Pogo
Pogo is an American comic strip created and illustrated by Walt Kelly, featuring a cast of anthropomorphic animals inhabiting Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, with the titular character Pogo Possum serving as a philosophical everyman.[1] Syndicated in daily newspapers from 1948 until Kelly's death in 1973 and concluding in 1975, the strip blended whimsical humor, inventive wordplay, poetry, and sharp political satire targeting issues such as McCarthyism, communism, segregation, and the Vietnam War.[1][2] At its height in the mid-1950s, Pogo reached over 450 newspapers and an estimated 37 million readers, making it one of the era's most popular strips, though its bold critiques—depicting figures like Joseph McCarthy as the demagogic wildcat Simple J. Malarkey and Richard Nixon as a shifty fox—led to frequent censorship, with editors altering panels, relocating strips to opinion pages, or dropping the feature altogether.[2] Kelly, a self-described Cold War liberal, used the swamp's inhabitants to lampoon authoritarianism and societal follies without overt partisanship, earning the strip a reputation for intellectual depth rare in mainstream comics.[2][3] The series achieved enduring cultural resonance through phrases like "We have met the enemy and he is us," adapted by Kelly from an 1813 naval report for a 1970 Earth Day poster and featured in a 1971 strip highlighting environmental self-destruction.[2] Its influence persists in collections and events like Waycross, Georgia's annual Pogofest, underscoring Pogo's role in elevating comic strips as vehicles for substantive commentary amid mid-20th-century political tensions.[1][3]Arts, entertainment, and media
Comics and fictional characters
Pogo is an American comic strip created by Walt Kelly, initially featuring characters developed for Dell Comics' Animal Comics anthology, where Pogo the opossum and Albert the alligator debuted in issue #1 in September 1942. The newspaper strip launched on October 4, 1948, and achieved national syndication via the Post-Hall Syndicate on May 16, 1949, running daily until July 20, 1975. Set among anthropomorphic animals in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, it combined humor, dialect-infused dialogue, and sharp social satire, reaching a peak audience of about 37 million readers across 450 newspapers in the mid-1950s.[4][2] The central character, Pogo Possum, embodies a humble, philosophical, and good-natured everyman opossum, often serving as the strip's moral compass amid chaotic antics. Key supporting figures include Albert Alligator, a boisterous, self-centered, and intellectually limited reptile prone to schemes; Howland Owl, a pompous pseudo-intellectual bird with grandiose ideas; Porkypine, a pessimistic and irritable porcupine representing misanthropic realism; and Churchy LaFemme, a verbose turtle fond of malapropisms and poetry. Other recurring characters, such as the hound dog Houn' Dog and the mischievous Rackety Coon Chile, contributed to ensemble dynamics emphasizing interpersonal folly and communal life in the swamp.[5][6] Kelly's work influenced comic strip artistry through intricate artwork, rhythmic phrasing, and allegorical storytelling, with collections like Fantagraphics' Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips preserving its legacy since 2011. The strip's characters have appeared in limited adaptations, but no other prominent comic book or strip features unrelated fictional entities named Pogo.[5]Music
Pogo is the stage name of Christopher Nicholas Bertke (born July 26, 1988), a South African-born electronic music producer based in Perth, Western Australia, specializing in plunderphonics and remix mashups constructed from sampled audio clips, dialogue, and melodies extracted from films, television programs, and other media sources.[7][8] His production technique involves isolating and sequencing micro-elements such as ambient sounds and spoken lines to form cohesive downtempo and IDM tracks, often evoking nostalgic or whimsical atmospheres; early viral successes include "Alice" (2009), remixed from Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951), and "Upular" (2010) from Pixar's Up (2009), which collectively amassed tens of millions of YouTube views and established his style of transforming licensed media into unlicensed derivative works.[8][7] Bertke's discography spans self-released EPs and full-length albums via platforms like Bandcamp, beginning with Wonderland (May 28, 2007) and Broken Beats (2008), followed by Weave and Wish (March 22, 2009), Kindred Shadow (2015), Weightless (2016), Quantum Field (2018), Cultures (2020), and Cosmoluxe (2022).[9][7] Notable tracks beyond his film remixes include "Forget" (over 4.6 million SoundCloud plays) and "Mazel Tov," blending eclectic samples into funky, earworm compositions.[10] His catalog has exceeded 110 million streams on YouTube as of recent counts, reflecting a dedicated online following despite limited mainstream distribution.[8] Bertke has encountered public backlash for politically charged online content, including a 2015 video and blog post critiquing feminism—later framed by him as a "social experiment"—and a 2018 explanation of his channel's origins tied to a homophobic slur, alongside comments on the Orlando nightclub shooting interpreted by critics as celebratory or insensitive toward LGBTQ+ victims.[11][12] These incidents, amplified by social media and outlets like Australian news sites, led to deplatforming threats and reduced visibility, though Bertke maintained they were satirical or provocative expressions rather than genuine endorsements of harm; coverage in such reports often reflects broader institutional tendencies to prioritize narrative alignment over contextual nuance in artist controversies.[13][12] Separately, "Pogo" appears as a 2025 single title by American rapper Brooke Candy, featuring high-energy production but lacking the cultural footprint of Bertke's oeuvre.[14]Film, television, and other media
