Foofur

Foofur
Foofur and his group.
Genre	Animation Comedy
Created by	Phil Mendez
Directed by	Art Davis (Season 1) Don Lusk (Season 1) Carl Urbano (Season 1) Rudy Zamora (Season 1) Oscar Dufau (Season 2) Bob Goe (Season 2) John Kimball (Season 2) Paul Sommer (Season 2) Ray Patterson (supervising director)
Voices of	Frank Welker Michael Bell Susan Blu William Callaway Richard Gautier Christina Lange Don Messick Susan Silo Susan Tolsky Eugene Williams
Composer(s)	Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 (46 Separately)
Production
Executive producer(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera Freddy Monnickendam
Producer(s)	Kay Wright (Season 1) Paul Sabella (Season 2)
Editor(s)	Gil Iverson
Production company(s)	Hanna-Barbera Productions SEPP International S.A.
Distributor	Worldvision Enterprises (original) Warner Bros. Television (current)
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	13 September 1986 – 18 February 1988

Foofur is an animated children's television series made and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Airing on NBC from 1986 to 1988, the show was about the everyday misadventures of the skinny blue protagonist dog. It was produced in part by William Hanna. A comic book series, based on the cartoon, was produced by and released from Star Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics).

Plot

In the town of Willowby, A tall skinny blue dog named Foofur (voiced by Frank Welker) has inherited his late master's wealthy estate in 32 Maple Street, and has since lived alone. Foofur and his niece Rocki (voiced by Christina Lange) spring some animals from the Bowser Busters' van whom Foofur befriends. These animals include Fencer the Cat (voiced by Eugene Williams), Louis (voiced by Richard Gautier), Annabell (voiced by Susan Tolsky), Dolly (voiced by Susan Blu), Hazel (voiced by Pat Carroll), Hazel's hubby Fritz Carlos (voiced by Jonathan Schmock), and Burt (voiced by William Callaway).

Foofur and his friends have an enemy in a woman named Mrs. Amelia Escrow (voiced by Susan Silo) and her pet Chihuahua named Pepe (voiced by Don Messick) as Pepe tries to expose Foofur's illegal roommates – but always to no avail. As executor of the will that placed Foofur in charge of the estate, Mrs. Escrow has tried many times to sell the estate. But her plots have always been thwarted by Foofur and his friends as they also protect their home from rats, cats, and greedy humans which have always been thwarted by Foofur right runder her nose. While trying to stop Mrs. Escrow, Foofur tries to evade having his friends captured by the Bowser Busters' dog catchers Mel (voiced by David Doyle) and Harvey (voiced by Michael Bell).

Episode list

Season 1

1. A Little Off the Top/A Clean Sweep - 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. / Hazel forces the gang to clean the house, but when the dogcatchers come to clean the mansion for Mrs. Escrow...
2. Moving Experience - Foofur and the Others try to help a Dog named Irma who is about to give birth to Puppies.
3. Dogstyles of the Rich and Famous - when Mrs. Escrow rests in the gang's house while Her house's paint dries, the Gang Come to a Fancy Mansion, as a burglary is about to take place...
4. Foofur Falls in Love - Foofur goes head over heels for a girl dog named Dolly.
5. The Last Resort/Thicker Than Water - Rocki becomes friends with a pup who ran away from an obedience school. / Chaos ensues when Foofur tries to give a gold collar to Dolly and at the same time, try to help Fencer by donating blood.
6. Hot Over the Collar/A-Job Hunting We Will Go - Foofur uses a Hat's Band as a makeshift collar for Rocki, and She comes to a Dog Show, not knowing it's a trap set by Mel and Harvey. / 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.
7. A Royal Pain/Nothing to Sneeze At - Fencer helps a group of cats house cats after the Owner's sister evicts them from the house. / Fencer gets a cold after Foofur and the others bathe Him.
8. Country Club Chaos/You Dirty Rat - Foofur, Rocki, Fencer, and Dolly try to save a Fox cub's life from a group of fox hunters. / After Accidentally putting Rocki in Danger, The Rat Brothers are thrown out of the house, and They turn to A shipyard Rat Named Boombah for help.
9. This Little Piggy's on TV/Fencer's Freaky Friday - The Gang try to help a Pig reunite with His girlfriend, who broke into show business./It's Friday the 13th, Fencer is treated like bad luck, and a Pair of superstitious twins are in search of a treasure.
10. Legal Beagles/Bon Voyage Rocki - Foofur's house is under threat when a con artist's dog fakes an injury and sues Mrs. Escrow. / Just as Rocki is visited by Her Father just before Her birthday, She is faced by a bully, and She has to choose betheen staying with Her Uncle Foofur or go with Her father to sea.
11. Russian Through New York/Fritz Carlos Bombs Out - On a visit to New York City, Lewis and the others guides a Russian Dog named Vladimir around New York, but has to save Him from two thieves, who steal dogs from Diplomats. / Fritz becomes jealous when Hazel's old boyfriend comes for a visit.
12. New Tricks - Rocki hopes to become a performer after coming to the Circus. (Half-Hour Episode)
13. Mad Dogs and Englishmen - Lewis tries to save Annabelle from some counterfeiters in London. (Half-Hour Episode)

