Wikipedia
Foofur
Foofur is an American traditionally animated children's television series from Kissyfur creator Phil Mendez that was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions with SEPP International S.A.[1] Airing on NBC from 1986 to 1988, the show was about the everyday misadventures of the skinny blue protagonist dog in Willowby.[2] A comic book series based on the cartoon was produced by and released from Star Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics).
| Foofur | |
|---|---|
Foofur and his group | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Phil Mendez |
| Directed by |
|
| Voices of | Michael Bell Pat Carroll Peter Cullen David Doyle Dick Gautier Christina Lange Allan Melvin Don Messick Jonathan Schmock Susan Silo Susan Tolsky Chick Vennera Frank Welker Eugene Williams |
| Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Opening theme | "Foofur" |
| Ending theme | "Foofur" (Instrumental) |
| Composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (46 segments) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producers |
|
| Editor | Gil Iverson |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Hanna-Barbera Productions SEPP International S.A. |
| Distributor | Worldvision Enterprises |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | NTSC |
| Original release | September 13, 1986 – February 18, 1988 |
Plot
In the town of Willowby, a tall skinny blue bloodhound named Foofur has taken refuge in a mansion, in 32 Maple Street, which is also his birthplace. In Foofur's group is his niece Rocki, Fencer the Cat, a bulldog named Louis with his girlfriend, an Old English Sheepdog named Annabell, and a cocker spaniel named Hazel with her husband, a miniature schnauzer named Fritz-Carlos.[3]
Foofur and his friends, however, have an enemy in a woman named Mrs. Amelia Escrow and her pet Chihuahua named Pepe, who tries to expose Foofur's illegal roommates – but always to no avail. Mrs. Escrow has tried many times to sell the estate, but unbeknownst to her, Foofur and his friends keep the house from being bought, as they also protect their home from rodents like the Rat Brothers who tend to mess with Fencer, other cats like Vinnie and his Cat Pack, and greedy humans.
While trying to stop Mrs. Escrow, Foofur tries to avoid having his friends captured by the Bowser Busters' dog catchers Mel and Harvey. In addition, an Afghan Hound named Burt also antagonizes Foofur and competes with him to win the affection of a basset hound named Dolly.
Characters
Main characters
- Foofur (voiced by Frank Welker) - a blue bloodhound who has taken refuge in a mansion, at 32 Maple Street, which is also his birthplace.
- Rocki (voiced by Christina Lange) - an indigo bloodhound puppy and Foofur's niece.
- Louis (voiced by Dick Gautier) - a street-smart bulldog.
- Annabell (voiced by Susan Tolsky) - a sensitive Old English Sheepdog and Louis' girlfriend.
- Hazel (voiced by Pat Carroll) - a cocker spaniel and Fritz-Carlos' wife.
- Fritz-Carlos (voiced by Jonathan Schmock) - a miniature schnauzer and Hazel's husband.
- Fencer (voiced by Eugene Williams) - a cat with a penchant for the martial arts.
- Mrs. Amelia Escrow (voiced by Susan Silo) - a woman who has tried many times to sell the mansion. Unbeknownst to her, Foofur and his friends keep the house from being bought.
- Pepe (voiced by Don Messick) - Mrs. Amelia Escrow's chihuahua who tries to expose Foofur and his roommates, to no avail.
- Rat Brothers - three rats who antagonize Fencer.
- Sammy (voiced by Chick Vennera) - a thin black rat who is the leader of the Rat Brothers.
- Baby (voiced by Peter Cullen) - a fat violet rat.
- Chucky (voiced by Allan Melvin in most episodes, and by Frank Welker in a few episodes) - a fat pink rat who is the strongest of the Rat Brothers.
- Mel and Harvey (voiced by David Doyle and Michael Bell) - the Bowser Busters' dog catchers.
- Vinnie (voiced by Peter Cullen) - leader of a cat gang and one of the enemies of Foofur and his friends.
- Burt (voiced by William Callaway) - an arrogant Afghan Hound who tries to win Dolly's love.
- Dolly (voiced by Susan Blu) - a basset hound who is the object of Foofur and Burt's affections.
Other characters
- Norris - a beagle puppy who is also a mascot for a dog food company.
