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The character is still shallow, self-absorbed and air-headed when she's trotting around with Jenna and Sylvie too. In fact, in every scene she has, but for the very end (where she finally has an epiphany about Steele, and then only thanks to Jenna pointing it out to her and the other dogs), she's rather dingy.

I think a little too much is being made of this... In my opinion, Dixie is a "valley girl" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_girl
Just about every girl has a friend like this or knows of a girl like this, I think it was just another way to personify the character.
I didn't notice her messing up words, but that doesn't mean she speaks perfectly... just fits in with the valley girl stereotype.

"Valley Girl" wouldn't really be an accurate stereotype here. The generational norms are wrong, as are the behaviors and colloquialisms. More like a tawdry, ditzy 1920s flapper.

JC - I think our interpretation of the character is just different. I understand what you're saying, but I still stand by my evaluation of Dixie.

I didn't mean she was literally a "Valley Girl," just that she was an air-headed socialite who's boy crazy. Dixie trips over words and misuses words, which is very characteristic of a valley girl type. She seems to be well off, since she's all fluffed up and groomed... there is a big difference in the way Dixie is drawn and the way Balto is drawn... not just because ones a boy and ones a girl, but the colors used. Dixie is a pale purple (the color of royalty) and her collar looks more like a necklace. Balto and other dogs that aren't supposed to be "well off" are drawn with dark, flat colors.

My idea of a valley girl is the type of girls on the movie "Clueless." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112697/ You could argue that the generational norms are wrong, but I don't think people from generation to generation are all that different. Both the flapper you describe and the valley girl I describe sound like one in the same.

Well, I don't mean to be dismissive or to sound callous here, but I think your interpretation of history is incorrect (by saying that flappers and "Valley Girls" sound identical). Since there are very few, if any, recordings of real-life flappers conversing, there would be very little to go on. Plus the social norms and behaviors of the two archetypes could not be more divergent. The only similiarity would be in the apparent airheadedness. And I certainly don't see how Dixie's color, and the jeweled collar she wears is an indication of the trend-obsessed, self-absorbed girls of the valley. You may be reading a bit much into the intent of the production designers and artists in their design of the dogs. I think Dixie's coloration was simply a means of setting her apart...not identifying her with any specific social stratus...either by implication or direct association.

We're going to have to just agree to disagree.

Yea, I got off topic when talking about Dixie's color but anyway, I do respectfully disagree.

Thank you for your input.