The Pogo Special Birthday Special, an animated television program marking the 20th anniversary of Walt Kelly's Pogo comic strip, premiered on NBC on May 18, 1969.[15][16] Produced in traditional 2D animation, the 30-minute special depicts Pogo Possum and his Okefenokee Swamp companions celebrating holidays in whimsical fashion, with recurring character Porkypine attempting to court Mademoiselle Hepzibah amid satirical humor echoing the strip's style.[17] Voice acting featured impressions of Kelly's characters, though Kelly himself did not participate due to his declining health; the special received mixed reviews for its fidelity to the source material but limited animation scope.[15] In film, I Go Pogo (also known as Pogo for President), a stop-motion animated feature, was released in 1980, written and directed by Marc Paul Chinoy.[18] Drawing from Kelly's recurring satirical presidential campaigns featuring Pogo in the comic strip—first in 1952 and again in 1956—the 78-minute film portrays Pogo's quixotic run for the U.S. presidency, aided by animal allies like Albert Alligator, amid political absurdity and swamp antics.[19] Produced independently with limited distribution, it faced commercial challenges, including distributor issues leading to scarce availability, and holds a niche cult status for its innovative stop-motion technique despite deviations from Kelly's original artwork and dialogue.[20] Other media adaptations include a series of children's records released in the 1950s and 1960s, featuring narrated stories and songs with voices mimicking the comic's characters, often tied to holiday themes or political parodies from the strip. These audio productions, distributed by labels like Golden Records, extended Pogo's reach to younger audiences but were less ambitious than visual formats, focusing on simple sound effects and dialogue excerpts rather than full narratives. No major stage plays or live-action adaptations have been produced.Video games and online gaming
Pogo.com is a web-based platform specializing in casual browser games, launched in 1999 as a startup offering free-to-play titles in genres such as puzzles, card games, and mahjong.[21] Initially operating under the TEN brand in partnership with Excite Games, it quickly built an audience through accessible, ad-supported gameplay without requiring downloads.[22] By 2001, the site had established a mature user base, with 55% female players, 70% aged 18-49, and 20% over 50, differentiating it from younger-skewing competitors.[23] On March 1, 2001, Electronic Arts (EA) acquired Pogo.com to expand its portfolio of easy-to-play online games, integrating it into EA's online division while retaining its free model to attract broader demographics.[24] Post-acquisition, Pogo expanded its library, incorporating licensed content from brands like Hasbro and PopCap Games, and introduced Club Pogo in 2002 as a subscription service providing ad-free access, exclusive games, and premium features for $5.99 monthly or equivalent annual plans.[25] The platform grew to over 50 games by the late 2000s, emphasizing social elements like multiplayer challenges and daily rewards to foster community engagement.[21] As of 2025, Pogo.com maintains more than 60 titles, including staples like Solitaire, Word Whomp HD, and Trizzle, playable directly in browsers without installation and supported by optional in-game purchases or Club Pogo upgrades.[26] It continues to prioritize casual, non-competitive gaming for casual users, with features like token-based rewards and tournaments, though it has phased out some older games to focus on updated HTML5-compatible versions amid evolving web standards.[27] No console or mobile-native video games directly branded as "Pogo" have achieved comparable prominence, positioning the platform primarily as a hub for web-based casual entertainment rather than traditional video game development.[28]Organizations
Government and oversight groups
