Hong Kong Phooey
Hanna-Barbera shows were always based on things that
were popular at the time and as you can guess, in 1974
Kung Fu was very popular in the USA. As this was the time
when Bruce Lee was making movies and the series called
'Kung Fu' was being shown, starring David Carradine.
Joe Barbera had always liked dogs and was always taking
every opportunity to cast one in their shows. So that is one
of the main reasons why Hong Kong Phooey is a dog (+
they are cute and cuddly). But he wasn't always going to be
called Hong Kong Phooey and instead he was going to be
called Kung Phooey.
The team that worked on Hong Kong Phooey thrived on the
show. It was like a group of friends, as they all got on with
each other and had lots of fun. They came up with quick
ideas and had lots of good banter.
At the time, the writers used to draw their scripts, which
made the storyboard artists fairly
redundant and instead they took on a role of
editors, who would edit the
storyboards down into scenes
and re draw areas that needed
to.
Also Hanna-Barbera
liked to trial other ideas in their
existing shows, a sort
of pilot within a show. This
happened in the last
Hong Kong Phooey episode
where 'Posse
Impossible' was seen for the
first time. Hong Kong
Phooey wasn't seen for
most of the episode, but
Posse Impossible went on
to star in their own show
(minus a few things).
Hong Kong Phooey used
old story settings, such as an
animal who lives and talks
in a human world where no one thinks it's out of
the ordinary. Also the style
of the backgrounds was very oriental.
Hong Kong Phooey is one of the classic shows most people remember. This isn't just down to the
brilliant animation, it has to do with a catchy title sequence which everyone wants to sing along to
(and can't get out of their head) plus the fantastic voice of Hong Kong Phooey, supplied by
Scatman Crothers.
There were a total of 16 episodes, which mostly contained 2 stories. While I was growing up, I
always thought the Janitor was called Henry, but shock horror, it seems that his name was Penry.
Most people I tell this to don't believe me (it sounds a stupid name to me!).
Look out for where the vending machine is in episode 1, as it is on the left hand side of the room,
but for all other episodes it has switched to the right side
of the room.
Cartoon Network even commissioned a 'flash' cartoon
which gave us a short updated version of Hong Kong
Phooey. I would advise against watching it, as it didn't
have any of the style of the original and looked more
like an episode of Street Fighter or Dragon Ball. Now
if they created a new series that mirrored the style of
the original, then that would be worth seeing.
Story
Hong Kong Phooey is the greatest crime fighter, but...
Who is this super hero?
Sarge?
No
Rosemary the Telephone Operator?
No
Penry the mild mannered Janitor?
Could be....
Hong Kong Phooey
Number One Super Guy
Hong Kong Phooey
Quicker than the human eye
He's got style a groovy style
And a car that just won't stop
When the going gets rough he's super tough
With a Hong Kong Phooey Chop
Ya!
Hong Kong Phooey
Number One Super Guy
Hong Kong Phooey
Quicker than the human eye
Hong Kong Phooey
Penerific!
Each story revolves around Police Headquarters where a humble janitor works. When a call
comes into HQ about a crook then Penry is off. He runs right into the vending machine, but don't
worry he doesn't hurt himself as its a secret door and it swings open into a secret room.
Penry jumps into the bottom draw of a filing cabinet. Spot, Penrys cat is on top of the cabinet and
bangs on the top when the top draw sticks and out jumps Hong Kong Phooey!!
After squashing himself with a fold away ironing board and sliding into a dumpster, he emerges in
the Phooey Mobile ready to fight crime (I'm surprised that he hasn't found a less painful way of
getting to his car).On his way to catch the criminals he always upsets someone with his car (eg.
splashing them with mud), but as soon as they see it is Hong Kong Phooey then they feel that it is
a privilege. Also the crooks would like to know how he catches them, as he is mostly nowhere
near them.
Penry (voiced by Scatman Crothers)
Penrod "Penry" Pooch is the Janitor of the local Police Station and is
always cleaning something. Poor Penry can't seem to do anything right
and is always upsetting Sergeant Flint. This is normally because Penry
is very accident prone and the Sarge is normally on the receiving end
concerning the accident.
He loves to talk to himself (or does he know that we are watching?) and
announces to Spot what he is going to do next. He is friends with
Rosemary, who he sometimes calls her his 'lovable lady fuzz'. When the call comes into the
station that there is a criminal on the loose or a crime has happened, Penry suddenly disappears
from the police station and no one knows where to?
Hong Kong Phooey (voiced Scatman Crothers)
If you didn't know, Penry is in fact the alter ego of Hong Kong Phooey,
who transforms into the superhero via a quick change in a filing cabinet.
The inept crime fighter Hong Kong Phooey is the number one crime
fighter, who uses his Kung Foo skills to catch crooks (mostly by accident). When things are getting bad, he consults the
Hong Kong Book of Kung Foo for his latest Kung Foo moves to dispatch his enemies (how does he get the book to stay in
his sleeve?).
But when he tries out the move it nearly always goes wrong and Spot has to help him out. It seems as if he isn't the martial
arts master that most people think he is, and instead he is learning it as he goes along.
Hong Kong Phooey has a massive ego and if he was told that Spot was helping him catch the crooks, then he wouldn't believe them. He is that
certain that his Kung Foo skills and his mental powers are unrivalled that he has no fear going into a dangerous situation. He has to be careful not to
be mobbed when he is out in public as he has thousands of admirers, especially the girls that love to hug and kiss him (its a hard life!). He seems to
love to give his autograph out to everyone, even if they don't really want it (normally its to crooks that are in disguise).
