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This cartoon character trivia quiz has 99 free questions with answers and runs from the silent-era Felix the Cat to Peppa Pig and Perry the Platypus, by way of the Looney Tunes gang, Hanna-Barbera's Flintstones, Jetsons and Yogi Bear, the Peanuts and Garfield strips, Disney's Donald and Goofy, the Simpsons, SpongeBob's Bikini Bottom neighbours, Scooby-Doo's Mystery Inc. and Pokémon's Pikachu. The questions cover the characters' origins, catchphrases, voices, quirks and hidden details: Tweety's real gender, Donald's middle name, Goofy's original name, why Elmer says 'wabbit', where Patrick lives and what Snoopy was modelled on. About a third are easy enough for kids; the rest will test anyone who grew up in front of Saturday-morning TV. Every answer has been checked against a primary source, mostly Wikipedia's character articles, and each question shows its citation.
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Q 01Which marine-science educator created SpongeBob SquarePants?
Stephen Hillenburg
Stephen Hillenburg taught marine science before animation; his inspiration was The Intertidal Zone, an educational comic he drew in the 1980s while teaching.
Q 02Which Hanna-Barbera series, running on ABC from 1960 to 1966, was the first animated show with a US prime-time slot?
The Flintstones
The Flintstones ran on ABC from September 30, 1960, to April 1, 1966, and was also the first animated sitcom.
Q 03In the Scooby-Doo franchise, what breed is the talking dog who solves mysteries with four teenagers?
Great Dane
Scooby-Doo is a Great Dane; designer Iwao Takamoto studied the breed standard, then deliberately broke its rules with bowed legs, a sloped back and a receding chin.
Q 04What is the name of the brightly painted van driven by the teenage sleuths in Scooby-Doo?
The Mystery Machine
The van is painted in psychedelic colours with flower-power imagery, and has since been reproduced as die-cast toys and Hot Wheels models.
Q 05The Simpsons began as animated shorts around the ad breaks of which variety programme?
The Tracey Ullman Show
The Simpsons debuted as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show on 19 April 1987, after producer James L. Brooks asked cartoonist Matt Groening to pitch animated bumpers for the programme.
Q 06What is the name of The Simpsons' fictional hometown, one of the most common US place names?
Springfield
Matt Groening named it after Springfield, Oregon, and picked a common name so that viewers everywhere would assume it was theirs.
Q 07Which 1928 animated short is considered the official debut of Mickey Mouse?
Steamboat Willie
Walt Disney had seen The Jazz Singer and pushed to make a fully synchronised sound cartoon; earlier Mickey films Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho had failed to find a distributor.
Q 08Which Hollywood studio produced the original Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts, beginning in 1940?
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's cartoon unit released the first short, Puss Gets the Boot, in 1940; William Hanna and Joseph Barbera made the series there for nearly two decades before founding their own studio.
Q 09Which voice actor originated the voice of Bugs Bunny?
Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc originated Bugs Bunny at Warner Bros. Cartoons, then still called Leon Schlesinger Productions, and gave the rabbit a laugh close to his later Woody Woodpecker.
Q 10Betty Boop was designed by animator Grim Natwick at the request of which studio head?
Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer headed Fleischer Studios, where Betty Boop debuted in the Talkartoon Dizzy Dishes on 9 August 1930; Grim Natwick first drew her with floppy dog ears.
Q 11Bugs Bunny's definitive personality first appeared in which 1940 Tex Avery short?
A Wild Hare
A Wild Hare (July 1940), directed by Tex Avery, introduced the fully formed, carrot-chewing Bugs; a cruder prototype rabbit had appeared in 1938's Porky's Hare Hunt.
Q 12Which Looney Tunes character stutters the closing line 'That's all, folks!'?
Porky Pig
Porky Pig closes the cartoons by bursting through a drum with a stuttered 'Th-th-th-that's all, folks!'; he was Warner's first breakout star, appearing in about 150 golden-age shorts.
Q 13What is the gender of the Looney Tunes canary Tweety?
Male
Q 21Which animation producer created Woody Woodpecker, released through Universal from 1940?
Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz created Woody Woodpecker, who debuted in the 1940 Andy Panda short Knock Knock; Mel Blanc supplied the original voice and laugh until his exclusive Warner Bros. contract ended it.