- Bertie and Bernie - two beagles belonging to a judge.
- Harry - an easily scared dog.
- Pam - a Pekingese.
- Celia - a poodle.
- Brenda - a terrier.
- Brigette - a poodle who belongs to Mrs. Escrow's cousin Roberto.
- Lucy - a poodle who lives in a pawn shop.
- Muffy - a poodle.
- Jojo - a Scottish Terrier.
- Sarge - a Doberman Pinscher.
- Dobkins - a St. Bernard.
- Trendy - a Siberian Husky.
- Blaze - a German Shepherd.
- Lorenzo - a dalmatian.
- Otto - a Labrador Retriever.
- Rover Cleveland - an elderly dog.
- Tugboat - Foofur's brother and Rocki's father.
- Phyllis - Foofur's sister.
- Obscura - a cat belonging to a fortune teller.
- Cleo - a violet cat belonging to an archaeologist.
- Willy - a fox kit, trying to avoid the fox hunters.
- Duke - a singing mouse.
- Killer (voiced by Jerry Houser) - a harmless St. Bernard.
- Brisbane - a dog.
- Big Boombah - a rat and the leader of the Shipyard Rats who is an opportunist.
- Pops - a rat who lives in the Willowby Train Station.
- Buttercup - Mrs. Escrow's pet canary.
- Mr. Mutton - a smuggler of London.
- Kirk-Hazel's old boyfriend, a German Shepherd trained for fire rescues who saves Fritz-Carlos and Rocki's playmate Augie when they're trapped in a burning house.
- Augie - another local dog, Rocki's playmate.
- Ivan - a Russian dog Foofur and Louis interact with in New York City.
- Lulubelle - a female dog initially intended to smuggle jewels, who was replaced by Annabelle.
- Oliver - an English puppy whom Annabelle saves after she ends up in London.
Voice cast
- Frank Welker – Foofur, Chucky (in some episodes)
- Michael Bell – Harvey
- Susan Blu – Dolly
- William Callaway – Burt
- Pat Carroll – Hazel
- Peter Cullen – Baby, Vinnie
- David Doyle – Mel
- Dick Gautier – Louis
- Christina Lange – Rocki
- Allan Melvin – Chucky
- Don Messick – Pepe
- Jonathan Schmock – Fritz Carlos
- Susan Silo – Mrs. Escrow
- Susan Tolsky – Annabell
- Chick Vennera – Sam
- Eugene Williams – Fencer
Additional voices
- David Ackroyd (Season 2)
- Jered Barclay (Season 1)
- Roscoe Lee Browne (Season 2)
- Arthur Burghardt (Season 1)
- Hamilton Camp
- Victoria Carroll (Season 1)
- Cheryl Chase (Season 2)
- Danny Cooksey (Season 1) - Bogey (in "The Last Resort")
- Jim Cummings (Season 2)
- Linda Dangcil (Season 1)
- Jennifer Darling
- Leo DeLyon (Season 2)
- Walker Edmiston (Season 2)
- Casey Ellison (Season 1)
- John Erwin (Season 1)
- Miriam Flynn
- June Foray (Season 1)
- George Furth (Season 2)
- Melanie Gaffin (Season 1)
- Henry Gibson (Season 2)
- Scott Grimes (Season 2)
- Edan Gross (Season 2)
- Jonathan Harris – Lance Lyons
- Phil Hartman (Season 2)
- Jerry Houser (Season 2) – Killer the St. Bernard (in "Pepe's Pet Peeve")
- Vincent Howard (Season 2)
- Arte Johnson (Season 1)
- Aron Kincaid (Season 2)
- Keland Love (Season 1)
- Allan Lurie (Season 2)
- Jim MacGeorge (Season 2)
- Robert Mandan (Season 2)
- Kenneth Mars (Season 1)
- Terrence McGovern (Season 2)
- Brian Stokes Mitchell (Season 2)
- Pedro Montero (Season 1)
- Lynne Moody
- Pat Musick (Season 2)
- Frank Nelson (Season 1) – Dr. Pavlov (in "A Little Off the Top")
- Louis Nye (Season 2)
- Nicholas Omana (Season 1)
- Rob Paulsen (Season 2)
- Josh Rodine (Season 1)
- Percy Rodrigues (Season 2)
- Kath Soucie (Season 2, uncredited)
- Alexandra Stoddart (Season 2)
- Larry Storch (Season 2)
- Mark L. Taylor (Season 1)
- Sal Viscuso (Season 2)
- B.J. Ward (Season 2)
- Lennie Weinrib (Season 2)
Episode list
Season 1 (1986)
| No. | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | "A Little Off the Top" | S : Mark Young; T : Tony Marino | September 13, 1986 | |
| The gang try to help Fritz get over losing his hair, but the situation gets worse when part of his mustache is accidentally shaved off. | ||||
