Today is Elephant Appreciation Day, which we learned is a fairly young holiday created in 1996 by a father who was disproportionately elated by the paperweight of elephants parading that his daughter gave him as a gift. Doesn’t he know that paperweights are just about the most thoughtless and empty gifts one can give? At any rate, it spawned a great holiday so we can’t really complain. In celebration, we’ve rounded up these 9 Unforgettable Elephants in Pop Culture.

Hathi from The Jungle Book

We can’t quite figure out why, but in the book as in its Disney adaptation, the elephants are the military. Social commentary or stunt-casting?

Snuffy on Sesame Street

We suppose he’s actually a woolly mammoth, but it’s the same family and he probably wouldn’t mind if we lumped him in with his distant cousins.

Elephant from the Rolo Commercial

An elephant with good taste in candy and a terrific sense of justice.

Dumbo

Well, obviously, having a pig fly would be a tad too literal (and anatomically unconvincing), so big-eared Dumbo used his giant ears to fly.

The Elephant from Larger than Life

Perhaps not the greatest film (poor Bill Murray), but it did feature an outstanding elephant performance (and Matthew McConaughey acting a fool)

The Elephants from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

The Southrons’s Mûmakil or Oliphaunts from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Not technically elephants, but come on: they’re totally giant elephants.

Babar

So awesome the elephants made him their king.

Horton from Horton Hears a Who!

With his molecular hearing, he may have a more invaluable talent than even Dumbo.

Bonus: The Elephant Man

Okay, so he wasn’t really an elephant, but he kinda looked like one and he was so sweet.