Inspired by the
Friz Freleng cartoon
The Sheepish Wolf of a decade earlier (October 17, 1942),
Chuck Jones and
Michael Maltese (who had written the earlier Freleng cartoon) created Ralph and Sam for a series of shorts. The first of these was ''
Don't Give Up the Sheep'', released on January 3, 1953 (although an onscreen copyright line gives the year 1951). In this first entry of the characters, only the sheepdogs are seen clocking in and out in this cartoon, except for "Ralph" attempting to clock out while disguised as "Sam's" replacement before being unmasked and pummeled. The next cartoon
Sheep Ahoy (1954, with a 1953 copyright line) ended with a changing shift for both the sheepdog and wolf character clocking out with their replacement clocking in, the violence continuing wherever the predecessors had left off, setting in motion the fully realized version of the joke of both predator and protector just doing their jobs over the course of a day. The cartoons proved a success, prompting Jones to repeat the formula four more times between 1955 and 1962. In 1963, ex-Jones animators
Phil Monroe and
Richard Thompson also starred the duo in their cartoon
Woolen Under Where. The series is built around the satiric idea that both Ralph and Sam are blue collar workers who are just doing their jobs. Most of the cartoons begin at the beginning of the workday, in which they both arrive with
lunch pails at a sheep-grazing meadow, exchange pleasant chitchat, and punch into the same
time clock. Work having officially begun with the morning whistle at 8:00 AM, Ralph repeatedly tries very hard to abduct the helpless sheep and invariably fails, either through his own ineptitude or the minimal but well-planned efforts of Sam (he is frequently seen
sleeping), who always brutally punishes Ralph for the attempt. In many instances, there are also multiple copies of Ralph and particularly Sam. At the end-of-the-day whistle at 5:00 PM (or sometimes 6:00 PM) Ralph and Sam punch out their
time cards, again chat amiably, and leave, presumably only to come back the next day and do it all over again, or sometimes continue where they left off at the day previous. Or another sheepdog and wolf arrive for work to continue where the other two left off at, as they clock out and head home. They are even occasionally shown to be good friends outside of work. Both Ralph and Sam are performed by
voice actor Mel Blanc. In
A Sheep in the Deep, the workday is interrupted by a
lunch break, which they also conduct amiably. The operation seems to run 24 hours a day or at least into another shift, as when Ralph and Sam "punch out" they may also run into their
nighttime replacements, Fred and George, respectively. In some of their earlier appearances, Ralph and Sam are named inconsistently: in particular Sam's shift replacement sometimes addresses him as "Ralph". == Shorts ==