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan, independent nonprofit organization established in 1981 as a watchdog focused on exposing waste, corruption, abuse of power, and misconduct across the U.S. federal government.[29] Initially founded by Dina Rasor as the Project on Military Procurement under the National Taxpayers Legal Fund, it targeted excessive Pentagon spending, highlighting examples such as a $7,600 coffee maker and a $435 hammer billed to taxpayers. By 1990, POGO expanded its scope beyond defense procurement to encompass all branches of government, reflecting a shift toward broader accountability reforms.[30] POGO's activities include investigations into federal contracting irregularities, support for whistleblowers, and advocacy for legislative changes to curb insider influences and enhance transparency.[31] The group has collaborated with whistleblowers on disclosures dating back to its origins and contributed to strengthening protections under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012, including testimony before Congress on related reforms. It promotes measures like restrictions on revolving-door employment between government and industry to mitigate conflicts of interest.[32] While POGO maintains a nonpartisan stance and earns high marks for financial accountability from evaluators like Charity Navigator (4/4 stars as of recent assessments), some analyses characterize its policy emphases—such as critiques of defense industry profiteering and calls for reduced military spending—as aligning with left-center perspectives, potentially skewing scrutiny toward certain sectors over others.[33][34] This orientation has drawn occasional pushback from figures advocating deregulation, including public criticisms during 2025 congressional hearings on government efficiency initiatives. Nonetheless, its work has influenced oversight mechanisms, including nuclear facility safety reviews and anti-corruption probes at agencies like the Department of Energy.[35]Businesses and gaming operations
Pogo.com is an online casual gaming platform providing free-to-play titles including puzzles, card games, and word games, with premium features available via subscription. The service originated from the Total Entertainment Network, launched in 1995, and rebranded as Pogo.com in 1998 before its acquisition by Electronic Arts on February 28, 2001, for an undisclosed amount estimated in the tens of millions.[36] Under EA ownership, Pogo.com expanded to over 50 games, incorporating licensed content from brands like Hasbro, and introduced Club Pogo in 2003 for ad-free play and exclusive tokens.[21] As of 2024, it continues operations with a focus on accessible browser-based entertainment, generating revenue through microtransactions and memberships.[37] Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), also known as internet gaming licensees since October 2023, comprise businesses authorized by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to conduct online gambling targeted at foreign nationals, primarily Chinese players where such activities are domestically restricted. Initial operations emerged in 2003, but the sector proliferated after formal licensing began in 2016 under President Rodrigo Duterte, who eased regulations to attract investment and employment, peaking at over 60 licensed entities by 2019 with annual revenues exceeding $1.8 billion.[38][39] POGOs employed around 140,000 workers by 2023 but faced mounting evidence of systemic involvement in human trafficking, money laundering, cyber fraud, and organized crime syndicates, including forced labor of trafficked individuals in gambling hubs.[40][41] In July 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a full ban, effective by year's end, citing irredeemable criminal associations and national security risks, resulting in raids, deportations, and the shuttering of operations despite PAGCOR's prior oversight failures.[42][43] The ban prompted a shift toward regulated internet gaming for locals, though underground remnants persist.[44]People
Artists and creators
Walt Kelly (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973) was an American animator and cartoonist renowned for creating the Pogo comic strip, which depicted anthropomorphic animals in the Okefenokee Swamp and incorporated political satire.[45] [46] Kelly initially introduced Pogo Possum in comic books in 1941 before launching the daily newspaper strip in 1948, which ran until 1975 and influenced subsequent cartoonists with its whimsical yet pointed commentary on American society.[47] [48] After Kelly's death from complications of diabetes, assistants like George Ward and Henry Shikuma continued the strip briefly to conclude ongoing storylines.[49] Nick Bertke, professionally known as Pogo, is a South African-born electronic musician and producer based in Perth, Western Australia, specializing in remixes and mashups derived from film soundtracks and other media.[8] His tracks, such as those splicing dialogue and music from movies like Alice in Wonderland into electronic compositions, have accumulated over 110 million plays on YouTube since the late 2000s.[8] [50] Bertke's output, distributed via platforms like SoundCloud and Bandcamp, blends nostalgic sampling with original production, though he has faced public criticism for unrelated personal views expressed in videos.[10][9]Other notable individuals
