Hong Kong Phooey
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Hong Kong Phooey is a 16-episode (31 shorts) Hanna-Barbera animated series that first aired on ABC Saturday morning from September 7, 1974 to September 4, 1976. The star, Hong Kong Phooey, is the secret alter ego of Penrod Pooch, or Penry, a "mild-mannered" police station janitor.
Overview
A somewhat inept super-hero, Hong Kong Phooey was a (supposed) master of kung fu and the martial arts. Always on the alert for crime, he got his tip-offs from the police station where he worked as Penrod "Penry" Pooch, the mild mannered janitor. Usually on duty there were Rosemary the Telephone Operator ("Hallo hallo, police headquarters?") and Sergeant Flint. Whenever Penry heard of a crime taking place, he literally jumped into action, into a filing cabinet as a matter of fact, where he changed into his crime fighting gear. Hong Kong Phooey would travel from crime scene to crime scene in his ever adapting Kung Fu car. One "bong of the gong" and the Phooeymobile would instantly change into a plane, a boat, a snowmobile, etc.; whatever was needed to save the day. In his battles with supervillains, he was never without his "Hong Kong Book of Kung-Fu". However, this pretty much never helped him solve the case - unknowingly, he relied almost entirely on chance and the intervention of a long-suffering striped cat companion called Spot (who never spoke - only sighed).Despite his failings, and thanks to Spot's help, the people thought of Hong Kong Phooey as a great superhero, and they were always praising him, being honoured when they crossed paths with him (even if he just destroyed their day's work) and asking him for autographs.
Sergeant Flint was very similar both in voice and appearance to Botch, assistant zoo-keeper at the Wonderland Zoo on Help! It's The Hair Bear Bunch. Hong Kong Phooey was voiced by Scatman Crothers, who was also the voice of Scat Cat in Disney's The Aristocats. Sergeant Flynt was voiced by Joe E. Ross, best known as Officer Toody in the 50's TV series Car 54, Where Are You?. As Flynt, Ross revived Toody's famous "Oooh! Oooh!" exclamation. Like many Hanna-Barbera shows from this era, Hong Kong Phooey was originally broadcast with a laugh track.
Hong Kong Phooey later appeared in Laff-a-Lympics. In addition, he appeared in a flash cartoon on the Cartoon Network website where he became a muscular serious martial artist modeled on Ryu from Street Fighter who battled villains with the kind of violent skill that his previous series could not show.
Plans have been announced to release the complete series on DVD on August 15, 2006.[link] This and a limited comic book series highlighting an aged Hong Kong Phooey on a last mission, apparently to clear his name from a crime he didn't commit.
Cast
- Scatman Crothers — Hong Kong Phooey/Penry
- Kathy Gori — Rosemary
- Joe E. Ross — Sergeant Flint
- Don Messick — Spot
External links
- [Big Cartoon DataBase: Hong Kong Phooey]
- [InternationalHero] Hong Kong Phooey tribute
- [List of episodes]
- [Interview with Kathy Gori, voice of Rosemary the telephone operator]
- [Cartoon Network flash cartoon (updated version of 70's original)]
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