Pound Puppies
Pound Puppies was a toyline sold by Tonka in the 1980s. It later inspired an animated TV special, an animated TV series, and a feature film. Shipments of the toys over five years generated sales of $300 million in 35 countries. [citation needed]
The puppies have a variety of plush stuffed dog dolls with floppy ears and droopy eyes. They came in a variety of colors, some with spots. Each one comes in a carrying case with an adoption certificate. Smaller versions were also created (approximately 5 inches (13 cm) long), and a line of cats called Pound Purries was also released. Each authentic puppy had a heart shaped emblem near its tail that sported a "PP" logo with either a dog (Puppies) or cat (Purries) peeking around it. In 1987, Hardee's restaurants also offered a series of Pound Puppies with their Children's Meals. In a revival that occurred in the mid-late 90s, a third line of toys called "Pound Ponies" was sold.
The "Pound Puppies" trademark is officially held by "Pound Puppies Inc".
Taglines
- Lovable. Huggable. (1980s)
- Loveable Puppies That Need a Home (current)
TV Special
In 1985, Hanna-Barbera made an animated television special, which aired in syndication that October, paired with Star Fairies. Characters in the television special included the Fonzie-styled leader Cooler (Dan Gilvezan), the cheerleader Bright Eyes (Adrienne Alexander), and a dog with a very nasal like New York accent known only as "The Nose" (Jo Anne Worley), and the goofy inventor aptly named Howler (Frank Welker), who can only howl.
A female dog from a wealthy aristocratic family named Violet Vanderbuck ([Gail Matthis]) is being pursued by dognappers when she is picked up and taken to the city pound. There, she meets the gang and discovers their mission of uniting themselves up with homes. The film plot centers on Violet (whom Cooler insists on referring to as "Sam") attempting to reunite with her family, ultimately succeeding. Two other dogs appeared in the special. They were the upperclass snob Barkerville (Alan Oppenheimer) and the garbage can-digging Scrounger([Ron Paulino]), who later appeared in the season 2 episode Garbage Night: The Musical. The three of them appeared briefly in a flashback in the episode Wagga Wagga.
This special is available on a DVD which comes with certain Pound Puppies toys.
The characters Bright Eyes (Adreinne Alexander), Howler (Frank Welker), and The Nose/Nose Marie (Jo Anne Worley) would be voiced by different actors in the regular series, although Adreinne Alexander and Frank Welker would return as Brattina and Catgut respectively.
TV series
After the success of the special, an animated TV series was created. Loosely based on the special, the series was broadcast on ABC between September 1986 and December 1988. In this series no mention is made of Violet's whereabouts. This series found itself under a lot of competition from competitors such as as Fluppy Dogs(Disney), which was also adapted into a TV special, but was not made into a regular series.
The first season introduced Cooler (who now has a characteristic "RON PAULINO/Arnold Horseshack"-style laugh), "The Nose" (now called "Nose Marie", and now sporting a southern accent sounding like Vivian Leigh's Scarlett O'Hara charater from "Gone From The Wind"), Bright Eyes, and Howler([Paul Winchell]) (who now speaks instead of just howling), who return from the TV special (with slightly different character designs), along with Whopper (B. J. Ward), a new character who is known for telling tall tales. Whopper is usually seen with Bright Eyes, and the two of them share a brother/sister relationship. The show also debuted the evil Katrina Stonehart (Pat Carroll) with her equally evil daughter Brattina (Adrienne Alexander, who originally voiced Bright Eyes), Catgut the cat (who appeared in the T.V. special as the pet cat of the City pound's supervisior Bigelow (Johnathan Winters) and was redesigned and played by Frank Welker), and Holly, a friend of the Pound Puppies who originally ran the Puppy Pound. Other characters included the horrific Captain Slaughter (Peter Cullen), who only appeared in four episodes (not counting the Christmas episode entitled Happy Howlidays in Katrina's dream sequence) in season one, and who was responsible for the destruction of the puppies' hometown of Wagga-Wagga. Katrina and Brattina were constantly planning to tear down the pound where the animals lived while organizing themselves to be adopted out to loving families.
Holly is a ward of Katrina Stonehart, but like the puppies' former protector Millicent Trueblood, she possesses the gift of 'puppy power'( A term first used as a "Battle cry" by the charater Scrappy Doo in the "Scooby &Scrappy Doo Show" enabling her to talk to Cooler and the gang.[1].
The series later underwent a significant overhaul for the program's second season, where it was retitled All New Pound Puppies. Several of the characters were given very different backgrounds, appearances and personality traits. For example, Bright Eyes was no longer an adult dog but a young puppy. Nose Marie had changed as well. She dropped her strapless purple dress and flirtatious manner with Cooler in favor of a 50's sitcom style mom dress with apron, becoming a surrogate mother to Whopper, Bright Eyes and the rest of the puppies. However, Nose Marie did retain the roots of her southern belle style and her manners. Cooler, Whopper, Howler, Katrina, Brattina (who started wearing a jacket) and Catgut remained the same. Holly grew longer hair and wore sneakers and jeans. And Captain Slaughter no longer appeared in the series. Most significant of all however, was that the Puppy Pound was now owned by Katrina Stoneheart who treats the Puppy Pound like (and has the appearance of) a prison, and now seeks to lock up Cooler and the gang forever. No explanation is given as to how Katrina ended up taking over the Puppy Pound.
Reruns of the show can now be seen occasionally on Boomerang.
Feature Film
In 1988, Tri-Star Pictures released a Pound Puppies movie entitled Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw. It was produced by Atlantic Releasing, Carolco, Family Home Entertainment and Kushner-Locke with The Maltese Companies.
The film was panned by critics, and poorly received at the box office. Shoddy animation, character inconsistencies, and a color palette that differed from the show's were among the chief complaints. The movie was also not part of the show's continuity.[citation needed]
Fans were also confused by the apparent romantic pairing of Nose Marie and Cooler, which contradicted events that had taken place in the first season of the series. In addition, the movie is set in the 1950s with the story being narrated by Whopper, who in the present day is now an older dog who tells the story to his nephew and niece. Also, Katrina and Brattina Stonehart, along with Catgut, do not appear at all in the movie.
References
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