than giving Goofy a nephew, they just went ahead and gave him a son. Interesting move for Disney.Well, in the 60s, I believe, Goofy did have a son, a redhead named Junior, so that's where the idea of Goofy, Jr. aka Max came from. He had a wife then too, but her face was never seen.

Of course the Goof Troop series made his son look more like his dear old dad.

[Umino]

Cutie Honey (original TV series only): Hayami Danbei has a nephew, Hayami Naojiro. He's around the same age as Honey, and is the boss of Paradise School.