| 1b | "A Clean Sweep" | S : Mark Young; T : Mark Cassutt | September 13, 1986 | |
| Hazel forces the gang to clean the house, but then the dogcatchers come to clean the mansion for Mrs. Escrow. | ||||
| 2 | "Moving Experience" | T : Mark Young; S/T : Jim Ryan | September 20, 1986 | |
| Foofur and the others try to help a dog named Irma who is about to give birth to puppies. | ||||
| 3 | "Dogstyles of the Rich & Famous" | T : Mark Young; S/T : Jack Enyart | September 27, 1986 | |
| When Mrs. Escrow rests in the gang's house while her house's paint dries, the gang comes to a fancy mansion as a burglary is about to take place. | ||||
| 4 | "Foofur Falls in Love" | Susan Misty Stewart and Joseph Taggart | October 4, 1986 | |
| Foofur goes head over heels for a girl dog named Dolly. | ||||
| 5a | "The Last Resort" | S : Mark Young; T : Richard Merwin | October 11, 1986 | |
| Rocki becomes friends with a pup who ran away from an obedience school. | ||||
| 5b | "Thicker Than Water" | S : Mark Young; T : Reed Robbins | October 11, 1986 | |
| Chaos ensues when Foofur tries to give a gold collar to Dolly and at the same time, try to help Fencer by donating blood. | ||||
| 6a | "Hot Over the Collar" | S : Mark Young; T : Mark Edens | October 18, 1986 | |
| Foofur uses a hatband as a makeshift collar for Rocki, and she comes to a dog show, not knowing it's a trap set by Mel and Harvey. | ||||
| 6b | "A-Job Hunting We Will Go" | S : Mark Young; T : Tony Marino | October 18, 1986 | |
| Pepe has the gang work odd jobs to raise $100 to pay Mrs. Escrow's house tax or the gang will be out on the streets. | ||||
| 7a | "A Royal Pain" | Mark Cassutt | October 25, 1986 | |
| Fencer helps a group of cats after the owner's sister evicts them from the house. | ||||
| 7b | "Nothing to Sneeze At" | S : Mark Young; T : David Schwartz | October 25, 1986 | |
| Fencer gets a cold after Foofur and the others bathe him. | ||||
| 8a | "Country Club Chaos" | S : Mark Young; T : Reed Robbins | November 1, 1986 | |
| Foofur, Rocki, Fencer, and Dolly try to save a fox cub's life from a group of fox hunters at a country club. | ||||
| 8b | "You Dirty Rat" | Paul Pumpian and Franelle Silver | November 1, 1986 | |
| After accidentally putting Rocki in danger, the Rat Brothers are thrown out of the house by Foofur and they turn to a shipyard rat named Boombah for help. | ||||
| 9a | "This Little Piggy's on TV" | S : Mark Young and Reed Robbins; T : Christina Adams | November 8, 1986 | |
| The gang try to help a pig reunite with his girlfriend, who broke into show business. | ||||
| 9b | "Fencer's Freaky Friday" | S : Mark Young; S/T : Reed Robbins | November 8, 1986 | |
| It's Friday the 13th, Fencer is treated like bad luck and a pair of superstitious twins are in search of a treasure. | ||||
| 10a | "Legal Beagles" | Reed Robbins | November 15, 1986 | |
| Foofur's house is under threat when a con artist's dog fakes an injury and the con artist sues Mrs. Escrow. | ||||
| 10b | "Bon Voyage Rocki" | S : Mark Young; T : Don Glut; S/T : Reed Robbins | November 15, 1986 | |
| Just as Rocki is visited by her father Tugboat just before her birthday, she is faced by a bully and she has to choose between staying with her uncle Foofur or go with her father to sea. | ||||
| 11a | "Russian Through New York" | S : Mark Young and Reed Robbins; T : John Bonaccorsi | November 22, 1986 | |
| On a visit to New York City, Lewis and the others guide a Russian dog named Vladimir around the town, but have to save him from two thieves who steal dogs from Diplomats. | ||||
| 11b | "Fritz-Carlos Bombs Out" | S : Mark Young and Reed Robbins; T : Tony Marino | November 22, 1986 | |
| Fritz becomes jealous when Hazel's old boyfriend comes for a visit. | ||||