Season 2

1. Pepe's Pet Peeve/Clothes Make the Dog - Pepe turns to Foofur for help to remove a dog named Killer from Mrs. Escrow's house. / Pepe hopes to win the heart of a poodle at a dog show.
2. Boot Camp Blues/My Pharaoh Lady - Fritz enrolls to a boot camp, when he thought he's re-enrolling to be in the Foreign Legion, and Foofur and Lewis are involved. / Fencer tries to win the heart of an archeologist's cat.
3. What Price Fleadom/Winging It - The rats infest Hazel with circus fleas. / Annabelle befriends a chick, which matures into a chicken. (We also learn that Mrs. Escrow is allergic to feathers)
4. The Dog's Meow/Friend Foofur's Foul Up - Louis is hypnotized by a TV hypnotist into thinking he's a cat. and at the same time, Louis is to fight Muggsy, who insulted Annabelle / Foofur switches places with an old friend at the Happy Glen Country Club.
5. Alone at Last, Dahling/Tooth or Consequences - Fritz-Carlos is fed up with His friends cutting into His time with Hazel, so Foofur sneaks the both of them into a cruise ship, but things go awry. / Foofur gets a toothache, just as He and His pals face against Burt's friends, called the Swells.
6. Fencer Finds a Family/The Nose Knows 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. / 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.
7. Just Buming Around/Annabell Goes Punk - After Foofur grounds Rocki for ruining the neighbor's flower bed, She and Irma's Two Pups run away. / Annabell gets a makeover from a Punk Stylist, and meets other Punk Dogs in a club called the Lavender Loft.
8. Just Like Magic/Puppy Love - 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. / 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.
9. Weekend in the Condo/Bye Bye Birdie - Foofur and the gang deal with Crooks while being in Burt's Master's Condo. / The Rat brothers scare Mrs. Escrow's Canary, causing Foofur and the canines to accuse Fencer of swallowing the bird and throwing Him out. as Fencer sides with Pepe to retrieve the bird.
10. Fencer Gets Soul/Rocki's Big Fib- Foofur comes with Fencer to New Orleans, but faces competition with a mouse with a golden voice. / 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.
11. You Bet Your Life/Louis Sees the Light - In Las Vegas, Hazel is cheated by a couple of Crooked dogs in games of rat race. / 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.
12. Annabell gets Framed/Scary Harry - 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... / While trying to join a club, Rocki encounters an easily scared green Dog named Harry in an abandoned dog pound.
13. Look Homeward, Foofur -

Cast

Main voices

• Frank Welker – Foofur
• Michael Bell – Harvey
• Susan Blu – Dolly
• William Callaway – Burt
• Pat Carroll – Hazel
• Peter Cullen – Baby
• David Doyle – Mel
• Richard 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 –
• Jered Barclay –
• Roscoe Lee Brown –
• Arthur Burghardt –
• Hamilton Camp –
• Victoria Carroll –
• Cheryl Chase –
• Danny Cooksey –
• Jim Cummings –
• Linda Dangcil –
• Jennifer Darling –
• Walker Edmiston –
• Casey Ellison –
• John Erwin –
• Miriam Flynn –
• June Foray –
• George Furth –
• Melanie Gaffin –
• Henry Gibson –
• Scott Grimes –
• Edan Gross –
• Jonathan Harris –
• Phil Hartman –
• Jerry Houser –
• Vincent Howard –
• Arte Johnson –
• Aron Kincaid –
• Keland Love –
• Allan Lurie –
• Jim MacGeorge –
• Robert Mandan –
• Kenneth Mars –
• Terrence McGovern –
• Brian Stokes Mitchell –
• Pedro Montero –
• Lynne Moody –
• Pat Musick –
• Frank Nelson – Dr. Pavlov (ep. 1)
• Louis Nye -
• Nicholas Omana –
• Rob Paulsen –
• Josh Rodine –
• Percy Rodrigues –
• Alexandra Stoddart –
• Larry Storch –
• Mark L. Taylor –
• Sal Viscuso –
• B.J. Ward –
• Lennie Weinrib –

Crew

• Gordon Hunt – Recording Director
• Andrea Romano – Animation Casting Director
• Kris Zimmerman – Talent Coordinator

Outsourced Production Work

• Wang Film Productions
• Cuckoo's Nest Studio
• Toei Animation

International Broadcast

• Italy
  • Italia 1

• Japan
  • TV Asahi

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.

External links

• Foofur at IMDb
• Foofur at TV.com
• William Hanna: The Story of a Legend
• Foofur at The Cartoon Scrapbook