Tuxedo Sam (タキシードサム, Takishīdo Samu) is a character from Sanrio. He is a young dapper penguin from Antarctica's Tuxedo Island and part of the Hapidanbui universe. He is known to eat a lot (similar to Pompompurin) and makes some clumsy decisions like Keroppi. Tuxedo Sam is a bow tie collector, as he owns a total of 365! He is from a distinguished family and attended university in the United Kingdom, and can also speak English very well. Sam is blue in color, and his body measurements are 100 cm in circumference at the bust, waist, and hips (despite other media depict him at much larger sizes like other characters). His trademark is his red bowtie, visible just below his beak, and his sailor-like hat. Sam has two younger brothers named Pam and Tam who are doppelgangers of himself. Tuxedo Sam makes his first appearance in 1979, and is therefore one of Sanrio's earliest known characters.
Sam's closest confidant is Chip, a smart seal boy.
Ranking in the Sanrio Character Ranking[]
If Tuxedo Sam makes it to the top 5 in the 2013 Sanrio Character Ranking, he will receive a waist size. However, he failed to reach that rank, as was at 13th.
- 1986: 4th place
- From 1987 to 1989, he was below the top 10.
- 1990: 9th place
- 1991: 10th place
- From 1992 to 2009, he was below the top 10.
- 2010: 10th place
- 2011: 12th place
- 2012: 10th place
- 2013: 13th place
- 2014: 17th place (4th place in Group B)
- 2015: 18th place
- 2016: 19th place (17th in Nade Time Ranking)
- 2017: 15th place
- 2018: 13th place
- 2019: 10th place
- 2020: 10th place
- 2021: 9th place
- 2022: 10th place
- 2023: 9th place (10th in Australia and Singapore)
- 2024: 9th place
- 2025: 9th place (8th in the United States)
Official description (2001)[]
Tuxedo Sam was born in Antarctica, at the South Pole, but was educated in England. His best friends are his brothers, Tam and Pam, and a seal named Chip. He knows how to speak English in addition to his native language, Penguinese. Right now Tuxedo Sam is learning to speak Spanish, Japanese and Russian so that he can communicate with his friends all over the world. [1]
Trivia[]
- He is based on the real-world little penguin species.
- Tuxedo Sam once got rewarded for saving a drowning seal pup. Whether this seal pup is Chip or not is unknown.
- Tuxedo Sam respects Santa Claus because he wants children all over the world to love him too.
- He has a rival, known as Quakes the duck.
- Tuxedo Sam stars in several Sanrio anime films, such as Sam to Chip no wa Hachamecha Dai Race and Sam-chan no Obake Nanka Kowaku Nai.
- Sean Roberge, who voiced Tuxedo Sam in Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, died in a car accident in 1996.
- He makes an appearance in Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures as one of the background characters.
- Before the existence of Dear Daniel, as seen in Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, Tuxedo Sam was the one who played the heroic characters based various fairy tales and classic movies where he rescues and sometimes kisses Hello Kitty. This has led some fans at the time to believe (or ones that have seen the show but never Dear Daniel today) that he was intended to be the boyfriend of Sanrio's mascot. Ironically, his dream is to fall in love with Kitty.
- Tuxedo Sam is one of the larger Sanrio characters, with his size comparable to that of Pompompurin.
- He is similar in appearance to the Penguins and Bumpites seen in Nintendo's Super Mario franchise. Bumpty's Japanese name (ターくん) could be based on Tuxedo Sam.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- Tuxedo Sam Profile on Sanrio.co.jp
- Tuxedo Sam Ranking on SanrioCharacterRanking.com via Archive.org (2016)
- May 2016 Calendar on Sanrio.com
- May 2017 Calendar on Sanrio.com
- Tuxedo Sam's Resume from Sanrio Design: 70s & 80s