He drives one of the coolest vehicles ever - the Phooey Mobile, which makes a great sound when its been driven along. It can convert to loads of
different vehicles when he bangs his gong, such as the Phooey Copter.
He is also someone who respects safety, as he always puts his seat belt on. What I'd like to know is, how does a low paid dog afford such a fantastic
vehicle? Sometimes he dresses up in disguises to catch the crooks, but it is easy to spot which one is Hong Kong Phooey, as its the only disguise that
has a black mask on it. Still, the crooks never seem to notice this fact.
Spot (voiced by Don Messick)
Spot is the Police Station's cat. It is ironic that the cat that is covered in stripes is called Spot. He cannot believe how inept
Penry / Hong Hong Kong Phooey is and is always yawning when he starts talking rubbish on how he will catch the criminal.
In fact it is Spot who is the real Super Hero, as he tags along with Hong Kong Phooey and is the one that helps to catch the
crooks by pointing him in the right direction. This cat doesn't speak, but can get the attention of Hong Kong Phooey by
whistling. He has a knack of getting Hong Kong Phooey out of the filing cabinet when the drawer gets stuck (he bangs on it).
Rosemary (voiced by Kathy Gori)
Rosemary is the police telephone operator. She always answers the phone by saying 'Hello, Hello, Police Headquarters'
and infuriates Sarge when she keeps saying 'You Don't Say' on the phone and his curiosity gets the better of him.
She is friends with Penry and has some of the best legs I've seen (in a cartoon - of course). She has a massive crush on
Hong Kong Phooey and if she knew that Penry was the same person, then she would never let him go. She thinks that
Penry will be little more than a janitor (if only she knew).
Sergeant Flint (voiced by Joe E. Ross)
Sergeant Flint (or Sarge as he is also known) is the grumpy Sergeant of Police Headquarters Considering that he is in
charge, he has no patience at all and should really go on an anger management course. Maybe this is due to the Police
Commissioner always giving him a hard time?He loves to give Penry the dirty jobs to do, but Penry messes most things up,
so its Sarge that ends up in a mess! He is always calling Penry a nincompoop.
He has a strange habit of going 'ooh ooh' before saying things and tries to get everyone into shape via his Physical Fitness
Programme, which is surprising as I think he needs the work out.
The Gasket Gang
These criminals love to steal any vehicle that they can lay their hands on.'Hot Rod' is the brains of the gang, while 'Crank
Case' is the muscle and 'Mousey' is the person that resprays the cars.
Hot Rod dressed as a little old lady so not to be detected when stealing cars. Even Hong Kong Phooey helped fix his/her
car when he thought she'd broken down.
The Diamond Thieves
Rocky hid the 'Hopeless Diamond' in a Kangeroo's pouch, but forgot which one he had put it in, so they had to steal all the
Kangeroos in the city (his boss wasn't happy).To try to catch them, Hong Kong Phooey disguised himself as a Kangeroo.
He soon found out that they weren't easy pickings as they knew Kung Foo too.
Slippery Smith
He is the worlds greatest safe cracker. He uses a robot, called Iron Head', to steal safes for him. But he doesn't steal them
in the normal way and instead Iron Head just crashes through the walls and rips the safes out for Slippery Smith to
open. Fingers MagooHe is one of the fastest pick pockets in the world, he even stole Hong Kong Phooey's book of Kung
Foo!
Grandma Goody
She is a cat burglar who steals cats and even stole Spot from right from under Penry's nose. She drives around in a car and
only has to lower a ramp and say 'here kitty, kitty' and then they jump in the back.The cats seem to love her, but she doesn't
like cats. In fact she isn't a Grandma at all and is a man dressed up. So what does he do with the cats? He shampoos them,
blow dries them and gives them phoney pedigree papers and sells them as expensive pedigree cats.
The Candle Thieves
Lefty and his boss (Waxy) own the local Wax Museum and make magnificent waxworks and sell them for thousands, but
they suddenly find out that they have run out of wax to continue making them. So they embark on a crime spree to steal the
whole of the cities candles. But as usual, the boss has the idea, but the brawn (Lefty) has to carry out the plan, and in this
instance he bounces around on a pogo stick swiping them all.
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Gallery
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Hong Kong Phooey T-Shirts
/ Gifts
Hong Kong Phooey DVDs
Region 2 (Europe)
Region 1 (USA)
Episodes
Series 1 (1974)
1-1. Car Thieves
1-2. Zoo Story
2-1. Iron Head, The Robot
2-2. Cotton Pickin Pocket Picker
3-1. Grandma Goody
3-2. Candle Power
4-1. Penthouse Burglaries
4-2. The Batty Bank Mob
5-1. The Voltage Villain
5-2. The Giggler
6-1. Mirror, Mirror On The Wall
6-2. The Great Movie Mystery
7-1. The Gum Drop Kid
7-1. Professor Presto The Malevolent
Magician
8-1. TV Or Not TV
8-2. Stop Horsing Around
9-1. The Abominable Snowman
9-1. Professor Crosshatch
10-1. The Claw
10-2. Hong Kong Phooey vs. Hong
Kong Phooey
11-1. Greenthumb
11-2. Goldfisher
12-1. From Bad To Verse
12-2. Kong And The Counterfeiters
13-1. The Great Choo-Choo Robbery
13-2. Patty Cake, Patty Cake,
Bakery Man
14-1. Mr. Tornado
14-2. The Little Crook Who Wasn't
There
15-1. Dr. Disguiso
15-2. The Incredible Mr. Shrink
16-1. Comedy Cowboys
Flashback
Hong Kong Phooey
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Soft Toys / Plush (USA)
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