Foofur

Plot

In the town of Willowby, a tall skinny blue dog named Foofur (voiced by Frank Welker) has taken refuge in a mansion, in 32 Maple Street, which is also his birthplace. In Foofur's group is his niece Rocki (voiced by Christina Lange), Fencer the Cat (voiced by Eugene Williams), Louis (voiced by Richard Gautier) with his girlfriend Annabell (voiced by Susan Tolsky), Dolly (voiced by Susan Blu), Hazel (voiced by Pat Carroll) with husband Fritz-Carlos (voiced by Jonathan Schmock), and Burt (voiced by William Callaway).

Foofur and his friends however, 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. Mrs. Escrow has tried many times to sell the estate, but unknown to Her, Foofur and his friends keep the house from being bought, as they also protect their home from rodents like the Rat Brothers, other cats like Vinnie and His Cat Pack, and greedy humans. 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).

International broadcast

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.

Reception

One of very many children's animated series of the 1980s, Foofur didn't leave a lasting impression on many viewers. In 2014, listing it among twelve 1980s cartoons that did not deserve remembrance, io9 remarking that "It's a cartoon about dog eviction. And someone had the gall to claim this was 'cool.'"