2 Stupid Dogs
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| 2 Stupid Dogs | |
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| Format | Animated television series |
| Created by | Donovan Cook |
| Starring | Brad Garrett Mark Schiff Jess Harnell Jim Cummings Tony Jay among several guest voices. |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 36 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TBS Superstation |
| Original run | September 11, 1993 – January 21, 1995 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
2 Stupid Dogs is an Emmy-nominated[1] American animated television series created by Donovan Cook and produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons that originally ran from September 11, 1993 to January 21, 1995 on TBS Superstation. Reruns continued to air on Cartoon Network from 1994 to June 14, 2003 and currently airs on Boomerang. The main segments of the show featured two dogs, both of whom were referred to as "Big Dog" and "Little Dog." The big dog was voiced by Brad Garrett, and the little dog was voiced by Mark Schiff. A backup segment, a remake of Hanna-Barbera's Secret Squirrel (entitled Super Secret Secret Squirrel), was shown in between the main "2 Stupid Dogs" cartoons in each episode, just like early Hanna-Barbera cartoons used to do in the 1960s.
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[edit] Plot
2 Stupid Dogs was about a big dog and a little dog and their everyday strange misadventures, with an animation style that was unusual for the time: a very flat, simplistic style similar to early Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 1950s and 1960s, with early 1990s humor and sensibility. It also did not have a series structure, similar to many humorous cartoons and sitcoms. The show did not follow a continuous storyline — what happens in one episode has little to no effect on another.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Production
2 Stupid Dogs was the beginning of the successful revival of Hanna-Barbera's fortunes, since the studio had not launched a bona fide hit since The Smurfs in 1981. Turner Entertainment president installed MTV and Nickelodeon branding veteran Fred Seibert as the head of production. Seibert's plan to reinvent the studio was to put his faith in the talent community, a first for television animation, and Hanna-Barbera in particular. His first pitch and first series put into production in 1992 was 2 Stupid Dogs, by recent California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) graduate Donovan Cook. Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi was credited to adding "tidbits of poor taste" to the three Little Red Riding Hood episodes, and a few other Spümcø artists also contributed to selected episodes during the course of the show.
Several artists and directors from the show became the first creators in Seibert's What-A-Cartoon! program; 48 theatrical length, original character cartoons, made expressly for the Cartoon Network, and designed to find the talent and hits of the new generations. 2 Stupid Dogs spawned creators Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack), Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Miles Thompson, Paul Rudish, and Zac Moncrief.
[edit] Characters
The title characters were never named. They were referred to as simply "The Big Dog" and "The Little Dog" in the end credits (although one skit had the Big Dog named Jonathan).
- The Big Dog is a big and tall white sheep dog (in a episode where they were in a farm, he was even able to herd sheep). He is much stronger than the Little Dog, being able to squeeze his friend between his paws. The Big Dog is generally too lazy to bother with anything, and most of the time seemed more aloof and unconcerned about his surroundings than actually stupid. In some episodes, he surprisingly revealed deep philosophical intelligence. A running gag about the Big Dog is that sometimes, for no reason, he would spit out a whole cob of corn he ate.
- The Little Dog is a small and orange Dachsund. Compared to the quiet and calm Big Dog, the Little Dog is much more energetic and hyperactive. The Little Dog is completely scared by cats, and when a cat appeared, it was the Big Dog that had to scare the cat away. He does know a little about history (such as when in an Abraham Lincoln parody, when the Lincoln actor dies from a sword strike, the little dog remarks "I thought Lincoln was shot").
There were also other recurring characters who appeared in some episodes interacting with the two dogs:
- A big loud, fat man calling himself Mr. H (but credited as "Hollywood"), who likes to point out others' mistakes in a pseudo-alternative way: "Well ain't that cute... BUT IT'S WROOOOOONG!!" ('wrong' is always accompanied by the sound of a foghorn). The credited name "Hollywood" may be a reference to his numerous appearances in various roles and occupations, including a construction foreman, actor, casino manager, and so forth. Like fellow Cartoon Network antihero Red Guy from Cow and Chicken, he even appears in female roles, though still having a heavy set of facial hair. He is prone to anger and to start screaming, but faints when he sees but a drop of blood on his finger.
- The short-sighted Red (voiced by Candi Milo), a Little Red Riding Hood clone (sort of) whose bad eyesight causes many mishaps on the way to her grandmother's house, as well as other adventures (which are always parodies of other fairy tales). She had a habit of loudly exclaiming seemingly random words in her sentences while speaking. An interesting aspect is the Star Wars inspired use of the titles of the two "sequels" to "Red", the first being "Red Strikes Back" (The Empire Strikes Back) and the second being "Return of Red" (Return of the Jedi). In all of the "Red" episodes of 2 Stupid Dogs, "Red" "la-la's" the main theme of Tchaikovsky`s 1812 Overture on the way to "Grandma's house".
- A geeky boy named Kenny Fowler who fell in love with a beautiful girl in his class, but is often misguided by the "doggies!", and is followed by the catch-line "What a fouler!" by the class bully, usually after he faints because of the stress.
- A pretty girl named Buffy Ziegenhagen, with whom Kenny is in love.
- A boy named Buzz, who is the class bully. He says "What A Fouler!" when Kenny is in trouble or he faints. Usually Buffy hangs out with him. In one episode, his name is revealed by the teacher.
- A woman named Mrs. Crabface, who is Kenny, Buzz and Buffy's teacher. Her head is never seen. She was absent in one classroom episode.
- A fat geeky adolescent named Cubby (voiced by Rob Paulsen), usually appearing as a clerk at several stores during the show. He is prone to farting and other numerous mishaps in the presence of the protagonist dogs.
- A cat, whose appearance causes the little dog to scream "CAAAAAAT!" and run for cover, and the big dog to just simply say "WOOF!", in most cases causing the cat to shriek, and fall over stunned, making the sound of tapping glass when it falls over.
- In two episodes, a family that parodied The Brady Bunch were visited by the dogs (except the boys were blond and the girls were brunette). One of the gags involved the two oldest kids kissing in reference to Maureen McCormick and Barry Williams' (who played brother and sister Marcia and Greg Brady on the series) romantic involvement as teenagers while filming the Brady Bunch.
[edit] Reception
Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman of Animation World Magazine described Two Stupid Dogs as one of two "clones" of The Ren and Stimpy Show.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Daytime Emmy Awards: 1995.
- ^ "Cartoons Aren't Real! Ren and Stimpy In Review," Animation World Magazine
[edit] External links