John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender convicted of murdering at least 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area between 1972 and 1978.[51] Gacy performed as "Pogo the Clown" at charity events and children's parties, a persona he developed in the mid-1970s that later earned him the epithet "Killer Clown" following his arrest.[52] His clown activities were part of a public facade contrasting his criminal acts, which involved luring victims to his home under pretexts of employment or entertainment before assaulting and strangling them.[51] Tatsuo Sasaki (born December 17, 1952), better known by his ring name Mr. Pogo, is a Japanese professional wrestler renowned for pioneering extreme "deathmatch" wrestling styles in promotions like Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South. Active since 1972, Sasaki adopted the Mr. Pogo moniker in the 1980s, incorporating weapons such as barbed wire and fire in matches, which influenced global hardcore wrestling. He also ventured into politics, unsuccessfully running for office in Japan.[53]Places
Geographical locations
Pogo is an unincorporated community in Franklin County, Alabama, United States, positioned near the border with Mississippi.[54] In Africa, Pogo designates a village in the northern Tchologo Region of Côte d'Ivoire, within the sub-prefecture of Toumoukoro.[55] Pogo also refers to a locality near Sibut in the Kemo prefecture of the Central African Republic, at geographical coordinates 5°8'0" North, 19°26'0" East.[56] Additionally, Nab Pogo is a place in Burkina Faso, documented in global geographical databases.[57] Pogo Mountain is a peak in British Columbia, Canada, accessible via a flagged trail through bushwhack terrain leading toward its summit.[58]Technology
Computing and hardware
Pogo pins, also known as spring-loaded connectors, are precision-engineered electrical contacts comprising a plunger, internal compression spring, cylindrical barrel, and often a cap or tip, designed to establish and maintain temporary, low-resistance connections between circuit boards or devices under compressive force.[59] The spring mechanism allows the plunger to extend and retract, ensuring consistent contact pressure typically ranging from 50 to 200 grams per pin, with gold plating on contact surfaces to minimize oxidation and achieve contact resistances below 20 milliohms.[60] These components support current ratings up to several amperes and are engineered for mating cycles exceeding 10,000 to 100,000, depending on the model, making them suitable for repeated connections without wear-induced failure.[61] In computing hardware, pogo pins facilitate applications such as in-system programming (ISP) fixtures, where they connect to unpopulated or headerless printed circuit boards (PCBs) for firmware flashing, avoiding permanent soldering and enabling rapid prototyping or field updates.[62] They are integral to battery charging interfaces in laptops, tablets, and wearables, providing vibration-resistant contacts that align with gold pads on device chassis for wireless or dock-based power delivery.[63] Test and measurement setups in hardware development employ pogo pin arrays for boundary-scan testing and signal probing on high-density interconnects, supporting frequencies up to several gigahertz with minimal signal degradation due to their short, compliant structure.[64] Advantages over traditional pogo pins include tolerance to misalignment up to 0.5 mm laterally and axial compression depths of 0.5 to 2 mm, which accommodate variations in PCB assembly or thermal expansion in computing environments.[65] Materials such as beryllium copper for springs and brass or stainless steel for barrels ensure durability under operating temperatures from -55°C to 150°C, common in server racks or embedded systems.[66] However, limitations include higher costs compared to solderable headers—typically $0.50 to $2 per pin in volume—and potential for debris accumulation in the plunger mechanism, necessitating clean environments for reliability in production testing.[59] Configurations vary from single-pin probes to multi-pin arrays with pitches as fine as 0.4 mm, optimized for surface-mount or through-hole integration in compact computing modules.[67]Software and protocols
Pogocache is an open-source, C-based caching server designed for high performance and low latency, supporting multiple wire protocols such as Memcache, Valkey/Redis, HTTP, and PostgreSQL to enable compatibility with existing tools like curl and psql.[68][69] It achieved general availability in September 2025 and reports throughput exceeding Redis by up to 2-3 times in benchmarks on standard hardware.[70] POGO serves as a code generator for TANGO device servers, an open-source framework for distributed control systems in scientific facilities like synchrotrons, producing boilerplate source code in C++ or Python to implement device interfaces and communication protocols.[71] Version 6.0, documented by the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, automates generation of server skeletons compliant with TANGO's CORBA-based protocol for real-time device control.[71] Pogo is a specialized software package for simulating wave propagation, leveraging NVIDIA CUDA for GPU-accelerated computations to achieve results up to 100 times faster than CPU-based alternatives on compatible hardware.[72] It targets applications in acoustics and seismology, processing large-scale models via parallel computing protocols inherent to CUDA.[73] PoGo functions as a bioinformatics mapping tool developed by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, identifying genomic loci for peptides and post-translational modifications by aligning mass spectrometry data against reference genomes using sequence similarity algorithms.[74] Pogoscript is a domain-specific language emphasizing readability and support for custom dialects, transpiling to JavaScript for web and node.js execution via a custom parser and code generation pipeline.[75]Sports and recreation