Q 22Yogi Bear made his 1958 debut as a sidekick to which Hanna-Barbera hound, whose fame he soon eclipsed?
Huckleberry
Yogi debuted in 1958 on The Huckleberry Hound Show, then got his own Kellogg's-sponsored series in 1961 alongside Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle.
Q 23Huckleberry Hound speaks with the accent of which US state?
North Carolina
Tweety is male: Bob Clampett based the character's personality on Red Skelton's 'Junior the Mean Widdle Kid', and Granny refers to Tweety and Sylvester as 'boys'.
Q 14Wile E. Coyote mail-orders his rockets, anvils and traps from which company?
Acme
Acme is the mail-order company whose rockets, anvils and traps keep failing Wile E. Coyote; he and the Road Runner debuted in 1949's 'Fast and Furry-ous'.
Q 15Sylvester the Cat's cartoons won how many Academy Awards, the most for any Looney Tunes star?
Three
Three of Sylvester's shorts won the Oscar: Tweetie Pie (1947), Speedy Gonzales (1955) and Birds Anonymous (1957); no other Looney Tunes star matched that tally.
Q 16In which 1948 short did Marvin the Martian make his debut?
Haredevil Hare
Haredevil Hare, a July 1948 Chuck Jones short, introduced Marvin the Martian as Bugs Bunny's foe on the Moon; the character appeared in only four more golden-age cartoons.
Q 17Foghorn Leghorn is what kind of animal?
A rooster
Foghorn Leghorn is a rooster, a loud Southern one created by Robert McKimson; he debuted in the 1946 short 'Walky Talky Hawky'.
Q 18Speedy Gonzales is billed as the fastest what 'in all Mexico'?
Mouse
Speedy Gonzales is a mouse, billed as 'the fastest mouse in all Mexico', in a yellow sombrero and red kerchief; he starred in 46 theatrical shorts.
Q 19Which speech quirk is Elmer Fudd famous for?
He replaces R and L with W
Elmer Fudd's quirk is that he replaces R and L with W, a pattern called rhotacism, so rabbits become 'wabbits' and his catchphrase begins 'Shhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet'.
Q 20Which 1919 cartoon character became silent-era animation's first major star?
Felix the Cat
Felix the Cat debuted in the 1919 short Feline Follies from Pat Sullivan's studio; whether Sullivan or animator Otto Messmer created him remains disputed.
Daws Butler gave Huckleberry Hound a North Carolina drawl; The Huckleberry Hound Show became the first animated series to win an Emmy, in 1960.
Q 24Who is Fred Flintstone's daughter?
Pebbles
Pebbles Flintstone was born to Fred and Wilma in a 1963 episode; Bamm-Bamm is the Rubbles' adopted boy next door.
Q 25George Jetson's family lives in the Skypad Apartments in which futuristic town?
Orbit City
The Jetsons live in Orbit City, where buildings perch on giant poles like Seattle's Space Needle and the ground is almost never shown.
Q 26Hanna-Barbera's Top Cat parodied which live-action sitcom about a scheming army sergeant?
The Phil Silvers Show
Top Cat's scheming alley cat was modelled on Sgt. Bilko from The Phil Silvers Show; the cartoon lasted one prime-time season in 1961-62 before thriving in reruns and in Mexico (as Don Gato).
Q 27Which of Charles Schulz's childhood pets inspired Snoopy?
Spike
Spike, a black-and-white dog Schulz owned as a teenager, inspired Snoopy; Schulz later named Snoopy's desert-dwelling brother Spike after him.
Q 28Which food does Garfield love above all others?
Lasagna
Garfield's favourite food is lasagna; Jim Davis's cat also hates Mondays, the vet, exercise and the kitten Nermal.
Q 29Popeye first appeared in 1929 in a comic strip called what?
Thimble Theatre
Thimble Theatre, E. C. Segar's strip, was already ten years old when Popeye walked in on 17 January 1929; the sailor took over so completely it was later renamed after him.
Q 30What is Donald Duck's middle name?
Fauntleroy
Donald's middle name, Fauntleroy, appeared on his draft notice in the 1942 short Donald Gets Drafted; he also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.