Eliot Shag

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Eliot Shag is the star of Dog City, the animated/puppetry spin-off of the eponymous special. A bespectacled animator, Eliot wrote, drew, and animated the adventures of detective Ace Hart, striving to turn out each week's episode amidst distractions from friends, neighbors, and interlopers, which provided inspiration for his cartoons. A German shepherd in breed, Eliot lives alone in his apartment; neighbor Artie is Eliot's biggest admirer, and Eliot strikes up a relationship with Artie's mother, Terri Springer, after his first girlfriend Colleen leaves. Eliot typically interacted and argued with Ace, in a manner reminiscent of the Chuck Jones' animated short Duck Amuck.

In "In Your Dreams," Eliot falls asleep at the drawing board and re-appears in cartoon form. The episode also features a cartoon appearance by Eliot's mom, asking him why he doesn't "settle down and have a litter."

Notes

Eliot's puppet was essentially reworked from Ace Yu, the protagonist of the Dog City special (and inspiration for Ace Hart), also played by Kevin Clash. For the first season, the character wore a striped shirt beneath a sweater, but later adopted an open Hawaiian shirt over a blue t-shirt.

Eliot is a Live-Hand Muppet, and the only one used regularly on the series. Don Reardon assisted with the right hand.