| 12 | "New Tricks" | Mark Edens | November 29, 1986 | |
| Rocki hopes to become a performer after coming to the circus. | ||||
| 13 | "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" | S : Mark Young and Reed Robbins; T : Mark Edens | December 6, 1986 | |
| Lewis tries to save Annabelle from some counterfeiters in London. | ||||
Season 2 (1987–88)
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14a | 1a | "Pepe's Pet Peeve" | Kristina Mazzotti | September 3, 1987 | |
| Pepe turns to Foofur for help to remove a dog named Killer from Mrs. Escrow's house. What Pepe doesn't know is that Killer is not dangerous as he expects. | |||||
| 14b | 1b | "Clothes Make the Dog" | Marion Wells | September 10, 1987 | |
| Pepe hopes to win the heart of a poodle at a dog show. | |||||
| 15a | 2a | "Boot Camp Blues" | Mark Cassutt | September 17, 1987 | |
| Fritz enrolls to a boot camp, when he thought he's re-enrolling to be in the Foreign Legion, and Foofur and Louis are involved. | |||||
| 15b | 2b | "My Pharoah Lady" | Mark Edens | September 24, 1987 | |
| Fencer tries to win the heart of an archeologist's cat. | |||||
| 16a | 3a | "What Price Fleadom?" | Kenneth Knox | October 1, 1987 | |
| The rats infest Hazel with circus fleas. | |||||
| 16b | 3b | "Winging It" | Marie Quick | October 8, 1987 | |
| Annabelle befriends a chick, which matures into a chicken. | |||||
| 17a | 4a | "The Dog's Meow" | Barry Blitzer | October 15, 1987 | |
| Louis is hypnotized by a TV hypnotist into thinking he's a cat. At the same time, Louis is to fight Muggsy, who insulted Annabell. | |||||
| 17b | 4b | "Friend Foofur's Foul-Up" | Dennis Marks | October 22, 1987 | |
| Foofur switches places with an old friend at the Happy Glen Country Club. | |||||
| 18a | 5a | "Alone at Last, Dahling" | Gary Greenfield | October 29, 1987 | |
| Fritz-Carlos is fed up with his friends cutting into his alone time with Hazel, so Foofur sneaks the both of them into a cruise ship, but things go awry. | |||||
| 18b | 5b | "Tooth or Consequences" | M.R. Wells | November 5, 1987 | |
| Foofur gets a toothache, just as he and his pals face against Burt's friends, called the Swells in a game of tug of war. | |||||
| 19a | 6a | "Fencer Finds a Family" | Mark Edens | November 12, 1987 | |
| After he is tricked by Louis and Fritz-Carlos into a swimming pool, Fencer leaves to join the Cat Pack, but he doesn't know they are going to use him to commit crimes. | |||||
| 19b | 6b | "The Nose Knows" | Kenneth Knox | November 19, 1987 | |
| After Rocki returns home late because she was lost, Foofur brings her to the wilderness to teach her how to track while avoiding a hunter's dog with an incredible sense of smell. | |||||
| 20a | 7a | "Just Bumming Around" | Anthony Adams | November 26, 1987 | |
| After Foofur grounds Rocki for running the risk of being spotted and not ruining the neighbor's flower bed, she and Irma's two pups run away. | |||||
| 20b | 7b | "Annabell Goes Punk" | Dennis Marks | December 3, 1987 | |
| Annabell gets a makeover from a punk stylist, and meets other punk dogs in a club called the Lavender Loft. | |||||
| 21a | 8a | "Just Like Magic" | M.R. Wells | December 10, 1987 | |
| The Rat Brothers scare Fencer into thinking he's got one life left, while the gang thinks about using a magician's box to safeguard him from danger. | |||||
| 21a | 8a | "Puppy Love" | S : Barry Blitzer; T : Gary Greenfield | December 17, 1987 | |
| Rocki falls in love with a dog food star, but Foofur doesn't approve since two look-a-likes (One is rude, and the other is a jokester) made a horrible impression. | |||||
| 22a | 9a | "Weekend in the Condo" | Kenneth Knox | December 24, 1987 | |
| Foofur and the gang deal with Crooks while being in Burt's master's condo. | |||||
