5.7 /10 2 Votes
7.6/10 TV | 7.1/10 IMDb Genre Animation First episode date 7 September 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Directed by Charles A. NicholsWally Burr (recording director) Voices of Scatman CrothersJoe E. RossKathy GoriDon Messick Cast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hong Kong Phooey is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on ABC from September 7, 1974 (1974-09-07), to December 21, 1974 (1974-12-21). It was a parody of kung fu shows and movies of the time. The main character, Hong Kong Phooey himself, is the clownishly clumsy secret identity of Penrod "Penry" Pooch, working at a police station as a "mild-mannered" janitor under the glare of Sergeant Flint ("Sarge").
Contents
Penry disguises himself as Hong Kong Phooey by jumping into a filing cabinet despite always getting stuck — and unstuck by his striped cat Spot — and once disguised, gets equipped with the "Phooeymobile" vehicle that transforms itself into a boat, a plane, or a telephone booth depending on the circumstances by banging his gong or changes automatically whenever necessary.
He fights crime relying on his copy of The Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu, a correspondence-course martial-arts instruction handbook. However, his successes are only either thanks to Spot, who provides a solution to the challenges, or the direct result of a comically unintended side effect of his conscious efforts. The humor of incompetence of the main character (a recurring theme of each episode), Hong Kong Phooey, is not unlike the recurring theme in Klondike Kat, whose successes are only thanks to unintended circumstances, not his own skills as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The background was designed by Lorraine Andrina and Richard Khim.
Synopsis
Each episode begins with Rosemary, the telephone operator, getting a call (and routinely saying "Hallo, hallo, police headquarters, this is Rosemary, the lovely lassie with the classy chassis") and explaining the crime to Sergeant Flint. Penry, the janitor, overhears Rosemary and proceeds to transform himself into the crime-fighting canine (whom Rosemary has a crush on) by slipping behind the vending machine, then jumping into the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet, getting stuck, and, with help from Spot, coming out of the top drawer.
After sliding behind an ironing board to the floor below, he bounces off an old sofa, through an open window, into a dumpster outside, and emerges in the Phooeymobile. Even when he crashes into, harms, or otherwise inconveniences a civilian, the passer-by feels honored, as opposed to being annoyed or embarrassed, when they see who did it. One example was when he drove the Phooeymobile through wet cement, splattering the workers: they responded that it was an honor to have a whole day's work ruined by "the great Hong Kong Phooey."
Production
Hong Kong Phooey was voiced by Scatman Crothers. Sergeant Flint was voiced by Joe E. Ross, best known as Officer Gunther Toody in the early '60s television series Car 54, Where Are You? As Flint, Ross revived Toody's famous "Ooh! Ooh!" exclamation. Sergeant Flint was very similar both in voice and appearance to Botch, assistant zookeeper at the Wonderland Zoo on Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch, whom Ross also voiced.
The final episode, "Comedy Cowboys," was a backdoor pilot for a new series. In this two-part episode, several new cartoon characters (Honcho, The Mystery Maverick and Posse Impossible) appeared and helped to clear Hong Kong Phooey of a crime he did not commit. These characters later appeared in their own continuing segment, "Posse Impossible" on CB Bears. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show used the limited Hanna-Barbera laugh track.
Theme song
The show’s theme song, titled "Hong Kong Phooey," was written and composed by Hoyt Curtin, William Hanna, and Joseph Barbera, and was sung by lead character-voice provider Scatman Crothers. A cover of the show’s theme song, performed by Sublime, is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records.
Home media releases
On August 15, 2006, Warner Home Video released the complete series on 2-disc DVD in Region 1. The DVD set includes commentary on select episodes as well as a documentary of the show from its development through its legacy. The set also includes production designs, never-before-seen original artwork, new interviews, and the special feature Hong Kong Phooey—The Batty Bank Gang: The Complete Storyboard. The series is also available in the UK as a Region 2 two-disc set, and as two separate volumes in Region 4. The shorts "Car Thieves" and "Zoo Story" were also released on a 1970s Saturday morning cartoon compilation.
Voices
Other media
With a copyright of 2001, Alan Lau in conjunction with Wildbrain.com produced a flash animation webshow cartoon that was prominently featured on CartoonNetwork.com, and could still be found there as of the middle of June 2015. While Penry appears identical to the original incarnation, Hong Kong Phooey is a much larger, cut, and highly competent and skilled fighter—even without Spot the cat. Hong Kong Phooey faces off against and easily defeats evil anthropomorphic animals: a trio of rabbits, what appears to be a crane, and a reptilianoid (that appears to be a Komodo dragon). At the end he morphs back to Penry with a smile and sparkle in his eye.
Film
On July 12, 2009, it was announced that David A. Goodman had been hired to write the screenplay for a Hong Kong Phooey film. Alex Zamm was slated to direct, and Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove, Brett Ratner, and Jay Stern were identified as producers. According to the announcement, Alcon Entertainment would back the film. But as of the beginning of May, 2016, the identity of the studio that would actually release it remained unknown.
It was announced on August 10, 2011, that Eddie Murphy would be voicing Penry/Hong Kong Phooey in the film. On December 28, 2012, test footage of the film with live action CG was leaked.
Music
Literature
The short children's novel Hong Kong Phooey and The Fortune Cookie Caper by Jean Lewis, illustrated by Phil Ostapczuk, was published in 1975 by Rand McNally and Company, as well as Hong Kong Phooey and the Bird Nest Snatchers (1976).
Art
In January 2015, a street art ceramic mosaic of Hong Kong Phooey sold at a Sotheby's auction for HK$2 million. The copy sold was a re-creation by the artist Invader after the original was removed from a city wall by Hong Kong authorities.