Though Peggy Hill may famously have “got it going on back there,” as she proudly proclaimed to her ass-less husband in “Hank’s Back Story,” there’s a reason why the Arlen darlin’ never got the fan-service treatment: Because the King of the Hill overlords got dang said so.
Likely much to Dale’s chagrin, King of the Hill’s animators abided by a system to keep the series visually consistent throughout its team of artists, turning to a “Do’s and Don’ts” rule book to “serve as a guideline for life in Arlen,” per one iteration of the manual.
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Alongside warning of common pitfalls like “reptilian eyes,” smiling Boomhauers and the ever-detested “skinny Redcorns” — “John Redcorn is TALLER and more MUSCULAR than Hank,” reads the style guide, noting that this rule was “not to imply that Hank couldn’t kick Redcorn’s ass if he was really pissed” — the handbook offered advice on another common, albeit thirst-driven error: an all-too-seductive Peggy Hill.
“Don’t draw Peggy too shapely,” warned the entry, accompanied by two sultry, juxtaposed illustrations of the Boggle champion. While the first drawing of “Sexy Peggy,” depicted the Hill family matriarch looking back and smiling in an off-the-shoulder negligee, the second, dubbed “Animator’s Dream Peggy,” was, well, exactly that. Featuring “too full” lips, “too big” of a chest and “too small” of a waist, per the annotations, this version of Peggy looked more fit for a starring role in Bill’s stolen adult film collection than the propane salesman’s wife we’ve come to know and love.
In other words, as much as animators may apparently love her, that iteration of the substitute Spanish teacher ain’t right.
But whether or not we — or King of the Hill’s art team — are thirsty for a more provocative Peggy, hopefully, these rules can at least help us appreciate Peggy’s existing good looks. As the award-winning educator once put it herself, “I am finally getting the recognition I have always given myself.”