| 22b | 9b | "Bye, Bye, Birdie" | M.R. Wells | December 31, 1987 | |
| The Rat Brothers scare Mrs. Escrow's canary causing Foofur and the canines to accuse Fencer of swallowing the bird and throwing him out. Fencer turns to Pepe to retrieve the bird. | |||||
| 23a | 10a | "Fencer Gets Soul" | Kenneth Knox | January 7, 1988 | |
| Fencer goes to New Orleans for a chance to be the newest member of a soul-singing cat group. Foofur comes along, but the Cat faces competition with a mouse with a golden voice. | |||||
| 23b | 10b | "Rocki's Big Fib" | Samantha Clemens | January 14, 1988 | |
| Rocki aids a white alligator, but is captured by Big Boombah and his gang of shipyard rats when the Rat Brothers fail to pay back a cheese tax. | |||||
| 24a | 11a | "You Bet Your Life" | Gary Greenfield | January 21, 1988 | |
| In Las Vegas, with Lorenzo, Hazel is cheated by a couple of crooked dogs in games of rat race. | |||||
| 24b | 11b | "Louis Sees the Light" | Don Nelson and Arthur Alsberg | January 28, 1988 | |
| Louis meets a childhood friend who is a seeing-eye dog, but has to save him from Mel and Harvey while getting a blind boy to reunite him with his dog. | |||||
| 25a | 12a | "Annabell Gets Framed" | M.R. Wells | February 4, 1988 | |
| After Mrs. Escrow's glasses fall on Annabell's eyes, she and her friends get her a pair of glasses, but Annabell's relationship with Louis begins to falter when Louis feels threatened. | |||||
| 25b | 12b | "Scary Harry" | Samantha Clemens | February 11, 1988 | |
| While trying to join a club, Rocki encounters an easily scared green dog named Harry in an abandoned dog pound. | |||||
| 26 | 13 | "Look Homeward, Foofur" | Mark Edens | February 18, 1988 | |
| Foofur tells Rocki a story of how he first met his friends while searching the town for the house that his brother, sister, and owners live. | |||||
Home media
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of episodes of the series were released on VHS in the United States by Celebrity Home Entertainment's Just for Kids label.
Legal activity
Foofur played a role in the case Nationwide Insurance v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 116 F.3d 1154 (7th Cir. 1997). The case dealt with an insurer's duty to defend an insured party in light of the insured's intentional acts of property damage. The insured, a drunken college student, spelled out "FOO"—meaning "foo", a word derived from Foofur—on the artificial turf football field of Memorial Stadium with lighter fluid burning the letters into the turf. He caused $600,000 damage to the AstroTurf. The court held that such an act was not within the insurance policy's liability coverage.[4]
Reception
In 2014, listing it among twelve 1980s animated series that supposedly did not deserve remembrance, io9 criticized the series, perceiving its premise to be contrived and remarking that "someone had the gall to think this was 'cool'".[5]
References
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- ^ "Saturday Morning: Good And Bad". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television cartoon shows: an illustrated encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003. McFarland & Co. p. 346. ISBN 07864-2255-6.
- ^ "Nationwide Insurance v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois". June 19, 1997. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
- ^ Bricken, Rob (11 November 2014). "12 Cartoons From The 1980s No One Will Ever Have Nostalgia For". io9. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
External links
- Foofur at IMDb
- at the Cartoon Scrapbook
- Foofur at the Big Cartoon Database
- William Hanna: The Story of a Legend
- Foofur at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on July 30, 2016.