Toys and physical activities
The pogo stick is a mechanical toy featuring a vertical pole with coiled springs at the base, foot pegs, and handles that allow users to propel themselves upward through repeated bouncing. Early prototypes emerged in Germany around 1919, with inventors Max Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall securing a patent for a spring-end hopping stilt in Hanover in March 1920.[76] In the United States, George B. Hansburg adapted and patented an improved version in 1919 at the behest of Gimbel Brothers department store, following a shipment of German imports that deteriorated en route; this design gained commercial traction despite initial production challenges.[77] Hansburg further refined the toy with the steel-constructed Master Pogo in 1947, enhancing durability and spring longevity for recreational jumping activities that build leg strength and coordination.[78] The pogo ball, also known as the Pogo Bal, consists of an inflatable rubber ball encased in a rigid plastic foot platform resembling Saturn's rings, enabling balance-based bouncing without handles. Invented by Belgian engineers Raphael J. Van Der Cleyen and Wilfried F. Ribbens, it received a patent in May 1969 under the name "Bengium."[79] Hasbro commercialized it as the Pogo Bal starting with test markets in winter 1986, achieving widespread popularity by summer 1987 as a fad toy for children, often used in freestyle tricks or group challenges to promote agility and core stability.[80] Both devices encourage outdoor physical exertion, with pogo sticks supporting jumps up to several feet high and pogo balls facilitating rapid directional changes, though user skill varies widely and safety guidelines recommend adult supervision for young children.[81]Dance and music-related activities
The pogo is a dance in which participants jump up and down vertically, either stationary or while navigating crowds, with arms typically held at the sides or flailing for emphasis, evoking the rebound of a pogo stick.[82][83] This style prioritizes energetic, repetitive bouncing synchronized to fast-tempo music rather than lateral movement or contact.[82] Pogoing originated in the United Kingdom during the mid-1970s punk rock era, becoming a hallmark of live performances by bands such as the Sex Pistols.[84] Punk accounts attribute its invention to Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious around 1976, who reportedly devised it to mock non-punk spectators at the band's shows by exaggerating simplistic, rhythmic jumps in front of the stage.[84][82] Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steve Severin similarly recalled Vicious initiating the bounce at early concerts, distinguishing it from prior dance forms like skanking in the preceding ska and reggae scenes.[82] At punk gigs, pogoing facilitated crowd participation amid high-energy, short songs, with dancers often colliding shoulders while maintaining vertical motion, fostering a sense of communal release without the structured choreography of disco or the aggression of later moshing variants.[82][83] Blondie vocalist Debbie Harry demonstrated the pogo for American audiences on the 1978 cable show TV Party, noting its decline in the UK by then but highlighting its role as punk's foundational dance amid the genre's raw, anti-establishment ethos.[85] By the early 1980s, pogoing influenced new wave and post-punk crowds, though clubs increasingly restricted it due to safety concerns, prompting cultural pushback as in Men Without Hats' 1982 single "The Safety Dance," which critiqued bouncers prohibiting the style in favor of calmer dancing.[82] In the late 1990s, it inspired the pogo punk subgenre within street punk and Oi!, featuring tempos around 200 beats per minute optimized for sustained bouncing at shows.[86] Unlike moshing's pushing and circling, pogoing retained its punk roots in individualistic yet collective vertical exertion, persisting in niche hardcore and punk revival scenes into the 21st century.[82]Other uses
Abbreviations and miscellaneous terms
- Project on Government Oversight (POGO): A nonpartisan nonprofit organization founded in 1981 in Washington, D.C., functioning as a government watchdog to investigate waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in U.S. federal agencies and contractors, while advocating for accountability reforms.[87][88]
- Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO): An international consortium established in 1999 by directors of major oceanographic institutions to foster cooperation in developing and sustaining a global ocean observing system, including capacity building and data sharing initiatives.[89]
- Polar Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (POGO): A series of four NASA satellites launched from 1964 to 1967 into low-altitude polar orbits to conduct measurements of the Earth's ionosphere, magnetosphere, and geophysical phenomena, contributing data on solar-terrestrial interactions.[90]